On the uniqueness of the particle chyо and phrases with it in connection with the issues of lexicographizing

Abstract

The article continues a cycle of works in which the authors explore the common parlance word chyo. In connection with the issues of lexicographic description, the particle chyo and phrases with it are considered. Their specificity is revealed on the material of the card file for the Dictionary of Russian Folk Dialects in comparison with the particle chto in the literary language according to the Dictionary of Contemporary Russian Literary Language. The particle is considered from the point of view of the main parameters of functioning and lexicographizing: formal, functional-pragmatic (communicative), and semantic. The analysis is complicated due to the actual absence of an exhaustive and consistent theory of particles for literary language and dialects. The following results were obtained. (1) According to various parameters, the particle chyo is only partially identical to its equivalent in the literary language, the semantic and functional-pragmatic range of the common parlance word chyo is wider. (2) In order to avoid contradictions of various theoretical approaches, the term “complex particle” should be abandoned in favor of the term “composite particle”, and labels clarifying the category of particles should be abandoned in favor of formulations that indirectly reflect the necessary information such as “used in interrogative and exclamatory sentences”, “used to enhance the meaning”, etc. (3) Polyfunctionality (a combination of features of different parts of speech) as a fundamental feature of the functioning of particles should be taken into account when defining the word chyo. Its definition, if possible, should also reflect the “shades” of the meaning chyo gives and describe transitional cases of using the particle as an interjection or introductory word. (4) For a correct lexicographic presentation of the material, if possible, the intonation of the phrase with the word chyo should be taken into account, it is necessary to include the widest possible context, commentaries of compilers of field materials. (5) It is necessary to reflect in the interpretation the shades of meaning, expressive and emotional evaluation, the modalities introduced by particles into the utterance. The features of the use of particles are easier to identify using substitution (by synonyms, equivalents) and elimination (removing of the analyzed word from the utterance) methods. (6) A special, in-depth consideration of combinations with the word chyo, including in the role of a particle, is required, which is the immediate prospect of this research. The article concludes that the analyzed materials confirm the authors’ idea of the need to include common parlance words in the corpus of dialect dictionaries and develop special approaches for the correct lexicographizing of such vocabulary.