From Observations on the Origin of Interjectives in Podolia Dialects

Abstract

Interjections as a special part of speech are a subject of research that interests many linguists due to their wide variability, ancient origins, and interesting etymology. The purpose of the article is to analyse of the origin of Podolian interjectives. The research material was 387 interjectives fixed in the "Materials for the Dictionary of the Podolian Dialect" (Vinnytsia, 2021). To obtain reliable results, the following research methods were used: descriptive - to study exclamations as linguistic units; linguistic observation method - to divide interjectives presented in the dictionary into groups according to semantics; quantitative calculation method to establish a quantitative relationship between interjectives in the Podolian dialect belonging to different thematic groups; comparative-historical method - to clarify the genesis of lexical units; continuous sampling method to establish an empirical basis for the study. The results of the analysis reveal that the analyzed interjectives are grouped by origin into appellative, onomatopoeic, verbal, adverbial, and pronoun. It was established that the main array of interjectives in the Podolian dialect is formed by vocative nterjectives directed at animals and birds. The interjectives of this group belong to an ancient layer of vocabulary, which still retains some elements of the Indo-European and Pan-Slavic vocabulary. It is observed that many Podolian interjectives are polysemantic, therefore they can be used as an address to different animals or birds or to the same animal or bird for different purposes. A total of 373 (96%) vocative interjectives were recorded. Among the vocative nterjectives, we distinguish 24 groups of interjectives to: 1) sheep; 2) lambs; 3) goats; 4) horses; 5) foals; 6) pigs; 7) piglets; 8) cows; 9) calves; 10) dogs; 11) puppies; 12) cats; 13) kittens); 14) oxen; 15) rabbits; 16) hens; 17) chickens; 18) geese; 19) goslings; 20) ducks; 21) ducklings; 22) turkeys; 23) pigeons; 24) birds of prey. The quantitative characteristics of each subgroup attest to the peculiarities of the economic activity of the region. The groups of vocative interjections for calling and driving away sheep, horses and foals, pigs and piglets, cows and calves have the widest repertoire, and the interjections for addressing an adult and a small animal differ. We trace the tendency to the formation of appellative interjections, which are based on the name of the animal used in children's speech. The reasons for this pattern are outlined.