The Russian Old-Timers’ dialect of the Lower Indigirka and the dialects of European Russia: A comparative aspect

The article specifies and classifies phonetic and grammatical similarities and differences between the dialect of Russian old-timers in the Indigirka River delta (in the north-east of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)) and Russian dialects of European Russia. The Lower Indigirka Old-Timers’ dialect, spoken by one of the subethnic groups of Russians, has not been previously studied in a comparative aspect, and this determines the novelty of the research. The author distinguishes in the Lower Indigirka dialect: 1) typical features of the Northern Russian dialect; 2) features typical for the Pomor and Vologda dialect groups, as well as for the North-Eastern dialectal zone; 3) Northern Russian dialectal features with scattered small areas, usually more noticeable in the western part of the Northern Russian dialect and in the adjacent territories around Novgorod and Pskov; 4) features characteristic of dialects from different regions of European Russia, as well as urban vernacular; 5) features that developed in the Lower Indigirka dialect itself from the transferred features of the Northern Russian dialect, including features reflecting the influence of neighboring non-Slavic languages (Yukaghir, Yakut). Based on different sets of features, the author outlines three stages in the formation of the Lower Indigirka dialect. During the first stage, which began in the 1630s and lasted until the mid-18th century, migrants settled in the lower reaches of the Indigirka, Kolyma, and other large Yakut rivers — primarily people from the lower reaches of the Northern Dvina, Mezen, and Pechora. The Northern Russian basis of the Lower Indigirka dialect was laid, and changes were minor. From the second half of the 18th century, cultural isolation of the population in the lower reaches of the Indigirka increased, and migration from the Dvina and Pechora regions was replaced by natural growth. At this second stage, which lasted until the 20th century, many specific features were formed in the local dialect, including due to the assimilation of a number of features of Siberian languages. The third stage (from the beginning of the 20th century) is characterized by the penetration of colloquialisms and the phenomena of literary language into the Old-Timers’ dialect, the leveling of dialect specificity.