Этноним "литва" и название дружины жениха в свадебных песнях Украины, Белоруси и Польши
ENThe wedding song „Не наступай, Литва / литва..." ('Don't attack, Литва / литва...') in which the Old Russian collective form of the Lithuanians (Литва / литва), found in Nestor's chronicle and which in the present instance denotes 'the wedding bride-groom suite' is known mainly in the centre ant north of Ukraine, in the southern regions of Belarus and partly in the eastern parts of Poland. Recently the hypothesis has been propounded (S. Karaliūnas, 1995) according to which the Ukrainian wedding term "литва" doesn't seem to be secondary, but is actually primary in its semantics as regards the modern meaning of East-Baltic etnonym, and what is more the researcher supposes that the appellative which has the meaning 'military squad' (=fighting men) forms the basis of the name Lithuania (Lietuva). However the derived meaning of folk-lore 'bride-groom suite' as regards the historical 'the Lithuanians' in Ukr. "литва", Byeloruss. "лiтва" manifests itself distinctly in the fact that the names of other peoples, specifically the German and the Tatars play the same part in wedding songs on the above mentioned territories of Ukraine, Belarus and Poland. Moreover, the transition East-Baltic collective etnonym - appellative is not a unique phenomenon characteristic of folklore exclusively: thusin „Eneyida" by I. P. Kotlyarevskyj (1798) "литва" means 'the actors of travelling bear circus' that is unlikely to be associated with 'the military squad'. During many centuries the original Baltic name Lietuva has been diversely reflected in the spiritual culture of North-Slavic peoples. It is the onomastic trace in their historical memory, especially in the regions which in former times were the constituent parts of the Great Lithuanian Principality.
