New source of Pskov Regional Dictionary: mythological prose

Abstract

The article is devoted to a comprehensive description of the new publication, “Mythological Stories of Pskov-Belarusian Borderland”, published in three volumes (Pskov, 2021–2023). Its distinctive features include its location in a unique ethnocontact zone – the southern Pskov region – the significant volume of material published for the first time (over 1,200 texts), the broad thematic coverage of mythological prose plots and motifs, the authentic transcription of expedition material, and the inclusion of audio appendices for each volume. The paper emphasizes that the new edition reflects, within dialectal mythological discourse, diverse fragments of the worldview of local  inhabitants of the Pskov-Belarusian borderland, bearers of traditional folk culture. All these distinctive features of the publication, especially the dialect orientation, allow us to consider it as a valuable source for the Pskov Regional Dictionary (PRD). The article pays special attention to the lexical and semantic composition of the published texts. It demonstrates how dialect words characteristic of the Pskov-Belarusian ethnocontact zone function in a mythological context. Particular attention is paid to territorial differences in the use of ethnographic names. One such indicator, for example, is the system of naming a loom: while the Pskov dialects of the historical core area commonly use the term stav, the northern Pskov dialects regularly use the word stativo/stativa, whereas the southern Pskov historical and cultural zone is assigned the word krosna/krosny. The reference dictionaries of dialect and obsolete words compiled by the author in the publication of mythological texts allow for a comparative analysis of these data with materials from published editions of the PRD and its file. The comparison revealed that, despite isolated instances of word absence from the PRD, there may be gaps related to specific aspects of ritual life and folk magic. Therefore, this new source will expand the dictionary's substantive scope and support emerging trends in Pskov lexicography itself: greater attention to the processing of ethnographically significant material.