FROM THE EXPERIENCE OF COMPILING AND READING A THEMATIC ANTHOLOGY OF DIALECT TEXTS “BREAD IN THE FOLK SAYINGS OF VINNYTSIA REGION”

Abstract

Аbstract. Introduction. The article highlights the experience of compiling a thematic anthology of dialect texts “Bread in the folk sayings of Vinnytsia region” (Vinnytsia, 2026), which reproduces the textual palette of Podolia people’s knowledge about bread in ritual and nominative aspects. The book contains records from 175 dialects of Vinnytsia region, which form the Central Podolian dialects of the southwestern dialect of the Ukrainian language. The texts are structured according to the thematic principle: one question of the program is represented by dozens of answers-microtexts of informants about the methods and features of baking bread, relevant warnings, about ceremonial breads, about the features of cutting, consuming and storing bread, etc. Most of the printed texts in the book also have a QR code that provides access to audio recordings of spoken language. The purpose of the article іs to prove the high heuristic potential of the thematic anthology of dialect texts through modeling the most complete corpus of knowledge about kalach as an obligatory attribute of the calendar rituals of the Podolia people. 
Results. It has been established that the functional load of kalach is very broad: honoring deities, dead relatives, animals, visiting older family members, appeasing mythical creatures, and giving gifts to carolers. The ethnolinguistic study of kalach as a ritual cookie revealed, firstly, the functioning in Podolian dialects of a wide range of names for varieties of kalach, motivated by their role, external characteristics, function, features of preparation and consumption. The analysis demonstrated the extensive semantic structure of the lexeme kalach: in dialect texts about calendar rituals, 12 semes are attested, which are grouped around three symbolic contexts – sacrificial, congratulatory, and symbols of a prosperous life. A complex set of rational-practical and ritual-magical actions associated with the kalach, as well as customs and beliefs in the context of the calendar rituals of the Podolia people, is outlined. They emerged as a transformation of the pagan worldviews of our ancestors.
Originality and conclusion. It has been proven that a thematic anthology of dialect texts provides the researcher with the most complete information about the phenomenon or subject under study, about the territorial behavior of the analyzed names, the possibility of fully modeling the semantic structure of lexemes, and learning the ethnolinguistic characteristics of concepts that are significant for the culture of the people.