LITURGICAL TEXT AS A SOURCE OF RESEARCH INTO THE DIALECT SPECIFICS
OF THE KARELIAN LANGUAGE Cover Image

БОГОСЛУЖЕБНЫЙ ТЕКСТ КАК ИСТОЧНИК ИССЛЕДОВАНИЯ ДИАЛЕКТНОЙ СПЕЦИФИКИ КАРЕЛЬСКОГО ЯЗЫКА
LITURGICAL TEXT AS A SOURCE OF RESEARCH INTO THE DIALECT SPECIFICS OF THE KARELIAN LANGUAGE

Author(s): Irina Petrovna Novak
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Philology
Published by: Петрозаводский государственный университет
Keywords: Karelian language; dialectology; translation; dialect speech; written language; religious texts; prayers; Gospels

Summary/Abstract: The article provides an overview of the Karelian-language translations of the Gospel texts and prayers published in 1907 and1908 in the unoffi cial section of Olonets Diocesan Gazette, which so far have not come to the attention of linguists, with a viewto introduce them into scientifi c circulation. The publication of the translations was infl uenced by several reasons: the low level ofthe Russian language among the members of the Karelian parishes; the revitalization of the Lutheran propaganda and missionarywork; and the recognition of the Karelian language as a “missionary language”. In a little more than a year, 14 original translationswere published on the pages of the journal (one of the texts was published twice). Each of them records Karelian dialect speech ofthe early XX century. Most of the texts are written in the Livvi dialect of the Karelian language, common in the vicinity of Olonetstown. The fi rst of these translations titled Easter Gospel in the Karelian Language, published in the sixth issue of the journalin 1907, stands out from all the other. Phonetic and morphological analysis enables to attribute it to the southern variants of theKarelian dialect, namely to the southern Paatene dialects or to the adjacent northern Mätyselkä or eastern Porajärvi dialects. Inaddition, the Karelian-language texts presented on the pages of Olonets Diocesan Gazette can be used for studying the process ofthe Karelian written language formation.

  • Issue Year: 2019
  • Issue No: 7 (184)
  • Page Range: 90-95
  • Page Count: 6
  • Language: Russian