Christian names of Polish old believers (phonetic characteristics)
Abstract
The article is devoted to phonetic characteristics of the names of Polish old believers inhabiting Sudovia (Suwalszczyzna) in the 19th (Pokrowsk) and the 20th centuries (Gabowe Grądy i Bór). The research comprised the names that have been written in grażdanka (Cyrillic alphabet) in the sources. Most phonetic changes occurred in the Old Ruthenian Period. They have been preserved in their national forms in many names. However, the researched materiał revealed a lot of names that had not been found in Russian dictionaries of names (e.g. by A. Superanska) as commonly used forms but those which had rather belonged to a sphere of Iocal dialectal uses, which confirms the fact that Old Believers used Russian in its dialectal varieties. In the analyzed anthroponomical material, some transformations of Church Slavonic names imply contacts with local population. The introduction of hybrid name forms, such as Амбросий (comp. Polish Ambroży), Василъи (comp. Polish Bazyli), Ворфоломи, Григоръиб, Маласси, Трифилъи, Трифилли (comp. Polish names like Jerzy, Antoni), Миколай (comp. Polish Mikołaj), Михал (comp. Polish Michał) or Юлианна (comp. Polish Julianna) into birth certificates proves that Polish language had impact upon the language of that ethnic group also at the time when these lands belonged to the Russian Empire.
