#ethnography definition

• Deal-sealing drink — A traditional Romanian custom consisting of offering a treat (usually drink or food) by the buyer to the seller and witnesses, to seal and celebrate the conclusion of a commercial transaction (especially the sale of animals or land); the drink offered on this occasion. This structural ritual holds a symbolic value of socially confirming the deal, marking the binding nature of the unwritten contract.
• Custom — A custom, tradition, long-standing habit, or customary norm rooted in the social life of the Romanian Principalities, introduced during the period of Ottoman influence; in an old administrative sense, it also designated a traditional tax or tribute paid according to the custom of the land. This structural term reflects a mode of legal and cultural organization based on unwritten laws, strictly respected by rural feudal society.
• Small fire steel — A rare diminutive of the noun 'amnar', designating a small-sized fire steel, often used by travelers, hunters, or shepherds for easy carrying in small belt pouches. In an extended structural sense, the term can also describe a small metallic piece or a secondary axle within a traditional watermill mechanism or household tool.
• Fire-striking — The act of striking fire with steel and its result; the traditional physical process of repeatedly striking a fire steel against a flint stone to produce sparks and ignite tinder. Figuratively, the term describes a structural tightening of relations between two people, manifested through sharp remarks and verbal hostility.
• Romanian regionalism — A rare regional term, archaism, or interjective element used in certain rural areas to designate a ritualistic shout, a specific exclamation during folk dances, or a traditional nickname given to a person considered naive, silly, or absent-minded. In an ethnographic structural sense, it preserves features of the expressive vernacular language within local folklore.
• Knucklebone — A small bone from the hind leg joint of ruminants (especially sheep or goats), used in the past by children as a toy or piece in a traditional game of chance; a regional variant for knucklebone or play-bone. In the folkloric structure, it represents an element of archaic playful culture.
• Self-naming — The act of self-naming and its result; a name, title, or designation that a community, ethnic group, organization, or computer system assigns to itself in a sovereign and autonomous manner. In ethnography, it represents the endonym borne by a people in their own language, as opposed to the exonym used by outsiders.