Set Non-idiomatic Word Combinations in the History of the Tula Regionallect (Based on the Recordings of V. A. Levshin, 1803)

The history of Russian regionalects is studied mainly on the basis of written records. There exists a considerable number of texts on regional topics that have not yet been incorporated in scholarly philological circulation. Among these, texts of a scientific and ethnographic nature play a leading role. Their linguistic composition extensively represents various kinds of stable non-idiomatic phrases that characterize the natural and social conditions of life, everyday practices, economic activities and traditional culture of the population of Russian regions.

Stable non-idiomatic phrases, considered by linguistics as phraseological periphery, are no less informative and interesting for linguacultural, sociolinguistic and linguaregional studies than idioms. Lacking connotative semantic layers and preserving the meanings of the elements included in their composition, such combinations convey "direct" information about all spheres of people's lives from the past to the present and provide a clear idea of realemes remote from contemporary reality. At the same time, they often acquire a cultural and historical load, which is read with varying degrees of depth by modern native speakers and which is valuable for regional lexicography and phraseography.

Based on thebook by V. A. Levshin “Topographicaldescription of Tula province.1803” thearticle examines stable non-idiomatic word combinations of fourthematic groups: 1) toponymy andhydronymy, 2) laboractivity, 3) politicaland socialphenomena, 4) everyday practices, customs andrituals. Each ofthese groupseither introduces new data or clarifies existing information on stable linguisticunits in the Tula regionallect of the early 19thcentury.