Christmas Еve ritual rounds Носіння вечері in traditional culture of the Ukrainians of the Republic of Moldova (ethnolinguistic aspect)

The article considers for the first time the ritual rounds of bringing dinner (носіння вечері) on the Holy Evening by the Ukrainians of the Republic of Moldova from an ethnolinguistic point of view in the semantic unity of verbal and non-verbal units, compositionally united (according to V. Konobrodskaya) by a common thematic and cultural origin. Relying on the field materials collected personally in 53 settlements of compact and dispersed residence of Ukrainians on the territory of the republic, literature and sources, the author analyzed the dictum content of the pagan-Christian by their origin rounds with the dinner (вечеря), their semantics and motives, including such unique ones as rounds with a ritual tree (деревце́ м/крачко́ м), decorated with anthropomorphic pastries in the form of a doll (ля́ лька). Investigated in the unity of the verbal, temporal, local, actional and substantive aspects, the rounds with the dinner, within the specified geographical coordinates, demonstrate: 1) their deep rootedness in Ukrainian traditional culture; 2) a high degree of their preservation and viability; 3) continuity of traditions; 4) the desire to preserve their linguistic, cultural identity, and Ukrainian identity on the borderland. The partially analyzed names of Proto-Slavic, Old Russian and Ukrainian origin with a noticeable layer of Romance borrowings reflect the original cultural heritage of Ukrainians in Moldova and centuries-old contacts with Eastern Romans.