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Introduction
An Overview of Russian Dialects
The Region and its Languages
The Varzuga Dialect
Our Expeditions and Projects
Publications
Introduction
In 2001 and 2004, students and staff of the Russian Department at the University of Tromsø carried out three expeditions to the Kola Peninsula in Northwest Russia. The goal was to collect as much material as possible on the Northern Russian dialect that is still spoken on the southern coast on the White Sea, in what is known as the “Ter Coast”. This dialect is nowadays spoken only by the older generation, and its demise is imminent.
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| Maria-Assumption Church in Varzuga |
Why Study Russian Dialects?
The literary traditions of the Russian language go back to the 11th century. During the Middle Ages a closely related South Slavic language, Church Slavonic, was used as the vehicle of literacy in Russia. This situation has left clear marks on both the vocabulary and even the morphology of Modern Standard Russian.
During the last one hundred years, and especially after the Soviet Government started its literacy campaigns in the nineteen twenties, the prestigious written language has greatly reduced the use of dialects. In stark contrast to Norwegian dialects, Russian dialects enjoy a very low status. They are considered picturesque, but impractical remnants of the past, an impediment to the modernization of society. Therefore, dialects have a low profile in Russian everyday life, leading some Russians to even deny their very existence. The use of dialect is nowadays mostly confined to the older generations among the rural population. Although some young people may use an occasional dialect word, or their intonation and pronunciation may betray a regional influence, their speech can hardly be qualified as dialectal. In a few decades, Russian dialects will have become extinct.
Why Study a Northern Russian dialect?
During the Middle Ages, the inhabitants of the Northern Russian merchant city of Novgorod used – in addition to the Church Slavonic literary language – the local dialect for everyday texts of informal character. These texts were written on birch bark, and a number of them have been preserved remarkably well, buried underground in humid conditions.
The enormous destruction in Novgorod caused by WW II made it possible to carry out large-scale, systematic excavations, and hundreds of these birch-bark letters were found. These present us with a glimpse of the Northern Russian spoken language over a relatively long period. They provide us with material for comparison with modern Northern Russian dialects, and can help us understand how Russian speakers migrated north during the Middle Ages.
Another reason for examining Northern Russian dialects is that they have thusfar attracted little attention from linguists, especially the dialects fo the Kola Peninsula. The regional dialect was, for example, not included in the DARJa, the large atlas of the Russian language in Europe. In this work the dialects of Siberia were excluded because of their relatively young age; the dialects of the Russian North were excluded because the low population density made it difficult to draw maps with precise isoglosses. This meant the omission of several historically interesting dialects, e.g. the archaic dialects of the Arkhangelsk area.
A third, more practical reason is that Northern Russia borders on Northern Norway, where our university is located. It is thus relatively easily accessible. In addition, the traditional lifestyle of the rural population of the Kola Peninsula is quite similar to that of the Northern Norwegian population: it is closely connected to arctic natural conditions, fishery, reindeer husbandry, and forestry. This similarity in living conditions between these otherwise very different peoples makes research in this field sometimes easier, but it also carries an element of the surprising and exotic.
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