Discursive Words in the Karelian Language: Towards the Formulation of the Question

Abstract

Introduction. Currently, discursive words in the Karelian language have not been subjected to a comprehensive study, and many questions on the categories of connectors of both closely related and unrelated languages of the world cause controversy and discussion. The solution of these controversial issues is supposed to be possible through the accumulation of a significant amount of linguistic material, as well as data on the pragmatics, evolution, semantics and etymology of discursive words. The purpose of the study is to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the official parts of speech (their composition, functions and semantics) in three dialects of the Karelian language (Karelian proper, Livvikov, Ludikov ones) within the framework of the project “Discursive words in the Karelian language: a comparative typological aspect”. Materials and Methods. The study of Karelian syntax was carried out in terms of comparison with the grammatical structure of the Finnish language, which is closely related to Karelian, and the Russian language. The materials for the research were Karelian dictionaries (dialect and new-written) and samples of dialect Karelian speech, which allow to identify the composition and semantics of discursive words, to determine their origin in dialects and dialects of the Karelian language. General scientific and specifically linguistic (comparative-typological, lexicographic, etymological, comparative-historical) methods were applied. Results and Discussion. The most important result of the conducted research is a comprehensive analysis of discursive words in the dialects of the Karelian language with the use of data from related (Finnish, Veps) and unrelated (Russian) languages. Conclusion. The results of the study contribute to the study of pragmatics, evolution, semantics and etymology of discursive words of the Karelian language, and help to clarify the issue of connector categories in closely related and unrelated languages of the world.

Keywords

• karelian language
• russian language
• syntax
• discursive words
• finno-ugric studies
• dialects
• comparative-typological analysis
• semantics