Semantic features of the dialect vocabulary of the olonkho ‘Дуолан Баай Тойон, Арҕас Баай Хотун’ by M. E. Novikov – Melekh Mekheele

Abstract

The paper analyzes the dialect composition of the vocabulary of the Yakut epic olonkho. The semantic features of dialect words are described, which are largely due to local storytelling traditions and the correlation of the storytelling lexicon with the subdialects of the Yakut language. The aim of the study is to describe the semantic features of dialect words that are used in the olonkho ‘Дуолан Баай Тойон, Арҕас Баай Хотун’ by the Amga storyteller M. E. Novikov – Melekh Mekheele. The study is novel in that it is the first to consider the semantic features of the olonkho vocabulary in terms of identifying dialect features. As a result, it was found that the olonkho dialect vocabulary is a representative of the central dialect zone of the Yakut language. It was determined that the dialect vocabulary in the epic text is used when describing the surrounding objective world, the external features of a character. Mongolian, Tungusic lexical parallels were revealed. The linguistic source of borrowing of some words was clarified: хойук ‘boat’ – a Turkism, таҥса харыйа ‘cedar’ – an Evenkism. The analysis carried out showed that the dialect part of the olonkho vocabulary has a stable character. The presence of dialect words in the Yakut epic indicates the degree of their importance in the folklore tradition of the Yakuts.