Article

Name: Peculiarities of motivating features of dialect names of snow varieties in Yakut language

Authors: E. R. Nikolaev

Institute for Humanities Research and Indigenous Studies of the North of the Siberian Branch of the RAS Yakutsk, Russian Federation

In the section Лексикология

Abstract:

Snow names in the Yakut language have not yet been the subject of a special study. Some articles classify all-Yakut names of snow according to their physical properties. This article describes the semantics and motivating features of snow names in Yakut language based on the analysis of lexicographic, literary, and artistic sources. The semantics of the names was clarified using field data collected by the author during 2022–2024 dialectological expeditions in Yakutia. The study employed descriptive, deductive-inductive, lexico-semantic, and motivational analytical methods. The analysis has demonstrated that the nomenclature of snow types is driven by their physical attributes, influenced by environmental factors (extended winters, seasonal variations), zoological parallels (hare, chipmunk, crow, puffin), and functional associations with folklore and traditional practices (hunting). In addition, it has been revealed that the formal way of expressing the motivating feature is the combination of components and formalization of one of them with the affix of affiliation. The primary motivation behind dialectal snow terms is semantic, stemming from the meaning of the derivation word. Snow terminology is represented across all four Yakut dialectal zones: Central, Olekmo-Vilyuysk, Northeastern, and Northwestern. The diversity of snow names in the Yakut language is attributed to the development of vast territories, as well as with the arrangement of everyday life and the development of traditional occupations (hunting).

Keywords: Yakut language, dialect vocabulary, motivating feature, semantics, dialect, names of snow

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