NAMES OF FIREFLY IN THE SLOVAK DIALECTS FROM THE MOTIVATION POINT OF VIEW

The paper presents hitherto unpublished materials from the questionnaire fi eld research to the lexical volume of the Atlas slovenského jazyka (Atlas of the Slovak Language), which were obtained in response to a question focused on the folk names of fi refl y (glow-worm —Lampyris noctiluca) in the Slovak language area. The data are supplemented by other already published or yet unpublished sources. This material makes it possible to confi rm the area of occurrence of folk names for fi refl y in the Slovak dialects motivated by St. John’s day, as it is captured in the Slavic Linguistic Atlas (SLA). At the same time, however, it shows micro-areas with lexical units motivated by expressions for light (and other motivations) that are either not presented by SLA at all, or appear as individual or exclusive. Several names also prove contacts of the Slovak dialects with non-Slavic languages. On the basis of the motivation of the names of the fi refl y, the connection or parallels in motivational factors with areas in other Slavic languages and their dialects are pointed out.