Matryoshka

[Ralph Cleminson]

> And Matreshka is just
> an alternative form of matka, 'womb'.

Perhaps it is in the Freudian context, where anything can stand for
anything ad libitum, but to an etymologist Matreshka is a hypocoristic
form of the proper name Matrena (more properly Matrona).  I have
always assumed that it was applied to the dolls as being typical of the
social milieu to which their attire indictes that they belong.  The name
Matrona is borne by a number of Orthodox saints, such as the virgin
martyrs Matrona of Thessalonica and Matrona of Ancyra (I wonder
what the Freudians would make of that?), hence its use in Russia.


R.M.Cleminson,
Professor of Slavonic Studies,
University of Portsmouth,
Park Building,
King Henry I Street,
Portsmouth PO1 2DZ
tel. +44 23 92 846143, fax: +44 23 92 846040

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