Tuvan English

proper name Great Yenisei River

noun phrase Milky way (literally road of darkness)

noun phrase Orion (literally evening Venus)

proper name names of the main god

noun phrase Orion

noun phrase name of the upper world - homeland of star shamans

noun phrase Mars (literally fire star)

noun phrase Mount Suree - border between the worlds of life and dead

proper name alternative names of a supreme god

noun phrase nine skys (in shamanism meaning nine worlds of the upper universe)

proper name Yenisey River (literally big river)

proper name name of the master of the middle world (literally earth-water)

proper name name of the master of the under world

noun blessed energy (coming from the depictions of saints in buddhism and from reading prayers)

noun phrase white soul (which comes to living relatives in the image of a dead person)

verb get shaman’s illness (meaning become a shaman) (literally get possessed by devils)

noun ritual of cleansing

noun phrase master of the spring water

noun pl half-gods living in the higher world of sansara

noun travelling lamas walking around camps and reading prayers

noun wandering lamas tradesmen

noun phrase ritual of invocation for happiness

noun / verb animist ritual, tribal prayings (holiday)

verb phrase get shaman’s illness (meaning become a shaman) (literally pass out)

noun phrase life soul

noun shaman drum

proper name shamans and lamas who can see the spirits

noun phrase master of camp

noun phrase fights (quarells), scolding, scandals (literally black mouth-tongue)

noun phrase black soul (which guards the grave of a dead person)

noun phrase black (dark) forces

noun phrase under world / hell (literally dark world / universe)

verb phrase shaman ritual of diverting anger

noun phrase main soul

noun phrase lama-astrologer

noun Tuvan flute

noun paper strips with mantras

noun "birthmarks" - according to Buddhism every person has a certain set of birthmarks of different colors and numbers depending on the birth date according to the Luna calendar

verb phrase ritual of fixing the birthmark of a person

noun phrase silver breath (good physical shape)

noun phrase eternal universe (referring to upper and under worlds)

noun festivities for youth after harvesting (holiday)

verb phrase drive an arrow (shaman technique to look for lost thing)

noun universe

noun defenders of teaching (Buddist faith)

noun buddhist monk community

noun local spirit-master

noun phrase ritual to remember those who died last year during the ritual of worshiping sacred tree in the fall

noun liver pieces wrapped in interior fat

noun spirit, life force

noun / noun phrase soul

noun potential

noun phrase ways of soul to extract the curse out of a body practiced by shamans

noun bloodline (litreally bone)

noun phrase people who are engaged in transportation and burial (literally those who bury bones)

verb phrase shaman ritual aiming the spirits of taiga

noun phrase master of taiga

noun pl chiefs (referring to Soviet party top bosses)

noun mantra

noun ritual of healing heavily sick people with aim to decieve ill spirits haunting sick people

noun small timpani

[tos-karak] n. a ritual wooden implement used to sprinkle milk or tea as an offering to the spirits, in the shape of a square spoon with nine holes and a ribbon

Source: First edition

noun phrase shaman of sky origin

noun pl children born from parents of different nationalities or ethnicities (somewhat pejorative)

noun phrase female shamans (collective meaning)

noun phrase shaman’s fellow travellers (referring collectively to all mythical-spiritual beings with whom a shaman may interact)

Source: Simchit 2010,

verb phrase final stage of shaman ritual (literally closing of chimney (the hole on the top of the yurt))

noun phrase devil’s bird - messenger of death

noun phrase life energy

noun phrase boiled (cooked) sheep leg

noun phrase white caragana (Siberian peashrub)

noun wake ritual (funeral repast)

noun phrase the direction of the harm (unfavorable geografical direction when calculating the element of the birth)

noun phrase master of lake

noun summer tent (in modern Tuvan - barn)

noun curse

noun chosen person who can manage the special stone

noun phrase multiple spirits who give a shaman knowledge and visions

noun phrase hair lasso of handicraft production

noun phrase under world / hell (literally bottom of the world)

noun phrase cave (literally mouth of the earth)

noun phrase ending of life (literally earth instantly disappears)

noun phrase ritual of ’renting the land" (for burials)

noun phrase master of the land

noun luck in hunting

noun phrase agalmatolite (stone used in Tuvan stone carving)

noun hell

noun basics of buddhist astrology

verb phrase ritual of fixing the birthdate of a person

noun phrase afterlife world for good people (Shambala)

verb phrase suicide or death through the fault of doctors - euphemism (literally he/she couldn’t stand it any more)

noun stick

noun phrase mourning, grave sign

noun phrase Orion (literally three elks)

noun phrase upper sky

noun phrase wake (funeral repast) on the third day (literally three days)

noun destination and deeds

noun fate

noun phrase dead soul

[örgül] n. sacrifice, ritual of feeding the master spirits of a place

Source: First edition