Names of Dances in Karachay-Balkar Language: Etymological Studies

The article considers the names of dances in Karachay-Balkar language. The most significant corpus of their nominations for the ethnic culture is revealed and described. It is noted that in the studied language dance is denoted by a lexeme oriented to the designation of movement. Accordingly, the names of the dances represent the ways of action or movement of the face. Structurally they are represented by simple derivative words in the formation of which currently unproductive morphological markers of derivation participate. In some cases lexicalized verb forms are used. Choreonym-descriptions are found, which have the structure of definitive phrases, built according to the patterns of isafets I and II. On the basis of a brief etymological analysis of the available factual material, a conclusion is made about the archaic nature of most dance names, the nomination of which is generally determined by the peculiarities of the ethnic worldview, which is also reflected in eponymous ancient accompanying ritual and other songs, related to the influence of paganism and Christian culture. The considered choreographic term system refers mainly to the passive layer of vocabulary, in which data relevant to understanding a significant segment of the national linguistic picture of the world is encoded.