Името на българското село – обект на словесно табу
The Name of the Bulgarian Village – an Object of Verbal Taboo

Summary/Abstract: The change of the village name by the wish of its inhabitants is related to the rests of the ancient mechanism of verbal taboos, and with the belief in the magic power of the name regarded as an identification and protection-apothropaeic mark. The village names can be classified in several groups. The first of them includes names with life-protecting character. The second embraces names as Novo Selo (New Village), Novosel, which also have life-protecting function, on the one hand, and on the other, names indicating some chronological determination. The third group of names points out a crucial moment of the village’s 1ife, as well as the character of the disaster that lead to the foundation of a new village. The fourth group covers village names the semantic meaning of which has no particular relations with the mechanism of verbal taboos. When the motive for the replacement is external, the village keeps its name. But when the motive for the replacement is connected with the action of some irrational, supernatural forces (according to the people’s believes), which have brought death, epidemics, inexplicable declines, the vil1age changes its name. That change is in close connection with other phenomena of the people’s spiritual culture – change or renewal of a personal name, of a patron-protector, of a saint etc. The change of the name is a manifestation of the collective consciousness of the village society. The ideological and the magica1 cultural structures are aiming at the preservation of every individual, every family and clan, as well as of all the village regarded as a social unit.

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