Dialectal Features in the Text of a 19th‑Century Cossack Epitaph (Based on Graveyard Inscriptions from the Stanitsa Yekaterinogradskaya)

Abstract

The paper examines dialectal features manifested in Cossack commemorative inscriptions, based on 19th century epitaphs and comparative records of contemporary dialectal speech. The study focuses on phonetic characteristics of the local vernacular (hardness of the sonorant /r/, bilabial /ў/, fricative /ɣ/, simplification of consonant clusters, reflexes of affricates, progressive palatal assimilation, among others), alongside morphological and lexical peculiarities, including the unique lexical item ‘похесохтся’ and vernacular anthroponomical forms. The findings are compared with field data and dialect dictionaries. It is concluded that the inscriptions preserve a historical stage of the dialect, certain features of which are still retained in the speech of present‑day dialect speakers. Comparative research on epitaphs from different Terek stanitsas is identified as a promising direction for establishing integral dialectal traits common to the Terek Cossack dialects.