Поймать остродыма: a lexical riddle of Russian subdialects

The article analyzes a complex of Russian lexical and onomastic units: dialect lexemes астрадúм, востроды́мка, острадúм, острогúн, остроды́м which carry the meaning of a negative characterization of a person (‘a cruel person’, ‘somebody who causes harm’, ‘an arrogant person’, ‘a thief’ etc.); anthroponyms: the nickname Остродым, the surnames Астрадимов, Астрадымов, Востродымов, Острадымов, Остродымов; the Perm set expression поймать остродыма ‘to finish harvesting a field’. Considering materials in historical derivation, morphonology and ethnolinguistics, the author performs a group reconstruction of these units. According to the author, the stem of these units is a substantivized form of the present passive participle of the verb *острадить ‘to finish farm work (haymaking, reaping)’, ‘to inflict torture or suffering on somebody’.