VYTOL” IZLOVILI: TOWARDS INTERPRETATION OF A PHANTOMIC HAPAX LEGOMENON IN BIRCH BARK LETTER NO. 600

The article focuses on reinterpreting two phrases from Novgorod birch bark letter No. 600. These phrases introduced the hapax legomenon “вытолъ” with disputed etymology and semantics into Russian historical lexicography. The study also offers a new interpretation of the overall situation reflected in the letter. The first phrase, originally read as “вытоло изловили”, is proposed to be understood, with the assumption of a common mistake — the omission of a syllable — as “вы т<ъ> ло<въ> изловили” (‘It’s you who caught that!’). The second phrase, which was supposed to have the Nom. sg. “вытоле”, can be read in only one way, given the configuration of the remaining letters: “а вы [бол]е того изловили” (‘And you caught even more!’). The phrases correlate as the speeches of litigants. The verb “урекыватися” also receives a different interpretation (in the context of the letter, it means ‘to accuse each other’ rather than ‘to promise’). The collocation “молвѧ” introduces a response. In this interpretation, the letter reflects a typical court case regarding the use of someone else’s river. The subject of the dispute was beaver trapping by the local population, the “Khotynians,” whose two groups shift responsibility for the violation to each other.