The lexical composition of the Russian language is diverse and very interesting. It contains many original words known only to a narrow circle of persons. In lexicology, they are called limited in use and distinguished in special groups. These include professional, obsolete, and dialect words.
The latter can most often be heard in the countryside. They exist mainly in lively colloquial speech and usually reflect the realities existing there. Moreover, for the name of one and the same subject, residents can equally use different options: “local”, common.
Dialect word - what is it?
"Herring grazes behind the house." Not many, having heard this phrase, will understand what is at stake. It is understandable. In the Russian countryside, a foal is sometimes called a small-crawl.
Dialectisms are words that are actively used by residents of a certain locality and do not belong to any of the lexical groups of the literary language. Their distribution may be limited to a few settlements or a whole area.
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 examined various options and examples of the use of the word dialect. In literature, both domestic and foreign, this word today intersects with such concepts as linguistic geography (especially vocabulary in different territories), social dialectology (taking into account age, profession, social status of native speakers of local dialects).
Dialect groups in Russian
In Russia, there are several options for dialects. The basic principle of combining dialect words into groups is territorial. In accordance with it, the southern and northern dialect is 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 most closely approximate to the literary norm.
Each group has its own dialect words. Examples of their relationships (including common ones): home - hut (sowing) - hut (southerly); to speak - to buy (sowing) - to gutar (sout.).
Dialect words
Each dialect, as a rule, has its own distinctive features. In addition, it is customary in science to distinguish several groups that include dialect words that are different in the way they are formed (examples are given in comparison with the norm).
- Actually lexical. They either do not have any connection with words in the literary language (for example, a protein in the Pskov region - veksha, a basket in Voronezh - a slipper), or they are formed from the existing root and retain its main meaning (in the Smolensk region: bathing means steaming).
- Lexical-derivational. They differ from common words only by one affix: the poor man is in trouble in the Don, the talker is talkable in Ryazan, etc.
- Phonemic. The difference from the existing literary norm is in one phoneme (sound): andyuk instead of turkey, pakhmy - i.e. overcast.
- Osemantic. They are completely identical to commonly used words in sound, spelling and form, but differ in lexical meaning: running in the Smolensk region is agile, noodles in the Ryazan region are the name for chicken pox.
Detailing life through dialect words
Many territories have their own peculiarities of everyday life, mores, and relations between people who most often find expression in speech. It is possible to recreate the full picture of life in such cases through dialect words. Examples of words highlighting individual details in the general way of everyday life:
- methods of laying sheaves of hay or straw (common name - baburka) in the Pskov region: soyanka - small stacking, odonok - large;
- the name of the foal in the Yaroslavl area: up to 1 year old - a sucker, from 1 to 2 years old - a shearer, from 2 to 3 years old - a uchka.
Designation of ethnographic or geographical features
Another option is when dialect words (examples and their meaning always arouse interest among "outsiders") help to understand the very structure of life. So, in the north it is customary to build a house and erect all the outbuildings under one roof. Hence a large number of "local" words denoting different parts of the same building: a bridge - a canopy and a porch, a hut - a living room, a ceiling - an attic, a tower - a living room in the attic, a barn - a hayloft, a little fat - a place in the stable for cattle.
In the Meshchersky Territory, the main economic sector is forestry. A large group of names is associated with it, which are formed by dialect words. Examples of words: sawdust - sawn wood, needles - iglishnik, logged out places in the forest - chopping wood, a person engaged in rooting out stumps - a pesennik.
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 heroes. An important role in this is played by dialect words. 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 dialectic words are addressed by writers whose childhood passed in the village. As a rule, authors themselves give footnotes containing the interpretation of words and the place of their use.
The function of dialectisms in a work of art may be different. But in any case, they give the text a unique character and help to realize the author’s idea.
For example, S. Yesenin is a poet for whom Ryazan dialect words are the main means of reconstructing rural life. Examples of their use: “in an old-fashioned dilapidated shushun” - a type of women's clothing, “at the threshold in a kvass bowl” - a wooden tub for dough.
V. Korolenko uses local words to create a landscape sketch: “I look ... at the paddy” - 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: “hast (God) helped you (helped)” by V. Astafiev, “they (they) ... they will strip up the land (spoil)” - by V. Rasputin.
The meaning of the dialect words can be found in the dictionary: in the sensible they will be marked obl. - regional or dial. - dialect. The largest special dictionary is the Dictionary of Russian 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 goes into the category of common ones. This is a lengthy process, especially in the case of "local" words, but it is still present.
So, few people would think that the rather well-known word “rustle” is dialectic in origin. This is indicated by the note of I. S. Turgenev in the “Notes of the hunter”: “the reeds rustled, as we say”, i.e. in the Oryol province. The writer uses the word for the first time as onomatopoeia.
Or no less common - tyranny, which at the time of A. Ostrovsky was dialectic in the Pskov and Tver provinces. Thanks to the playwright, it has found a rebirth and today no one has any questions.
These are not isolated examples. Earlier, eagle owl, tues, grip were similar to dialect words.
The fate of dialect words in our time
In connection with the increase in recent years of migration processes within the country, the older generation now speaks most of the dialects. 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 ethnographic and cultural development, the identity of the Russian people, emphasize its individuality and originality. For the modern generation, it is a living memory of the past.