THE SLAVIC PHYTONYMY: EQUIVALENTS AND TRANSLATOR’S FALSE FRIENDS

The article deals with the very important problem of plant identification in etymological research on Slavic phytonymy. Proper identification of plants allows for the correct interpretation of the semantic motivation of their names and contributes to creating their credible etymology. The text treats also on interlingual similarities and the phenomenon of false friends in Slavic plant names. Across all Slavic dialects as well as in the history of Slavic languages it is observed that one name may refer to several species of plants, and a given species may have dozens of names. As analyses show, it is not uncommon for these names to be formally and semantically convergent across large areas where Slavic languages are spoken. In the conclusion of the paper it is suggested that comparative studies of Slavic materials always require great caution to prevent possible mistakes in identification. Formal similarity does not guarantee the adequacy of the content, i.e. the true meaning, as in some cases we deal with complete convergence of the names and their designates in the given Slavic languages and sometimes the names constitute false friends.