Semantic motivation of Sanskrit names of Indian medicinal plants

UDC 581.6:615.1:811.211`37

DOI  https://doi.org/10.20339/PhS.2.2-24.009    

Prosyannikova Olga I.,

Doctor of Philology,

Head of the Foreign Languages and

Professional Communication Department

Pushkin Leningrad State University (St. Petersburg, Russia)

e-mail: olgapros@mail.ru

http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9080-3058

Tiwari Vijay Jagdish,

Retired Associate Professor,

J.M. Patel College of Arts, Commerce and Science

(Bhandara, Maharashtra, India)

e-mail: vijaysstiwari@gmail.com

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8316-6003

The present paper deals with semantic study of Sanskrit names of Indian medicinal plants. These names are selected with the focus on motivation feature based on functional property of a plant. The motivational characteristics are primarily attributed to healing properties of certain species. The analysis reveals the relation between the folk name and human cognitive activities. The medicinal properties of the plants have been verified by the reports of botanical and pharmacological scholars.

Keywords: semantic motivation, motivational mechanism, Sanskrit names, Indian medicinal plants.

References (in Rus.)

1. Brodsky I.V. Nazvaniia kaliny (Viburnum) v finno-ugorskikh iazykakh // Sibirskii filologicheskii zhurnal. 2022. Vyp. 3. S. 249–259.

2. Bykonya V.V., Sakharova O.V. Sel’kupskie fitonimy v iazykovoi kartine mira // Sibirskii filologicheskii zhurnal. 2009. Vyp. 4. S. 116–123.

3. Vilimek V. Nominatsii lekarstvennykh rastenii v Teshinskoi Silezii, motivirovannye ikh lechebnym deistviem // Slavianskii al’manakh. 2020. Vyp. 3–4. S. 270–288. DOI 10.31168/2073-5731.2020.3-4.3.03.

4. Dmitrieva L.V. Nekotorye semanticheskie modeli nazvanii rastenii v altaiskikh iazykakh (modeli nazvanii vetvei) // Sprache, Geschihte und Kultur der Altaischen Volker. Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, 1974. S. 187–192.

5. Kolosova V.B. Nominatsiia rastenii v slavianskikh iazykakh po priznaku ikh primeneniia v narodnoi meditsine // Dialektnaia leksika. St. Petersburg, 2009. S. 124–133.

6. Prosyannikova O.I. Drevneangliiskie fitonimy s komponentom wyrt i ikh sovremennye nazvaniia: strukturno-semanticheskii aspekt // Rossiiskii gumanitarnyi zhurnal. 2020. T. 9. No. 4. S. 246–253.

7. Rupysheva L.E. Buriatskie fitonimy v onomasiologicheskom aspekte // Vestnik Buriatskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Iazyk. Literatura. Kul’tura. 2020. Vyp. 4. S. 132–137.

8. Yurchenkova E.Yu. Sopostavitel,nyi analiz kognitivnykh strategii nominatsii rastenii v ruskom i nemetskom iazykakh: (na materiale otzoonimnykh fitonimov): avtoref. … kand. filol. nauk. Tomsk, 2018. 26 s.

References (in Eng.)

9. Biswas, M., Haldar, P.K., Ghosh, A.K. Antioxidant and free radical scavenging effects of fruits of Dregea volubilis. Journal of Natural Science, Biology and Medicine. 2010. Vol. 1 (1). P. 29–34. DOI: 10.4103/0976-9668.71670.

10. Cruz, S., Vieira, A. Managing semantic annotations on medicinal plants. International Conference on Information Society. London, UK, 2010. P. 554–559. DOI: 10.1109/i-Society16502.2010.6018776.

11. Debowiak, P., Waniakowa, J. Semantic motivation of plant names as a part of their etymology. The Landscape of Lexicography. Aveiro: Centro de Linguas, Literaturas e culturas da Universidade de Aviero (Colecao Dicionaristica Portuguesa. 2019. Vol. 6. P. 173–200.

12. Evans, N. Sign metonymies and the problem of flora-fauna polysemy in Australian linguistics / eds. Tyron, D., Walsh, M., Boundary, Rider. Essay in Honor of Geoffrey O Grady. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. 1997. P. 133–153.

13. Gupta, S.S., Verma, P., Hishikar, K. Purgative and anthelmintic effect of Pharmacology. 1982. P. 63–66.

14. Hayat, M.M., Sharma, S., Vashishth, D., Kaur, R. In vitro anthelmintic activity of Artemisia maritima L. Indian Drugs. 2013. No. 50 (8). P. 39–41.

15. Joseph, N., Anjum, N., Tripathi, Y.C. Prunus cerasoides D Don: A review on its ethnomedicinal uses, phytochemistry and pharmacology. International Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences Review and Research. 2018. Vol. 48 (1). P. 62–69.

16. Kamat, S.D. Studies on medicinal plants and drugs in dhanwantari-nighantu chaukhamba Sanskrit pratishthan. 2002. 902 p.

17. Krishnan, S.A., Dileepkumar, R., Nair, A.S., Oommen, O.V. Studies on neutralizing effects of ophirrhiza mungos root extract against root extract against Daboia russelii venom. Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 2014. No. 151 (1). P. 543–547.

18. Kulkarni, A. Semantic processing of compounds in Indian language // Proceedings of thе 24th Computational Linguistic Conference 2012. URL: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259751290_Semantic_Processing_of_Compounds_in_Indian_Language.

19. Nagore, D.H., Ghosh, V.K., Patil, M.J. Evaluation of antiasthmatic activity of Cassia sophera Linn. Pharmacognosy Magazine. 2009. No. 7. P. 109–118.

20. Puangpronpitag, D., Sittiwet, C. Antimicrobial properties of Cinnamomum verum aqueous extract. Asian Journal of Biological Sciences. 2009. No. 2 (2). P. 49–53. DOI: 10.3923/ajbs.2009.49.53.

21. Rao, R. B., Anupama, K., Swaroop, K. R., Murugesan, T. Evaluation of antipyretic potential of Ficus racemosa bark. Phytomedicine. 2002. No. 9. P. 731–733.

22. Saraci, A., Damo, R. Semantic reflections of human / animal genitalia in Albanian plant names. Analele Universitatii din Craiova.Seri Stiinte Filologice. Lingvistica. 2021. No. 1–2. P. 425–445.

23. Sensarma, P. Plant names Sanskrit and Latin. Ancient Science of Life. 1992. No. 12 (1). P. 201–220.

24. Sharma, N., Kumar, V., Chpora, M. P., Sourirajam, A. Thalictrum foliolosum: A lesser unexplored medicinal herb from the Himalayan region as a source of valuable benzyl isoquinoline alkaloids. Journal Ethnopharmacol. 2020. Vol. 255. DOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2020.112736.

25. Sharma, P.V. NAMARUPAJNANAM (Characterization of medicinal plants based on etymological derivation of names and synonyms). Satyapriya Prakashan Varanasi, India, 1920.

26. Sharma, P.V. Classical uses of medicinal plants. Chaukhambha Visvabharati, Sole distributors, Chaukhambha Bharati Academy, 1996. 848 p.

27. Singh, P. Two important medicinal plants of Telegana State, India. Van Sangyan. 2015. Vol. 2. No. 5. P. 24–26.

28. Thomas, V., Nair, S.N.V., Ved, D.K., Shankar, D. Controversial identities of medicinal plants in classical literature of ayurveda. Journal of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine. 2020. No. 11 (4). P. 565–572. DOI: 10.1016/j.jaim.2019.09.003.

29. Tiwari, V.J., Ittadwar, A. Philological study of Sanskrit names of medicinal plants. Research Journal Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry. 2023. No. 15 (1). P. 91–95. DOI: 10.52711/0975-4385.2023.00014.

30. Tran, H.T, Gao, X., Kretschmer, N., Pferschy-Wenzig, E.M. Anti-inflammatory and antiproliferative compounds from Sphaeranthus africanus. Phytomedicine. 2019. No. 62. P. 152951. DOI: 10.1016/jphymed.2019.152951.

31. Turpin, M. Semantic extension in Kaytetye flora and fauna terms. Australian Journal of Linguistics. 2013. No. 33 (4). P. 488–518.

32. Yeshwante, S., Juvekar, D., Nagmoti, S., Wankhede, S. Antiflammatory activity of methanolic extract of Dillenia indic L., leaves. Journal of Young Pharmacist. 2009. No. 1 (1). P. 63–66. DOI: 10.4103/0975-1483.51885.

33. Zariquey, R. Naming strategies and ethnobiological nomenclature in Kakataibo (Panon, Peru). Liames. 2018. No. 18 (1). P. 61–80.

34. Zheng, X., Xu, Y., Liu, B., Qi, Y. Ethyl acetate extract of Asclepias curassavica induced apoptosis in human cancer cells via activating p38 and jnk MAPK signaling pathways. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med, 2019. June 9.