LINGUISTIC IMAGE OF EASTER IN THE EPISTOLARY TEXTS OF LESYA UKRAINKA AND HER FAMILY

The article elucidates verbal actualization features of one of the most frequent geortonyms in the Ukrainian language – Easter. The study focuses on the epistolary texts of Lesya Ukrainka and her immediate family – parents, siblings. The study has revealed the dominance of this lexeme in the Kosaches family lexicon, which confirms its normativeness not only for the idiolect of Lesya Ukrainka but also for the communication discourse in all Ukrainian families of that time. The epistolary version of this holiday, Paska (peculiar primarily to the dialectal speech of Western Polissia), is the most frequent in the letters of the poetess’ brother Mykhailo. The synonymous version Paskha is explicated in only one letter of Lesya Ukrainka to Kliment Kvitka, written in Russian. Its regulatory use is observed in the epistolary texts of her father, Petro Antonovych (probably owing to the language of his daily communication). The article considers the use of the lexeme Easter in two main functions – chronotopic and etiquette.The author analyzes functioning of the geortonym Easter as an element of the holiday greetings with an emphasis on the Kosaches’ family tradition to send Easter cards, using them as a kind of interpersonal communication in letters.The article reproduces in fragments from the letters the dominant elements of Easter celebrations (traditional dishes, peculiarities of treating, behavioral elements) in the Kosaches’ family and in families of different ethnic communities, where Lesya Ukrainka and Mykhailo Kosach used to be on holidays.