THE DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUN TOT-TO IN THE KURSK DIALECTS OF RUSSIAN

In the Kursk dialects of Russian, there is a reduplicated demonstrative pronoun totto (declined as togo-to, tiy-tu, tey-tey, etc.). One can compare its meanings to anaphoric meanings of the literary language pronoun ètot. For example, it refers to the mentioned object, but unlike the situation in the literary language it can be separated from the antecedent by long pieces of information considering another subject. It is also possible to compare the use of the pronoun tot-to to the use of the word ètot in Russian colloquial language and in northern dialects, where it can be used as a substantive referring to the third person or an object whether the later was mentioned before or not. Tot-to acts as a kind of the definite article when being a part of a demonstrative group which names the object that was not mentioned before, but is salient or possible to mention in the present situation. Similar to the pronoun ètot in the colloquial language, the pronoun tot-to is used for constant reference to one and the same object (that is also a definite article role).

In Old Russian, there were demonstrative pronouns sь and onъ–onogo which were spatially antithesized, and the pronoun tъ (>totъ) neutrally referring to the third person or an object. Later on, sь and onъ–onogo passed out of use in the spoken language, and only the pronoun tot stayed present. Later the pronoun ètot came into existence, being based on the pronoun tot. In business style texts of the 17th century tot has article meanings similar to those which tot-to has in the Kursk dialects. It can mean that business style texts of the 17th century reflect to some extent the characteristic properties of the spoken language of that period. At the same time, the functioning of tot-to in the Kursk dialects being similar to the use of tot in business style texts of the 17th century may mean that those dialects preserved an archaic trace — the predominant use of one demonstrative pronoun.