Onomastic Vocabulary of the Loyma Sub-Dialect (Komi Republic) and Contemporary Dialectal Lexicography

Abstract

The article tackles current problems of onomastic data presentation and correct delivering of its typological and semantic features in a modern dialectal dictionary. This particularly refers to a comprehensive electronic dialectal dictionary which covers a whole set of lexicographic fields of an article’s microstructure, including paradigmatic, syntagmatic, and additional ethnocultural information. The case is observed with the currently developed electronic Dictionary of the Russian Sub-dialect of Loyma Village of the Priluzsky District of the Komi Republic that builds on a machine-based version of the original dictionary. The authors proceed from describing the composition and the main categories of the onomastic vocabulary of the target (Loyma) sub-dialect: major groups of personal names (individual and social), toponyms (including names of cities, water bodies, and various microtoponyms), as well as some peripheral categories of proper names (names of peoples, local residents, etc.). It is noted that the onomastic vocabulary of the Loyma dialect shows a number of peculiar traits, such as extensive variability and synonymy, high incidence of emotional, evaluative, expressive, and stylistic features which reflect the specificity of the sub-dialect’s stylistic system distinctive from that of the standard Russian language. It is concluded that dealing with “living” Russian dialects, the task of creating computer-based versions of hard-copy dictionaries relates not only to the preservation of existing dialectal material but also to the addition and restructuring of these dictionaries to create multi-purpose lexicographic products, tapping cultural potential of the entire dialect, both the onomastic and the lexical.