Etymological Analysis and Transformation of the Semantic Value of the Mythonym Ockopirmus

The article deals with the etymological analysis of the mythonym Ockopirmus found in the Yatvigian Book. The etiology of the mythologeme is justified by the diversification of the authentic and innovative (i.e. late) ethno-mythological features predetermined by the convergence process. In summing up the results of the examination of the mythonym Ockopirmus, the following main conclusion is proposed: a pseudo-compound of the tatpuruṣa type Yatv. *(K)okupirmas / *(K)ukupirmas with the protosememe *“first in the rank of devils / sovereign of the familiars” is not a particular theonym, but an epithet of the deity Swayxtix “Lucifer”.


INTRODUCTION
The mythonym Ockopirmus is presented in the Yatvigian Book 2 (manuscript A[p]) for the first time. The original name of the written source is Der vnglaubigen / Sudauen ihrer bockheiligung mit sambt andern Ceremonien, so sie tzu brauchen gepflegeth A(p) (see Mannhardt, 1936, p. 244), i.e. Goat worship and other ceremonies performed by the pagan Sudovians. However, fallacious references are primarily mentioned in ancient written sources of the mythonym and can be found in many works of the early period or even in contemporary scientific research, e.g., to quote Antanas Mažiulis: OKOPIRMAS, supposed Prussian god, honoured by the Sambian tribe as Lord of Heaven, mentioned for the first time in Constitutiones Synodales Evangelicae (1530). He is also listed under the name Occopiruum by Jer. Lasicius in his De Diis Samagitarum (ca 1580); variants of this name appear in later sources. The Lithuanian linguist Kazimieras Būga maintains that in Prussian it was probably written Ukapirmas, and is not a name of a god, but a corruption of the Latin word omnipotens (omnipotent, almighty) (Mažiulis, 1975, p. 111).
Endre Bojtár cited the same document, i.e. Constitutiones Synodales Evangelicae, as the main source in which the mythologeme Ockopirmus was mentioned (Bojtár, 1999, p. 315). Jaan Puhvel named a written document of an unknown author, i.e. YB, as one of the principal documents of Baltic mythology (Puhvel, 1974, p. 82). In fact, no doubts arise about the West Baltic status of the source (i.e. history of ancient religion of the Yatvingians, or an extinct western Baltic people), which does not necessarily indicate the idolatry system of all Baltic tribes. 3 It should be noted that the title Der vnglaubigen / Sudauen ihrer bockheiligung […] is the first caption of the of the YB (see Kregždys, 2018a, p. 114), which differs due to its diverse syntactic construction in C and G copies. This title is missing in E, J[p], G[p], K, X manuscripts (see Kregždys, 2018a, p. 114 Mannhardt (1936), now known by its identification code Ms. Uph. fol. 34]). The most important of them is the copy A(p). The document presupposes, not merely the structure of the primary set out of the lost original text of the YB, but also the true connotation of the mythologemes, i.e. appellations of the native Baltic deities, as they have been named by Sharon Paice MacLeod, in the catalogue of gods presented in the manuscript (MacLeod, 2014, p. 178). It should be noted, that the list of the above-mentioned enumeration of the sacral pagan names, to quote Alexander Brückner and Henryk Łowmiański, is simply invented or should be regarded as 3 Unfortunately, the original of YB has not been found yet, and the scholars who discussed this source or analysed it in some detail after the appearance of Wilhelm Mannhardt's book Letto-Preussische Götterlehre (1936), which contains copy A(p), resorted not to the analysis of the copies, but the materials provided in the book, and did not doubt the authenticity of the information provided. Due to these reasons, historical facts of the manuscripts were not investigated as the information in Mannhardt's monograph was taken for granted. Unfortunately, in many cases it does not correspond to reality and is essentially erroneous or elliptical (see Kregždys, 2018a, pp. 90-92, 95-96). an absolute forgery (Brückner, 1918, p. 145;Łowmiański, 1979, pp. 50-51; also see Bojtár, 1999, p. 315): Ockopirmus "der erste Gott Himmels vnd Gestirnes resp. a god of the sky and the Great Star, mentioned in the first position (of the list)" 4 A(p) (see Mannhardt, 1936, p. 245), Ockopirmus "der erʃte Gott Himmells vnd Geʃtirns" α 727v (see Illustration 1), Ockopirmus B 728r "der erʃte Gott Himmells vnnd Geʃtirnes" (see Illustration 2), Ockopyrmus C 1r "der erʃte Gott Himels vnd Geʃtirnes" (see Illustration 3), Ockopirmus ↔ Okopyrmus K 165r "der got des lichtes resp. the god of the Great Star / Venus (= MLat. Lucifer)" ↔ "der gut got des (mehres [lined through with the different colour ink -R. K.]) Himels vnd des Geʃtirn resp. substantial god of the sky and the Great Star" (see Illustration 4), Ockopirmus X 762 "der gott des himels vnd geʃtirnes" (see Illustration 5), Occopirnus "der Gott Himels vnd der Erden" E 377r (see Illustration 6), ε (Mannhardt, 1936, p. 245), "der Gott des Himels vnd der Erden / Jupiter resp. a god of sky and earth / Jupiter" J(p) (Waisselius, 1599, p. 19), Ockopirnus D "der erste Gott Himmels vnd Gestirnes", a, b, c, d (Mannhardt, 1936, p. 245), e "den Gott des Himmels und der Erde resp. a god of sky and earth") (Schlieff, 1742, p. 707), Ockopernnum G(p) "der Gott Himels vnd der Erden resp. a god of sky and earth" (David, 1812, p. 86), Ockopirmus G 2r "der Erʃte Gott himels vnd geʃtirnes" (see Illustration 7), Ostopirmus F "der erste Gott Himmels vnd Gestirnes" (Mannhardt, 1936, p. 245), Octopirnus c "Den Gott des Himmels und der Erde resp. a god of sky and earth" (see Mannhardt, 1936, p. 245, 259).

MORPHOLOGICAL AND SEMANTIC ANALYSIS OF THE MYTHONYM OCKOPIRMUS
The emergence of untypical morphotactic links in the mythonym (cf. Occopirnus, Ockopernnus, Ostopirmus, Octopirnus), as compared to the authentic or etymological form, is connected with (I) the aim of the authors of the manuscripts to indicate the possible origin of the word in its sacral connotation: (I.a) the usage of the grapheme -n-instead of the older -m-is evidently to be related to the structure of the Slavic pagan god name of thunder and lightning PSl. *Perunъ "god name of thunder" (see Boryś, 2005, p. 437), cf. OPl. piorun "lightning" (SSt VI, p. 137), MPl. Piorun "Lithuanian god of thunder" (SPW XXIV, p. 234); (I.b) for that reason the vocal element -i-of the second component was changed to -e-, cf. adj. MPl. p-e-runowy "of the thunder" (SPW XXIII, p. 397); and (II) with the type of random mistakes (i.e. lapsus calami) --ck-→ -ct-/ -st-(see scheme).
Starting with Joseph Bender's hypothesis about the possible reconstruction of the protosememe *"the first", mythonym Ockopirmus started to be interpreted as a derivate of the superlative degree consisting of OPr. ucka "sustentive particle" and numeral OPr. pirmas "first" (see Bender, 1867, p. 101) 5 . Brückner accepted the theory. He explained the origin of the mythologeme in the way of false translation of the information obtained during conversation between native German and Prussian speakers: to the question "Who is the first and the most significant in the rank of gods?" was given an answer -"*Ukopirmus, -the first", i.e. the scientist presupposed the mythonym Ockopirmus was an epithet of the god, but not a particular theonym (Brückner, 1904, p. 47;1918, p. 145;1922, p. 164). This interpretation was favoured by the famous Lithuanian mythologist Jonas Balys (Balys and Biezais, 1973, p. 429).
It should be noted that Prussian scholars ignore the factographic information of the YB, when they ascribe the mythonym Ockopirmus A(p) to the derivates of prefixal sub-class, as the syntagm "<…> der erste Gott <…>" does not presuppose the existence of the highest rank god, but only an epithetic designation of the deity of the sky and the Great Star (i.e. "<…> Gott Himmels vnd Gestirnes <…>" A[p], B, C, i.e. the mythonym is not used to indicate a particular theonym, but to determine the function of the first deity (i.e. Swayxtix "der Gott des Lichtes resp. the god of the Great Star / Venus [= MLat. Lucifer] A[p]) mentioned in the gods" catalogue presented in the YB.
Given the analysis of the list of theonyms of the YB (i.e. reconstruction of the demonological order of the mythonyms) and the newly established status of the bespoke scholastic work (see Kregždys, 2017, pp. 64-67, 71;2018a, p. 98), corrections should be made of the former decision to include it with the list of written sources of authentic information which has been compared to equivalents from the Renaissance epoch. Only the writing with the pejorative connotation (i.e. a contemptuous story about the primitive conception of the Yatvigian pagan faith) might have been circulated in Prussia and cited in other official Church documents (primary, in Agenda Ecclesiastica). Thus, the motive of building the YB cannot be associated with the creation of the works with epistemological and narrative essence, or with the visitation reports. YB is likely to be a legal document that was used to prepare new sanctions against the Yatvigian people (see Kregždys, 2018a, p. 115).
On the basis of the analysis of the YB, it is possibly that the fallacious etymological description of the mythonym Ockopirmus A(p) should be corrected: primarily the structure of the mythologeme is to be reconstructed in accordance with the decoding methodology (by identifying the change of the primary structure of missing elements), and only afterward should efforts be made to decide which function might have been ascribed to the mythonym).
On the basis of the above-mentioned potential changes of Ytv. Ockopirmus, the reconstructed substrate form Ytv. *(K)okupirmas / *(K)ukupirmas (with the second u-, presupposing Ytv. *kukun "of the familiars, devils" [gen. pl.; PEŽ II, p. 295] -about gen. pl. -un ↔ -on < Balt. *-ōn see Mažiulis, 2004, pp. 40-41) reflects protosememe *"first in the rank of devils / sovereign of the familiars". Given the scholastic ideology, the author of the YB might have identified the meaning *"first in the rank of devils" with the pejorative referent of the Christian antipode of God or Lucifer. Due to the identical semantic connotation of Ytv. Swayxtix A(p) "Lucifer", mythonym Ytv. Ockopirmus started to be used expressing an epithet of the devil`s name (see scheme).

CONCLUSIONS
To summarize, the outcomes of the research into the West Baltic (Yatvigian) mythonym Ockopirmus, the following conclusions are proposed: 1. The mythonym Ockopirmus A(p) is not a particular theonym, but an epithet of the deity Swayxtix A(p) "der Gott des Lichtes resp. the god of the Great Star / Venus (= MLat. Lucifer)".