Astrakhan Russian ( rus, Астраханский русский) is an
umbrella term
In linguistics, semantics, general semantics, and ontologies, hyponymy () is a semantic relation between a hyponym denoting a subtype and a hypernym or hyperonym (sometimes called umbrella term or blanket term) denoting a supertype. In other wor ...
for the
regional varieties of the
Russian language spoken in
Astrakhan Oblast, a
federal subject
The federal subjects of Russia, also referred to as the subjects of the Russian Federation (russian: субъекты Российской Федерации, subyekty Rossiyskoy Federatsii) or simply as the subjects of the federation (russian ...
of
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
. Astrakhan Oblast is one of the most diverse parts of the country in terms of ethnic groups and languages. The major groups are
ethnic Russians
, native_name_lang = ru
, image =
, caption =
, population =
, popplace =
118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 ''Winkler Prins'' estimate)
, region1 =
, pop1 ...
(61% of the population),
Kazakhs (17%) and
Tatars
The Tatars ()[Tatar]
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different (7%), but many others are also present and influence the shared local identity, culture and language varieties.
Being a regional rather than linguistic unity, Astrakhan Russian is a term for a broad group of dialects varying between speakers depending on their ethnicity, native language, age, education, occupation, location within the region and other social factors. Nevertheless, they share certain traits and can be grouped into a few categories.
The main divide is that between Russians and people of other ethnic groups, as the speech of the latter is influenced by the vernacular languages of their communities. Astrakhan Russian as spoken by Kazakh people is noticeably influenced by the
Kazakh language on most levels, and this is not limited to native Kazakh speakers. It is not uncommon for people of minority background to grow up in an ethnically and linguistically diverse town or city in the region speaking only Russian, but their Russian typically still has traces of their
heritage language
A heritage language is a minority language (either immigrant or indigenous) learned by its speakers at home as children, and difficult to be fully developed because of insufficient input from the social environment. The speakers grow up with a ...
.
Vocabulary
One of the things that unite Astrakhan Russian speakers of all ethnic backgrounds is a group of local words that do not exist in standard Russian and other
Russian dialects
Russian dialects are spoken variants of the Russian language.
Russian dialects and territorial varieties are divided in two conceptual chronological and geographic categories: Kamusella, Tomasz. (2018). Russian: A Monocentric or Pluricentric Lan ...
or have different meanings in them. In many cases these words originate from
Turkic languages
The Turkic languages are a language family of over 35 documented languages, spoken by the Turkic peoples of Eurasia from Eastern Europe and Southern Europe to Central Asia, East Asia, North Asia ( Siberia), and Western Asia. The Turkic l ...
. Here are some examples:
* () 'crow'; this word exists in standard Russian and most Russian dialects, but only as a pejorative way to refer to an elderly woman. Its origin in Astrakhan Russian and other dialects is the same, both words come from Turkic 'crow', but Astrakhan Russian preserved its original meaning, whereas other varieties only use it as a metaphor;
* () 'untidy person'; this word originates from Kazakh 'pig'. A similar word exists in other Russian dialects, but stress falls on the other syllable (second in Astrakhan, first elsewhere), and the meanings vary;
* ()'eggplant'; origin unknown;
* () 'gathering (of family or friends)'; unique to Astrakhan Russian, Turkic origin;
* () 'small river'; this word exists in standard Russian but originates from the Astrakhan region; Turkic origin;
* () 'small desert lake'; unique to Astrakhan Russian as a
common noun
A proper noun is a noun that identifies a single entity and is used to refer to that entity (''Africa'', ''Jupiter'', ''Sarah'', ''Microsoft)'' as distinguished from a common noun, which is a noun that refers to a class of entities (''continent, ...
, only exists elsewhere as a
toponym
Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...
.
* () 'lotus flower'; unique to Astrakhan Russian, origin unknown;
* () 'puddle'; unique to Astrakhan Russian, possibly Turkic origin.
See also
*
Varieties of the Russian language
References
Literature
* Kondrashova, Olga (2014
Dialektizmy Astrahanskoj oblasti
* Losev, Gennady & Kirokosian, Mihail (2007) Astrahanskie slovečki. Astrahan: Čilim. 260 p.
{{authority control
Astrakhan Oblast
Languages of Russia
Russian dialects