Folklore Discourse and Its Representation in the National Corpus of the Kazakh Language

Authors

  • Zhamila Omirbekova L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University
  • Karlygash Sarekenova L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University
  • Gulgaisha Sagidolda L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University
  • Ardak Beisenbai L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University
  • Bauyrzhan Oserov L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University
  • Syrym Zhanzhigitov L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1609.17

Keywords:

folklore discourse, national corpus, corpus linguistics, Kazakh folklore

Abstract

This article examines the concept of folklore discourse within the theoretical and methodological foundations of contemporary discourse studies and corpus linguistics. The study identifies the distinctive features of folklore discourse in the Kazakh language, including its genre-related, pragmatic, and linguistic characteristics, and analyzes how these features are represented in the National Corpus of the Kazakh Language. Based on empirical linguistic data, the structural and discursive markers of Kazakh folklore texts are described, and the scholarly and methodological issues that arise when integrating folklore texts into a corpus are specified. In addition, the article highlights the particularities of researching folklore discourse. The aim of the study is to characterize folklore discourse within the framework of corpus linguistics and to determine the scholarly potential of folklore texts included in the national corpus. The findings demonstrate the importance of building a corpus of folklore texts in the context of the digitalization of the Kazakh language. The conclusions of the article contribute both theoretically and practically to future research in folklore studies, corpus linguistics, and discourse studies.

Author Biographies

Zhamila Omirbekova, L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University

Department of Kazakh Linguistics

Karlygash Sarekenova, L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University

Department of Kazakh Linguistics

Gulgaisha Sagidolda, L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University

Department of Kazakh Linguistics

Bauyrzhan Oserov, L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University

Department of Kazakh Linguistics

Syrym Zhanzhigitov, L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University

Department of Kazakh Linguistics

References

Acerbi, A., Kendal, J., & Tehrani, J. J. (2017). Cultural complexity and demography: The case of folktales. Evolution and Human Behavior, 38(4), 474–480. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2017.03.005

Aitova, N. N., & Bakytqyzy, M. (2025). Qazaq folklorlyq mátinderiniń korpusy: Ǵylymi taldau jáne zertteu múmkindikteri [Corpus of Kazakh folklore texts: Scientific analysis and research opportunities]. L. N. Gumilyov atyndagy Euraziia ulttyq universitetiniń habarshysy [Bulletin of L. N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University], 152(3), 11–27. https://doi.org/10.32523/2616-678X-2025-152-3-11-27

Akhmetova, M., Abilmazhinova, A., Sarekenova, K., Omirbekova, Z., Zhanzhigitov, S., Kamarova, N. S., & Kurmanbekova, Z. (2025a). Sacred vocabulary in linguistic consciousness of the Kazakh youth. Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 11(2), 205–217. https://doi.org/10.32601/ejal.11217

Akhmetova, M. K., Zhanzhigitov, S. Kh., Alpysbayeva, A. Y., Sarekenova, K. K., Bibekov, K., & Abitzhanova, Z. (2025b). The representation of ethnocultural names in the linguistic consciousness of Kazakh youth. International Journal of Society, Culture & Language, 13(2), 75–87. https://doi.org/10.22034/ijscl.2025.2056961.3990

Bauman, R. (2004). A world of others’ words: Cross-cultural perspectives on intertextuality. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.

Bauman, R., & Briggs, C. L. (1992). Genre, intertextuality, and social power. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology, 2(2), 131–172. https://doi.org/10.1525/jlin.1992.2.2.131

Bortolini, E., Pagani, L., Crema, E. R., Sarno, S., Barbieri, C., Boattini, A., Sazzini, M., da Silva, S. G., Martini, G., Metspalu, M., Pettener, D., Luiselli, D., & Tehrani, J. J. (2017). Inferring patterns of folktale diffusion using genomic data. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 114(34), 9140–9145. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1614395114

da Silva, S. G., & Tehrani, J. J. (2016). Comparative phylogenetic analyses uncover the ancient roots of Indo-European folktales. Royal Society Open Science, 3(1), 150645. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.150645

de Lima, E. S., Feijó, B., Casanova, M. A., & Furtado, A. L. (2016). Storytelling variants based on semiotic relations. Entertainment Computing, 17, 31–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.entcom.2016.08.003

Fairclough, N. (1995). Critical discourse analysis: The critical study of language. London: Longman.

Finlayson, M. A. (2017). ProppLearner: Deeply annotating a corpus of Russian folktales to enable the machine learning of a Russian formalist theory. Digital Scholarship in the Humanities, 32(2), 284–300. https://doi.org/10.1093/llc/fqv067

Foley, J. M. (1995). The singer of tales in performance. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Hagedorn, J., & Darányi, S. (2022). Bearing a Bag-of-Tales: An Open Corpus of Annotated Folktales for Reproducible Research. Journal of Open Humanities Data, 8, 16. https://doi.org/10.5334/johd.78

Harvilahti, L. (2013). The SKVR Database of Ancient Poems of the Finnish People in Kalevala Meter and the Semantic Kalevala. Oral Tradition, 28(2), 223–232.

Hilmiyatun, Suwandi, S., Waluyo, H. J., & Wardani, N. E. (2022). Between Ecology and Economics: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Putri Mandalika Folklore. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 12(11), 2388–2396. https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1211.20

Kachinskaia, I. B., & Malysheva, A. V. (2014). Ustnaia rech’ i fol’klor v korpuse: Printsipy annotirovaniia [Oral speech and folklore in a corpus: Principles of annotation]. In Trudy Instituta russkogo iazyka im. V. V. Vinogradova [Proceedings of the V. V. Vinogradov Institute of the Russian Language] (pp. 214–229). Moscow.

Karasik, V. I., & Stepanov, Iu. S. (2016). Iazyk, kul’tura, kontsept: Teoriia i praktika lingvokul’turologii [Language, culture, concept: Theory and practice of linguocultural studies]. Moscow: Akademicheskii proekt.

Karsdorp, F., & van den Bosch, A. (2016). The structure and evolution of story networks. Royal Society Open Science, 3(6), 160071. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.160071

Levi-Strauss, C. (2017). Mifologicheskoe myshlenie [Mythological thinking]. Moscow: Akademicheskii proekt.

Li, X., Sim, N. B., & Zin, Z. B. M. (2024). Translation of Hmong Folklore Terms in Hmong Oral Epic “Creating Heaven and Earth” From the Perspective of Eco-Translatology. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 14(10), 3177–3185. https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1410.20

Lin, Y., Halim, H. A., & Jalis, F. M. M. (2024). Building a Parallel Corpus for Chinese Folk Songs Translation Studies: A Case Study of Northern Shaanxi and Hua’er Folk Songs. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 14(2), 454–468. https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1402.17

Lo, G., de Boer, V., & van Aart, C. J. (2020). Exploring West African folk narrative texts using machine learning. Information, 11(5), 236. https://doi.org/10.3390/info11050236

Mahmud, E. Z., Sobarna, C., Hartono, R., & Moriyama, M. (2022). Chesterman’s Pragmatic Strategies in Translating Sundanese Folklore Into English. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 14(4), 1015-1023. https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1404.10

Mamysheva, M. E., & Seitova, S. B. (2022). Tarbagatai toponimderindegi ataular semantikasy [Semantics of names in Tarbagatai toponyms]. Bulletin of L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University. Philology Series, 3(140), 95–102. https://doi.org/10.32523/2616-678X-2022-140-3-95-102

McEnery, T., & Hardie, A. (2012). Corpus linguistics: Method, theory and practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Nakawake, Y., & Sato, K. (2019). Systematic quantitative analyses reveal the folk-zoological knowledge embedded in folktales. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 5, 161. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-019-0375-x

Nguyen, D., Liakata, M., DeDeo, S., Eisenstein, J., Mimno, D., Tromble, R., & Winters, J. (2020). How we do things with words: Analyzing text as social and cultural data. Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence, 3, 62. https://doi.org/10.3389/frai.2020.00062

Potebnya, A. A. (2006). Mysl’ i iazyk [Thought and language]. Moscow: Labirint.

Propp, V. Ia. (1998). Morphology of the folktale. Austin: University of Texas Press.

Qaidar, A. (2004). Qazaq etnolingvistikasy [Kazakh ethnolinguistics]. Almaty: Eltanym.

Qasqabasov, S. (2011). Qazaq fol’klorynyń tipologiiasy [Typology of Kazakh folklore]. Almaty: Dáuir.

Qongyratbaev, Á. (1991). Qazaq fol’klorynyń tarihy [History of Kazakh folklore]. Almaty: Ana tili.

Ross, R. M., & Atkinson, Q. D. (2016). Folktale transmission in the Arctic provides evidence for high bandwidth social learning among hunter–gatherer groups. Evolution and Human Behavior, 37(1), 47–53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2015.08.001

Sagymzhanova, T. B., & Sagyndyk, N. B. (2024). Typological similarities in the folklore traditions of Persian and Turkic peoples. Bulletin of L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University. Philology Series, 4(149), 175–183. https://doi.org/10.32523/2616-678X-2024-149-4-175-183

Tangherlini, T. R., & Chen, R. (2024). Travels with BERT: Surfacing the intertextuality in Hans Christian Andersen’s travel writing and fairy tales through the network lens of large language model-based topic modeling. Oral Literature, 79(6), 519-562. https://doi.org/10.1111/oli.12458

Tehrani, J., Nguyen, Q., & Roos, T. (2016). Oral fairy tale or literary fake? Investigating the origins of Little Red Riding Hood using phylogenetic network analysis. Digital Scholarship in the Humanities, 31(3), 611–636. https://doi.org/10.1093/llc/fqv016

Wiysahnyuy, L. F., & Valentine, N. B. (2023). Folktales as indigenous pedagogic tools for educating school children: A mixed methods study among the Nso of Cameroon. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, Article 1049691. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1049691

Yuniari, I. G. A. M. E., Kasni, N. W., & Sutjaja, I. G. M. (2023). Transitivity and social context in Balinese folklores: A Systemic Functional Perspective. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 13(5), 1295–1303. https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1305.25

Zhanpeisov, E. (2013). Qazaq eposynyń tili: Tarihi-tanymdyq zertteu [The language of the Kazakh epic: A historical and cognitive study]. Almaty: Arys.

Downloads

Published

2026-09-11

Issue

Section

Articles