Associative representations of animals in Yakut ethnolinguistic cultural space

Abstract

This study investigates the preservation and adaptation of traditional animal symbolism within the linguistic consciousness of the multiethnic population of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). While the region's totemic and shamanic worldview has been extensively documented in historical ethnography, there is a critical lack of quantitative empirical data on how modernization, urbanization, and climate change impact these ethnolinguistic patterns in the 21st century. Employing a mixed-methods approach, a targeted, time-restricted psycholinguistic associative experiment was conducted face-to-face with 185 participants, stratified by age, gender, and geographic location. The empirical results reveal a stark sociodemographic divergence in linguistic behavior. Rural elders actively maintain traditional taboo language and euphemisms—particularly for the Bear and the Moose—reflecting an ongoing pragmatic and shamanic reverence. Conversely, urban youth exhibit a cognitive adaptation to modernized environments, predominantly utilizing direct terminology and modern constructs. Most notably, the data captures the transformation of the mythological "Bull of Cold" (Mammoth) into a secular, globalized regional brand driven entirely by younger generations. The findings demonstrate that rather than undergoing sheer cultural erosion, the Yakut linguistic consciousness is dynamically bifurcating: the rural core preserves deep collective memory and active taboos, while the urban periphery adapts its symbolic identity to global modernity.