SOME FEATURES OF NAMING DISEASES IN KOMI DIALECTS

Abstract

The article analyzes the popular names of smallpox and chicken pox, recorded in the “Dictionary of the Komi language dialects” (2012-2014). The semantics and the formal structure of the names are explored. The lexical units referring to smallpox include separate lexemes, which are verbal nouns formed by suffixation ( kokas' ), and compound names with two elements. The latter mostly implements the following model: "noun (in the nominative) + noun meaning ‘smallpox’, ‘disease’. The attributive component indicates the disease, its cause or the mode of transmission ( pis't'i vis'an, jen kokas', ru kokač' ). In the names of chicken pox, which, in accordance with the common notion, is a lighter variety of smallpox, compound constructions indicate the milder nature of the disease ( prestej kokas' ), and its source - the wind ( tev jyv kokač' ). The lexemes denoting smallpox ( kokač'/ kokas', pis't'i/ pis'ki ) are the base words of such phrases as well.