Ethnolocal Specificity of the Linguistic Representation of Aquatic Space Objects (Case Study of the Abyysky District, Arctic Zone of Russia)

The subject of this research is the ethnolocal specificity of the linguistic consciousness of Yakut language speakers, as represented in the associative-verbal networks of key aquatic space concepts. The objects of the study are the associative fields of the stimuli örüs (‘river’), küöl (‘lake’), and balyk (‘fish’). The aim of the study is to identify and analyze the ethnolocal features of the linguistic consciousness among Yakut language speakers in the Abyysky District of the Russian Arctic zone through quantitative and semantic analysis of data from an associative experiment. The empirical foundation of the work comprises the results of a free associative experiment conducted in 2025 among 32 respondents in the village of Kebergene, Abyysky District of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). Data from the Associative Dictionary of the Yakut Language were used for comparison, enabling the identification of both nationwide trends and local specifics. The methodological basis of the research was a psycholinguistic approach employing methods of quantitative and semantic analysis of verbal associations according to the universal classification (contiguity, similarity). The obtained data indicate a dominance of immediate similarity-based reactions (69–97%), reflecting the stability of basic semantic structures. Of particular scientific interest is the identified differentiation of cultural codes: sacral-symbolic for the river, utilitarian-gastronomic for the fish, and spatial-geometric for the lake and mountain. The significant frequency of spatial-geometric features in the associative-verbal network points to the formation of a distinct type of spatial thinking, conditioned by life in the mountain-taiga and tundra environment. The contrast between the dynamic perception of the river and the static, structured perception of the lake is of specific interest. The results convincingly demonstrate that the associative-verbal network accumulates key cultural constants that ensure the preservation of the ethnocultural identity of the Indigenous population of the Arctic amid contemporary sociocultural transformations.

linguistic consciousness, world image, linguistic worldview, aquatic space objects, associative experiment, Yakut language, Abyysky District of the AZRF, associative-verbal network, associative field, associative connections