Substratum Approach to the Dialect Word (On the Semantic Collision of the Concept "Volya")

The paper deals with one of the key notions of the Russian culture - VOLYA [volition, will]. The research object is Russian dialects since, in the author's opinion, it is the language of traditional spiritual culture that contains the native Russian basis that has not been fogged by the West-European influence and determines the national originality. The author thinks that the references to the opinions and the assessments of any authorities in history, literature and philosophy are poorly convincing as they are always subjective. That is why, when researching the notion VOLYA, it is necessary to penetrate into the language ideology and get rid of obtruded assessments. The author offers the substratum approach to the notion description. The substratum approach is regarded as an approach that reveals not only the dialect word' meaning and inner form but also the ethnic and cultural imperatives that have lead to the form's actualization. This approach will help to avoid subjectivity in the language personality assessment and to "reconstruct" meanings which are the basis of the traditional culture. The vast dialect material given in the article proves that, in contrast to the standard language, in the Russian dialects VOLYA is interpreted in a more diverse manner since the environment is also comprehended through the prism of VOLYA. VOLYA in the language of the traditional culture is a polysemantic word which combines abstract, spatial, material, quantitative, temporal and personal meanings. In other words, the meaning range of this notion in dialect is much broader: it ranges from concrete common things connected with peasant household activities to abstract notions referred to life and human fate conceptions. At the same time, the author discovers the inner ambivalence of VOLYA that is connected with the fact that in its interpretation sacral and common meanings have intertwined. The author proves that, in the interpretation of VOLYA by the language of traditional spiritual culture, moral principles, religious practice, traditions and the Russian temper are of great importance. That is why VOLYA is limited by the Christian traditions, on the one hand, and by the social and ethnic norms of traditional spiritual culture, on the other. This interpretation of VOLYA indicates the priorities of the Russian traditional culture. From the viewpoint of the culture moral imperatives, VOLYA contradicts social and ethnic norms as people unable to resist their desires are antagonized by the society because they do not comply with the society's moral principles. This fact strongly proves the victory of culture against the natural basis in people.

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