About the terminology of theAromanian girl’s costume from North Macedonia

Abstract

The article deals with the terminology of traditional Aromanian girl’s costume. The traditional costume of Aromanian girl is similar to that of a woman, but includes fewer items (in particular, it lacks a headdress and jewelries). The author attempts to examine the terminology of these costumes in the general context of the terminology of traditional clothing of the Eastern Roman peoples. The article is based on the following sources: materials from the collection HBФ1 126 of the Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography of the Russian Academy of Sciences, an interview with a designer from the Shtip (Republic of Macedonia) V. Dimitrijeva-Kuzmanoska – the author of replicas of Aromanian folk costumes that made up this collection, materials from various etymological and explanatory dictionaries, linguistic atlases, as well as ethnographic and ethnolinguistic publications that deal with clothing and clothing terminology. The main terms discussed in the article are cămeaşe, poală, cheptar and fustanelă. The text contains the list of the regions where these words are distributed and the discussion about their meanings. It should be noted that the meanings that have become fixed for these terms among the Aromanians may differ from the meanings that are most common throughout the territory of their existence. Thus, the word poală means an apron (plastron), the word cheptar – a plastron (bib), fustanelă – a dress.