Book on Agafya Lykova's language published in Krasnoyarsk
KRASNOYARSK. Nov 24 (Interfax) - A glossary of the language of Agafya Lykova, a hermit and an Old Believer, has been published in Krasnoyarsk, the press service for the Astafyev Literary Museum said in a statement.
"The unique glossary of hermit Agafya Lykova, which has two volumes, [contains] words, phraseological units, and samples of the letters written by the Old Believer in 1986-2016. Four thousand five hundred lexical entries, documentary photos, and drawings," the statement said.
The book was published in hardback, and only 100 copies were printed.
The book was presented at the Astafyev Literature Museum on November 23 and was dedicated to the memory of its author, Galina Tolsova, who worked on the glossary for more than 15 years while working as a researcher for the Krasnoyarsk Territory's Local History Museum and the Literary Museum.
Lykova is the only surviving member of the family of reclusive Old Believers discovered deep in the taiga by geologist Yerofei Sedov in 1978.
The family had lived in isolation since 1937, hiding for many years from the destructive influences of the external environment, especially religious influences. There were five of them when the family was discovered: the head of the family, Karp Iosifovich, the sons Savvin, aged 45, and Dmitry, aged 36, and the daughters Natalya, 42, and Agafya, 34.
Three of the children died in 1981, and Karp Lykov died in 1988.
Agafya continues living a reclusive life in the taiga.
According to the official website of the Kemerovo region, Aman Tuleyev and Lykova have been friends since 1997, when the governor first visited her home. People periodically visit Lykova at Tuleyev's request, bring her food, and learn about her life.
The youngest daughter, Agafya, has never left the Sayan taiga and has not talked to people from the "world." For that reason, the woman's language is atypical and interesting. Agafya uses words that were used six or seven centuries ago. For example, the word "lzheposlushstvo," which means "false testimony," has not been used in common speech since the 17th century.