On dialectical peculiarities of the Yakut traditional game «hayakh khostohor»

Abstract

The article considers the dialectical unit of the lexico-thematic group, which is of
interest for study as a linguistic object in integration with materials on the traditional culture and life of the Yakuts. In the article, the author conducts a linguoculturological interpretation of the semantics
of the name of the game. The relevance of the topic is because the lexico-thematic group «Dialectical
names of Yakut traditional children’s games» had not previously been subjected to special study as
a linguistic object. The aim of the study is to identify the dialectical features of the semantic field of
the name of the Yakut traditional game “hayakh khostohor”. Research tasks: to reveal the dialectical
nature of the semantics of the name of the game; to determine the semantic connection between
general Yakut and dialect in the name of the game. The material for the research was bilingual
explanatory dictionaries of the Yakut language, records of reports of complex expeditions of the early
20th century. The research used the following methods: linguoculturological analysis of the semantic
structure of the lexeme; descriptive analysis using techniques for interpreting linguistic material. To
identify semantics, the method of semantic identification is used. As a result, the dialect aspect of
the semantic field of the name of the game “hayakh khostohor” was revealed. In the game, hayakh is
used in two meanings: 1) “fermented fish”, the source of which is mainly the Vilyui dialect zone; 2)
the title of the game defines the semantic connection of the dialect lexeme hayakh “fermented fish”
with the general Yakut lexeme hayakh ‘oil’. A playful imitation of everyday life is a representation
of two traditional occupations of the Yakuts (Sakha): cattle breeding – as a heritage from the ancient
Turkic layer of vocabulary of cattle-breeding culture and fishing – as the creation of a northern Turkic
(Yakut) gastronomic culture.