Russian Dialects of the Transvolga Simbirsk Area in the Context of Ethnic and Language Contacts

The study examines Russian dialects spoken of the Volga River’s left bank in the Ulyanovsk region in the context of inter-ethnic contacts. The interest in this topic stems from the region’s polyethnical and multilingual environment, which is driven by the presence of multiple peoples (Slavic, Turkic, Finno-Ugric) in the same area. After collecting and transcribing records, the researchers attempted to demonstrate that the Slavic, Turkic, and Finno-Ugric peoples residing in this region share some housekeeping traditions, which are reflected in their languages. The presence of borrowed elements in the Russian dialects of those peoples residing in non-native territories is explained by their secondary character. Ethnic and cultural contacts mainly influence dictionary in the Russian dialects of the Transvolga Simbirsk area, as the lexical sphere contains a large number of borrowings, primarily in cattle farming, such as names of animal groups, various names of enclosures and sheds (karda, baza). Ethnic and language contacts affect other lexical groups as well, including food, landscape, plants, animals. Borrowings among functional words deserve special attention (aida, aba). The grammar of the Russian dialects of the Transvolga Simbirsk area also features elements of the Mordovic (Erzya and Moksha) and Turkic (Chuvash and Tatar) languages.