DISTRIBUTION OF FRONT FRICATIVE CONSONANTS IN KARELIAN SUB-DIALECTS OF MIDDLE KARELIA (BASED ON APPLICATION OF THE COGNATE ANALYSIS ALGORITHM OF LINGVODOC LINGUISTIC PLATFORM)

Abstract

The article reports the results of an analysis of the distribution of front fricative consonants in the Middle Karelian group of Karelian sub-dialects. The study area was chosen due to its position at a transition between Karelian supradialects, where two opposite sibilant presentation systems collide. Intensive migrations of Karelians inside the study area have generated a fairly sophisticated situation with the phenomenon in question: which consonant variant is used depends on quite a few factors (opening or closing position in the word, presence of the vowel i in the immediate vicinity, front or back vocalism of the word, quality of the second component in consonant blends), which appear in different combinations across the distribution range. Application of the cognate analysis algorithm of LingvoDoc linguistic platform to the thematic dictionaries, which were made using the “Programs for collecting material for the dialectal atlas of the Karelian language” filled out in the mid-20th century in 146 settlements in Karelia, permitted determining which specific word beginning and middle phonetic positions influence the distribution of possible variants of front fricatives in the Middle Karelian sub-dialect group. Visualization of the results in a map brings about the conclusion about the areal nature of the dialect differentiating phonetic phenomenon, on the one hand, and demonstrates that the main sibilant distribution isoglosses do not coincide with the boundaries of Karelian dialects and supradialects in the traditional division, on the other.