Information on the thesis

The thesis presents an analysis of dialectal lexical units pertaining to foodstuffs and kitchen utensils recorded in 56 villages across Lviv oblast. The study introduces a vast amount of heretofore unknown material from the San-Dniester dialectal area and offers a semantic analysis of these units. The author also gives due attention to regional names by establishing their origins and diffusion, as well as the relation of the studied items to their equivalents in other Ukrainian dialects. No special research of the naming practices in the said area has been conducted, in particular the studies that deal with names of foodstuffs and kitchen utensils. These factors add up to the timeliness of the present research.

The study offers an overview of the previous scholarship dedicated to the San and Dniester dialects, the names of foodstuffs and utensils, the main lexicо-semantical, phonetic and morphological features of the San-Dniester dialectal area, as well as major ways and means of nomination.

The bulk of the studied lexemes were formed through suffixation with analytical word-formation also being wide-spread. The category of foodstuffs entails highly specific denominations, whereas the lion’s share of the lexis pertaining to kitchen utensils is made up of borrowed lexemes, mostly of Polish origin, which are also wide-spread in the other dialects of the south-western group. Borrowings from German, French, Latin, Greek, Romanian, Slovak and other languages were also discovered. A comparative diachronic analysis of the recorded lexicon shows an increase in the influence of the standard language on the dialects of the San-Dniester region. As a result certain lexical items (вареники, холодець, деруни, каструля) appeared in the studied dialects. However, they did not manage to fully supplant the local denominations and took on the role of lexical doublets.

Polysemy is a highly characteristic feature of the studied lexicon. It has been observed that one lexeme can have four meanings within a single thematic group. The lexis pertaining to foodstuffs and kitchen utensils stand in hypo-hyperonymic relations with each other.

The studied lexical units are motivated by the dish’s main ingredient, its taste, color and temperature, ethnonyms, names of holidays, as well as certain objects (their form, size and capacity).

Most of the established lexemes are also attested in other Ukrainian dialects.

The studied region was divided into three sub-regions using methods of lexical cartography. The dialects of the region’s northern part include many features of the Dniester dialect, whereas the southern part demonstrates strong Boyko influence.

The foodstuffs and dishes which pertain to certain holidays were analyzed in the context of each particular observance. The author states their symbolic meanings, as well as certain prohibitions which pertain to them. It has been established that certain dishes were used in a number of observances, for instance bread is an indispensable element of both the calendar cycle and the family cycle.

Keywords: dialects of the San-Dniester region, area, names of foodstuffs, names of kitchen utensils, thematic group, motivation.