The lexical composition of the Russian language is diverse and very interesting. It contains many original words known only to a narrow circle of people. In lexicology, they are called limited in use and are classified into special groups. These include professional, obsolete and dialect words.
The latter are most often heard in rural areas. They exist mainly in live colloquial speech and usually reflect the realities existing there. Moreover, for the name of the same object, residents can equally use different options: both “local”, commonly used.
Dialect word - what is it?
"Seletok graze behind the house." Not many, having heard this phrase, will understand what is at stake. It is understandable. A colt is sometimes called a foal in a Russian village.
Dialectisms are words that are actively used by the inhabitants of a certain area and are not included in any of the lexical groups of the literary language. Their distribution may be limited to a few localities or an entire region.
Interest in the "local" word in Russia arose in the 18th century. Since then, leading linguists and linguists, including V. Dahl, A. Potebnya, A. Shakhmatov, S. Vygotsky and others, have done a lot of work in this direction. They considered various variants and examples of the use of the word dialectal. In the literature, both domestic and foreign, this word today intersects with such concepts as linguistic geography (specific vocabulary in different territories), social dialectology (age, profession, social status of speakers of local dialects are taken into account).
Dialect groups in Russian
In Russia, there are several variants of dialects. The basic principle of combining dialect words into groups is territorial. In accordance with it, the southern and northern dialects are distinguished, which, in turn, include several dialects. Between them are Central Russian dialects, which became the basis for the formation of the modern Russian language and therefore are closest to the literary norm.
Each group has its own dialect words. Examples of their relationships (including commonly used ones): house - hut (northern) - hut (southern); speak - bait (northern) - gut (southern).
Formation of dialect words
Each dialect, as a rule, has its own distinctive features. In addition, it is customary in science to distinguish several groups, which include dialect words of different ways of formation (examples are given in comparison with the norm).
- Actually lexical. They eithergenerally have no connection with words in the literary language (for example, a squirrel in the Pskov region is a veksha, a basket in the Voronezh region is a sapetka), or they are formed from an existing root and retain its basic meaning (in the Smolensk region: to bathe means to bathe).
- Lexical and derivational. They differ from commonly used words in only one affix: poor fellow - troubled on the Don, talkative - talkative in Ryazan, etc.
- Phonemic. The difference from the existing literary norm lies in one phoneme (sound): andyuk instead of turkey, pakhmurny - i.e. overcast.
- Osemantic. They are completely identical to common words in sound, spelling and form, but differ in lexical meaning: running in the Smolensk region - agile, noodles in the Ryazan region - the name of chickenpox.
Detailing life through dialect words
Many territories have their own peculiarities of life, customs, relations between people, which are most often expressed in speech. It is possible to recreate a complete picture of life in such cases precisely through dialect words. Examples of words that highlight individual details in the general way of everyday life:
- ways of laying sheaves of hay or straw (common name - baburka) in the Pskov region: soyanka - small laying, odonok - large;
- the name of a foal in the Yaroslavl area: up to 1 year old - suckling, from 1 to 2 years old - shearing, from 2 to 3 years old - uchka.
Designation of ethnographic or geographical features
Another option is whendialect words (examples and their meaning are always of interest to “strangers”) help to understand the very structure of life. So, in the north it is customary to build a house and all outbuildings under one roof. Hence a large number of “local” words denoting different parts of the same building: bridge - canopy and porch; hut - living room; ceiling - attic; tower - living room in the attic;
In the Meshchera region, the main economic sector is forestry. A large group of names is associated with it, which is formed by dialect words. Examples of words: sawdust - a log, needles - needles, cut down places in the forest - slash, a person involved in uprooting stumps - peneshnik.
The use of dialect words in fiction
Writers, working on a work, use all available means to recreate the appropriate atmosphere and reveal the images of the characters. Dialects play an important role in this. Examples of their use can be found in the works of A. Pushkin, I. Turgenev, S. Yesenin, M. Sholokhov, F. Abramov, V. Rasputin, V. Astafiev, M. Prishvin and many others. More often, writers whose childhood passed in the countryside turn to dialect words. As a rule, the authors themselves provide footnotes containing the interpretation of words and where they are used.
The function of dialectisms in a work of art can be different. But in any case, they give the text a uniqueness and help to realize the author's idea.
For example, S. Yesenin -a poet for whom the main means of recreating rural life is precisely the Ryazan dialect words. Examples of their use: “in an old-fashioned dilapidated shushun” - a type of women's clothing, “at the threshold in a bowl of kvass” - a wooden tub for dough.
V. Korolenko uses local words when creating a landscape sketch: “I look … at the padi” - gorges. Or I. Turgenev: "the last … squares (large thickets of bushes) will disappear."
The so-called "village" writers have one of the ways to create a literary image - the hero's speech, which includes dialect words. Examples: “God (Lord) helped (helped) you” by V. Astafiev, “they (they) … will spoil (spoil) the earth” - by V. Rasputin.
The meaning of dialect words can be found in the dictionary: in the explanatory they will be marked region. - regional or dial. - dialect. The largest special dictionary is the Dictionary of Russian Folk Dialects.
The entry of dialectisms into the literary language
Sometimes it turns out that a word that was once used only by a certain group of people becomes common. This is a long process, especially in the case of "local" words, but it takes place in our time.
So, few people would think that the rather well-known word "rustling" in origin is a dialect. This is indicated by a note by I. S. Turgenev in the “Notes of a Hunter”: “the reeds rustled, as we say,” i.e. in the Oryol province. The writer uses the word for the first time as an onomatopoeia.
Or no less common - tyrant, which in the time of A. Ostrovsky was a dialect in the Pskov and Tver provinces. Thanks to the playwright, it gained a second birth and today no one raises questions.
These are not isolated examples. The dialect words used to be owl, tues, grip.
The fate of dialect words in our time
Due to the increase in recent years of migration processes within the country, dialects are now spoken mainly by the older generation. The reason is simple - their language was formed in those conditions when the integrity of the people in certain regions of Russia was strong. The more significant is the work of people who study dialect words, which today are becoming one of the ways to study the ethnographic and cultural development, the identity of the Russian people, emphasize its individuality and uniqueness. For the modern generation, this is a living memory of the past.
