Ukrainian Reflexes of the Ancient Suffix -J(ь) in the Surnames of the Rivnenshy Region

The article analyzes the features of the formation and development of the surname system of the Rivne region with the Ukrainian reflexes -ay, -ey, -iy of the ancient suffix -j(ь). The object of the study was the Ukrainian reflexes -ay, -ey, -iy of the ancient suffix -j(ь), the subject of the study was these morphemes in the surnames of the Rivne region. The research methodology is based on the complex use of deductive and inductive philosophical practices of scientific knowledge, a synergistic combination of methods: descriptive, generalization and systematization, comparative-historical and linguistic analysis. The source base of the study was anthroponyms extracted from chronicle and archival sources, scientific and popular science works, and information from the Internet. The study clarified that the affix has Indo-European origins and was actively used in the Proto-Slavic language to create possessive adjectives, verb forms and nouns. In anthroponymy, its variants are widely represented in colloquial forms of names, individual nicknames and surnames. Ukrainian formants -ay, -ey, -iy are multifunctional. They convey both a subjective assessment of irony, rudeness, diminutiveness, familiarity, and indicate patronymic dependence. On the territory of the historical Rivne region, surnames with the formants -ay, -ey, -iy, have been recorded since the 16th century. Their percentage among modern surnames is: with -аy ‒ 0.4%, with -еy ‒ 0.3%, with -iy ‒ 0.5%, which is synchronized with the indicators of neighboring Ukrainian territories and modern Polish surnames. According to the semantics of the formative bases, these are anthroponymic and appellational formations. The first of them are formed by lexical-semantic or morphological methods from personal names, individual nicknames and surnames, the second are the result of the addition of word-forming suffixes -ay, -ey, -iy to noun, adjective, verb and other formative bases. The prospects for further scientific explorations are associated with the practice of using the obtained results and the approved research methodology in the process of systematic analysis of other thematic national or territorial groups of surnames.