The conceptualization of water space in the oral speech of Siberian old-timers (based on the concept “river”)

The article aims at identifying the principles of conceptualization of the water space in the oral speech of Siberian old-timers based on the material of the concept “river.” The research novelty lies in the attraction of the unique facts of dialect speech and their association with the socio-cultural processes of the development of Siberia that reflect the interaction with indigenous peoples, including in the language sphere. The analysis uses an interdisciplinary approach based on a research model that includes four components: physical substrate, regulatory systems, interactions and actions, symbolic coding and perception. The authors use the modeling method in the construction of the nominative field of the concept “River,” which includes various designations of the river as a water body. The core of the lexical representatives of the concept river is made up of all-Russian lexical units, neutral and complicated by connotations of an emotional-evaluative and expressive nature: reka [river], rechka [small river], rechushka [small river], rechen ’ka [small river]. The use in speech of combinations with proper names, i.e., the names of specific rivers, characterize common names. The principles of nomination of these rivers reflect different stages of the development of Siberia, which is confirmed by borrowings from the Turkic and Finno-Ugric languages: Ob’, Tom’, Ket’, Chulym, etc. The multilateral characterization of the river as a water body is presented in the lexical system of Russian old-timer dialects of the Middle Ob region, including all Russian, proper dialect lexemes, as well as dialect variants of all-Russian words. At the lexical level, the properties of the river are presented as a physical and geographical object, an element of the landscape, an object of human economic activity, and as a waterway. The river as a physical-geographical object includes the following features: the speed of the flow (fast/slow), the nature of water movement, depth (deep/shallow place), width, and the characteristics of the riverbed (shape (straight/winding), channel changes (new/old), location in relation to the center and periphery (main/non-main), characteristics of the water regime. The river as part of the landscape contains names of natural objects located next to it (yar, krutoyar, ugol, tyup, uryum) or inside it (oseredok, elban, byk), which help a person navigate in the surrounding space. The lexicon of different thematic groups that describe fishing tackle and the method of catching fish represent the river as a place of economic activity. The river as a waterway includes its characteristics in terms of the possibility of moving large and small vessels along it. At the metaphorical level, there is an anthropomorphic model that represents the river as a living, energetic creature, constantly in motion, characterized by unfriendly behavior. Axiological conceptual meanings lie in the utilitarian sphere associated with human economic activity. The largest number of contexts is on fishing, timber transportation, and human movement along the river. Dialectal lexical expressions characterizing the river are actively used as terms and for special purposes in texts of a geographical orientation, which expands their scope of application as a source of replenishment of the vocabulary of various areas of the Russian language. The authors declare no conflicts of interests.

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