Vekovukhi, Zasidelki, Degtyari and Other Nominations of the Unmarried (Based on Kuban Sub-dialects)

Using material from Kuban sub-dialects, which belong to the group of secondary formation dialects, this article explores dialectal designations for men and women who have not entered into marriage and identifies the semantic models underlying these nominations. The lexical units are described against the background of the parent linguistic bases of the Kuban dialects — Southern Russian sub-dialects and the Ukrainian language — with reference to ethnocultural data. The article characterizes the dynamics of attitudes toward celibacy among the Kuban Cossacks in connection with changes in their way of life. It pays special attention to the development of local meanings in the analyzed nominations within the Kuban sub-dialects, revealing the semantic mechanisms behind these meanings, and emphasizes the productivity of the zoomorphic metaphor in the system of terms for the unmarried. Particular attention is paid to the figurative quality of a number of lexical and phraseological units and to their emotional-expressive potential. By analyzing the semantic structure of the words and their internal form, the study concludes that attitudes toward unmarried men are predominantly disapproving, while unmarried women are viewed with greater sympathy. The study demonstrates the relevance of drawing on materials recorded in late-formation sub-dialects, as they provide a unique opportunity to broaden our understanding of the worldview of sub-dialect speakers of Russian language.