Basic vocabulary of the Karelian and Vepsian languages in the linguistic and geographical aspect
English
journal number:
Journal’s Subject Headings:
Philology
About author:
Institute of Linguistics, Literature and History, Karelian Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Petrozavodsk, Russian Federation, [email protected]
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Karelian and Vepsian vocabulary has been collected and studied by linguists from Russia and Finland for two centuries. An invaluable source for research in the dialectology of the North-East group of the Baltic-Finnish languages
is the «Comparative and Onomasiological Dictionary of the Karelian, Vepsian and Sami Languages» (2007). The dictionary was prepared by staff of the Institute of Linguistics, Literature and History of the Karelian Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences using field research data from 1979–1981. The article reports the main results of applying the statistical method of cluster analysis to the dictionary entries.
Objective: the analysis of the basic vocabulary of the dialects of the Karelian and Vepsian languages in the linguistic and geographical aspect using the statistical method of cluster analysis (dialectometry method).
Research materials: pre-encoded for being uploaded to the clustering software database lexical data from the «Comparative and Onomasiological Dictionary of the Karelian, Vepsian and Sami Languages» (about 43 thousand units).
Results and novelty of the research: the scientific novelty of the research is the application of the statistical method of cluster analysis to large volumes of pre-encoded lexical dialect material. The results of the calculation confirm the conclusions made by linguists earlier regarding the unity of the Vepsian and Karelian languages, as well as the presence of a clear border between them. The question of determination of the linguistic status of the Ludic dialects, which has been the subject of discussions among Russian and Finnish linguists for decades, is resolved in favor of the Karelian dialect on the basis of
the material involved in the analysis. The boundaries between clusters outlined by the clustering program for the Vepsian language coincided with its dialect classification. On the Karelian part of the final map, the main bundle of isoglosses shifted north of the border between the dialects of the language, which indicates a more mobile character of its lexical level. The results presented in the article and the method of obtaining them will be later used to develop a linguistically grounded classification of Karelian language dialects.
Key words: Karelian language, Vepsian language, vocabulary, dialectology, linguistic geography, dialectometry, cluster analysis, cluster map.
Acknowledgements: the study was carried out under the state order of the Karelian Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The author is grateful to Martti Penttonen, Professor of Informatics at the University of Eastern Finland, for designing the clustering software; Alexandra P. Rodionova, Leading Engineer Researcher at the Institute of Linguistics, Literature and History of the Karelian Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences, for help with coding materials for the study; Natalia B. Krizhanovskaya, Leading Engineer Researcher at the Institute of Applied Mathematical
Research of the Karelian Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences, for developing the Karelian dialect database.
For citation: Novak I. P. Basic vocabulary of the Karelian and Vepsian languages in the linguistic and geographical aspect // Vestnik ugrovedenia = Bulletin of Ugric Studies. 2021; 11 (1): 90–101.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Karelian and Vepsian vocabulary has been collected and studied by linguists from Russia and Finland for two centuries. An invaluable source for research in the dialectology of the North-East group of the Baltic-Finnish languages
is the «Comparative and Onomasiological Dictionary of the Karelian, Vepsian and Sami Languages» (2007). The dictionary was prepared by staff of the Institute of Linguistics, Literature and History of the Karelian Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences using field research data from 1979–1981. The article reports the main results of applying the statistical method of cluster analysis to the dictionary entries.
Objective: the analysis of the basic vocabulary of the dialects of the Karelian and Vepsian languages in the linguistic and geographical aspect using the statistical method of cluster analysis (dialectometry method).
Research materials: pre-encoded for being uploaded to the clustering software database lexical data from the «Comparative and Onomasiological Dictionary of the Karelian, Vepsian and Sami Languages» (about 43 thousand units).
Results and novelty of the research: the scientific novelty of the research is the application of the statistical method of cluster analysis to large volumes of pre-encoded lexical dialect material. The results of the calculation confirm the conclusions made by linguists earlier regarding the unity of the Vepsian and Karelian languages, as well as the presence of a clear border between them. The question of determination of the linguistic status of the Ludic dialects, which has been the subject of discussions among Russian and Finnish linguists for decades, is resolved in favor of the Karelian dialect on the basis of
the material involved in the analysis. The boundaries between clusters outlined by the clustering program for the Vepsian language coincided with its dialect classification. On the Karelian part of the final map, the main bundle of isoglosses shifted north of the border between the dialects of the language, which indicates a more mobile character of its lexical level. The results presented in the article and the method of obtaining them will be later used to develop a linguistically grounded classification of Karelian language dialects.
Key words: Karelian language, Vepsian language, vocabulary, dialectology, linguistic geography, dialectometry, cluster analysis, cluster map.
Acknowledgements: the study was carried out under the state order of the Karelian Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The author is grateful to Martti Penttonen, Professor of Informatics at the University of Eastern Finland, for designing the clustering software; Alexandra P. Rodionova, Leading Engineer Researcher at the Institute of Linguistics, Literature and History of the Karelian Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences, for help with coding materials for the study; Natalia B. Krizhanovskaya, Leading Engineer Researcher at the Institute of Applied Mathematical
Research of the Karelian Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences, for developing the Karelian dialect database.
For citation: Novak I. P. Basic vocabulary of the Karelian and Vepsian languages in the linguistic and geographical aspect // Vestnik ugrovedenia = Bulletin of Ugric Studies. 2021; 11 (1): 90–101.
