Archaisms and historicisms - what is the difference between them? Project "Outdated vocabulary in modern Russian language".

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The vocabulary of a language is in constant flux: on the one hand, it is constantly replenished with new lexical units, on the other, some words and expressions lose their use and are gradually forgotten. The life of language is closely connected with the life of society. Therefore, the more intense social processes take place, the more noticeably the vocabulary is replenished with new units, the faster some words and expressions become obsolete and become a passive stock.

According to the degree of obsolescence of lexical units, three groups can be distinguished:

  • 1) words that remain understandable to most native speakers: boyar, barge hauler, know- know, prophetic, visit;
  • 2) words that sound familiar, but few people understand in meaning: Altyn- an old Russian coin of three kopecks; arshin- an ancient Russian measure of length equal to 0.711 m; corvee- under serfdom, free forced labor for the landowner, master; chaise- light semi-covered road cart, verst- a measure of length equal to 1.06 km;
  • 3) words unknown to the majority of the population: avantage- benefit, adamant- diamond, amanat- hostage, bunchuk- a shaft with a ball at the top, with a ponytail under it, vicar- in the Orthodox Church, a bishop who is a deputy or assistant to the bishop governing the diocese.

The above individual obsolete words fell out of general use, usually without connection with others. However, in the history of Russia there were such turning points when changes in society entailed the systemic obsolescence of part of the vocabulary, the transition to a passive reserve of entire classes of words, related thematically or in some other way. In the 20th century Such periods for Russia were events associated with changes in the socio-political system that existed before 1917 and the establishment of Soviet power, the victory of communist ideology, as well as the events of the 1990s, which again changed the socio-political system in the country and the mentality of the people.

The systemic obsolescence of entire categories of words after 1917 can be illustrated by many examples. So, by this time there was a “Table of Ranks”, which included a large number of names of officials in the civil and military service ( chancellor, chief prosecutor, king of arms, prosecutor general, advisor, admiral general, Field Marshal General, cavalry general, captain, lieutenant, centurion, cornet, cornet, esaul etc.). This “Table of Ranks” was abolished by one of the first decrees of the Soviet government dated November 10 (23), 1917 “On the destruction of estates and civil ranks” and dated November 16 (29), 1917 “On the equal rights of all military personnel.”

In Russia, as in other countries, over the centuries a system of measurements characteristic only of Russia has evolved ( verst, pood, lb. etc.). By the end of the 19th century. The International Metric System was developed, and in 1875 in Paris, 17 states, including Russia, signed the Metric Convention. In 1899, the International Metric System was introduced in Russia, but old Russian measures were also used. On September 11, 1918, the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR adopted a decree “On the introduction of the International Metric Decimal System of Measures and Weights,” which served as the final impetus for the introduction of a unified International System of Measurements from January 1, 1927. Naturally, the names of the old measurement system gradually changed after that into the passive stock of the language.

Due to the persecution of the church, which lasted 70 years, almost all names not only of clergy were forced out of active use ( bishop, patriarch, metropolitan, archbishop, exarch, archpriest, deacon, abbot, archimandrite, acolyte etc.), but also the religious objects they use ( altar, pulpit, lectern and etc.).

Perestroika and the events that followed also caused the systemic archaization of a significant part of Russian vocabulary. To be convinced of this, it is enough to look through the linguistic and cultural dictionary “Soviet Society”, ed. G. S. Eskova (1988). Let's imagine the heading words from this dictionary starting with the letters A and B: "Aurora", Soviet autonomy, Autonomous region, Autonomous Republic, autonomous Soviet socialist republic, autonomous region, press agency "Novosti", agitators, propaganda train, propaganda point, propaganda train, propaganda point, agro-industrial plant, agro-industrial complex of the USSR, administrative-territorial structure, academic town, academic town, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, assets, USSR Academy of Sciences, JSC, agro-industrial complex, Artek, graduate school; Baikal-Amur Mainline, BAM, library, BMMT, sick leave , Bolshevism, Bolshevik press, brigade (production), brigade contract, newsletter, Bureau of International Youth Tourism "Sputnik", Employment agency. Of the 36 words and phrases given, naming, as it were, special objects and phenomena, inherent in the Soviet system, Soviet way of life, most became outdated within just a few years of the dictionary's publication. Only a small part of words and phrases have remained active in the language of our days: the autonomous region, autonomous region, graduate school, library and some others.

Behind last years Dictionaries of a new type have been prepared and published, reflecting the movement of individual words and their groups in the lexical system of the Russian language. This was done on a relatively small amount of material by the compilers of the “Dictionary of Perestroika”, and on a much larger one - by the compilers of the “Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language of the End of the 20th Century.” In the latter, words that went into passive, returned to active and updated were marked with special marks. Here are the “pre-perestroika” words starting with the letters A and B, marked “passive”: avant-garde- the leading part of the dominant social group, vanguard- advanced, propaganda point, agro-industrial, assets- the most active, advanced part of any public organization, activist, antireligious, anti-Sovietism, anti-Soviet, anti-adviser, anti-Soviet; cardless, battle- hard work, good- about the material and spiritual well-being of the population, Gratitude- a form of official encouragement, prosperity- material and spiritual prosperity of the people, welfare- provision of the population with necessary material goods, charity- about help, assistance provided to someone (usually out of pity), blat- connections, acquaintances that provide an opportunity to achieve something, thieves'- one who uses cronyism, militant, militancy, militant, combat effectiveness, combat-ready, fighter- about a fighter for communist ideals, the battle - an irreconcilable fight against any shortcomings, Bolshevism, Bolshevik, Bolshevik, struggle- active political confrontation, brotherly- connected by friendship, Brotherhood- fraternal relations between the peoples of the USSR and the socialist community.

Although the listed words are difficult to combine thematically, here too one can discern systemic archaization: almost all of them relate to the field of ideological struggle and communist propaganda. Many of them are outdated not as lexical units, but only in the meanings indicated in the dictionary, for which there is even a special note - “in Soviet times.”

Among outdated lexical units, two categories are distinguished depending on the absence or presence in modern society of the realities they designate - historicisms and archaisms.

Historicisms are lexical units that have fallen out of use due to the departure from public life of the objects, phenomena, actions, and features they designate. Among the above-mentioned outdated words, historicisms make up a considerable part. The names of the Old Russian estates, civil and military ranks ceased to be used in the period after the October Revolution of 1917 because these estates and ranks themselves were liquidated ( nobles, landowners, cornets, lieutenants). The abolition of the old measurement system led to a gradual withdrawal from the active stock of the language of names of units of measurement ( arshin, verst, fathom, tithe, pood, lb.). Clothing fashion is short-lived, so the names of its types are short-lived: ASL- ancient peasant men's and women's outerwear such as a long-length caftan without gathering, Armenian- casual men's outer peasant clothing, arhaluk- men's quilted jacket without buttons, hoodie- loose-fitting men's summer outerwear, etc. Weapon items are also quite variable. Gone into the past Berdanka- single-shot rifle, berdysh- battle ax in the shape of a crescent, bomb launcher- a special weapon for throwing bombs over a short distance, brandkugel- incendiary artillery shell, etc.

Such historicisms, which are lexical units completely lost by speakers of a living language due to the passing of some objects or phenomena from the life of the people, can be called lexical.

Less often, a lexical unit does not act as a historicism as a whole, but only in one of its meanings. In this case, historicisms are called semantic. For example, currently the noun album has three meanings: 1) intertwined blank sheets for drawing, drawing, collections; 2) book edition with reproductions of paintings, drawings, as well as photographs, etc.; 3) recording of works by one author or songs of one performer on a record, magnetic tape or laser disk. However, this noun had another meaning - a notebook intended for poems, drawings, dedications, left as a keepsake for the owner; the album was a household item: Certainly, you have seen / the district young lady more than once album , / That all the girlfriends got dirty / From the end, With beginning and around(A. Pushkin). With the change in everyday life, the album in this meaning also disappeared. Word barrier currently means only a barrier, an obstacle to something, someone. However, in the 19th century. it had another meaning - “each of two lines on the ground, marking the distance between the participants in a duel with pistols.” This meaning was lost due to the disappearance of the very custom of fighting a duel. Noun stock exchange Along with the modern meaning of “an institution for carrying out transactions,” it also had another meaning: “parking for cab drivers waiting for the employer”: The merchant gets up, the peddler is coming. On stock exchange the cab driver pulls(A. Pushkin). With the disappearance of cab drivers, the stock exchange at the specified value. In the 19th century word street cleaner was used not only in the meaning of “an employee at the house, whose responsibilities include protecting the house, maintaining cleanliness and order in the yard and on the street near the house,” but also in the opposite meaning - “the owner of an inn, a visiting yard.” But if the first was only slightly transformed due to the change in the functions of the janitor as a worker (the duty of guarding the house was removed from him), then the second disappeared completely, just as the inns themselves disappeared. Truth, word street cleaner did not remain unambiguous in the language: due to the similarity of functions, it began to be called a device for mechanically wiping the viewing window of a car from snow and rain.

The obsolescence of words and their transition to historicism can take decades. For example, such a measure of scales as pood(= 16 kg), removed from the official sphere of communication, is still used in everyday folk speech, especially among the rural population.

But the obsolescence of lexical units and their transition to historicism is possible in short periods. So when privatization check ended its existence, then not only its synonym voucher appeared in the shadow, but also all the “transient” formations associated with it: voucherization, voucherist, voucher, voucher holder. During the years of acute criticism of the totalitarian regime, definitions such as administrative-directive, administrative-command, usually combined with a noun system, - now they have turned into historicisms. During the years of perestroika the words were also popular, but then ceased to be used anti-perestroika, anti-perestroika.

Many such words are given in the "Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language of the End of the 20th Century." with marks, one of which indicates that a word has been registered in it or in the dictionaries of the last decade for the first time, and the other indicates that it has become passive. This applies, for example, to a series of words with the first part video: videobar, video cafe, video cooperative, video salon, video point. Among the transient words, they are marked with the following markings: Sun- The Supreme Council, Secretary General- Secretary General, State Emergency Committee- State Committee for Emergency Situations ( supreme body authorities, created in August 1991 during an attempted coup), publicity, vote- about Western radio stations broadcasting in Russian for Russia, State bank- National Bank, state enterprise, state acceptance, Gossnab.

The second category of obsolete words are archaisms, which name objects and phenomena, actions and signs that exist in life today, but are called differently. In other words, archaisms are outdated words that have modern synonyms. Yes, words fornicator, get richer, will, awaken, vacations were replaced by their synonyms - accordingly libertine, rich, If, be angry, holidays.

Such archaisms, which are lexical units that have fallen out of use but are currently being replaced by synonyms, are called lexical.

In addition, there are semantic archaisms, which include words that have not completely fallen out of use, but only in one of their meanings, replaced in the language by an independent word. For example, noun Assembly in modern Russian means "general meeting of members of any international organization", and in the 18th-19th centuries served as the name not only of a public meeting, but also bala. From N. Gogol: The mayor gave the assembly! Or: one of the meanings of the word businessman in the 19th century was “a person who knows his business well”, later it was lost by him, but was assigned to the word specialist.

There is another group of obsolete words, as if between historicisms and archaisms, when one of the meanings is lost, but not due to the disappearance of any object from use and not due to the displacement of this meaning by a lexical synonym, but for some other reasons . For example, noun mezzanine currently means a large shelf under the ceiling, used for storing things, and in the works of the classics it is found in the meaning of “a superstructure above the upper floor of a house, a low room that makes up the upper mezzanine in high rooms": When we were raised, there was one extreme - we were kept in the mezzanine, and my parents lived in the mezzanine(L. Tolstoy). Noun joke now means either a small funny story with an unexpected ending, or a funny, absurd incident, while in the 19th century. it meant an incident, an event of an extraordinary nature, but not necessarily comic:

And what a bad joke, that there is at least a tuft of hay on the whole farm, - continued Plyushkin(N. Gogol). Of the two meanings of the word lawyer: 1) an expert on laws and 2) a code of laws - only the first has been preserved in modern Russian. Noun new in the 19th century found in fiction in four meanings: 1) virgin soil. The winter field is hovered once with a plow and once with a harrow; novelty or thicket, May be, more(A. Radishchev); 2) bread of the new harvest. Poverty was severe, there wasn’t enough bread or something new (I. Bunin); 3 ) news. So, all this newness is not new at all, but reeks of that very old antiquity (N. Leskov); 4 ) canvas. Clicked to the authorities, I went... and not a dime, nothing new. Lost. I didn’t take it with me! (N. Nekrasov).

In none of these meanings is the word new is not currently used in the popular Russian language. In Ozhegov's Dictionary they are noted as dialectal. If the 1st and 3rd meanings could become archaic as a result of the activation of words virgin soil And news with similar semantics, then this cannot be said in relation to other meanings.

There are also stylistic archaisms - words or their individual values, which in classical Russian literature or folk poetry were used as a means of artistic representation, but currently are not used at all or have lost this function. The first include, for example, poetic names: Aurora- morning dawn, breg, verb- word, speech, voice, hour, Virgo- young woman, today, tree, descend- descend from a height; folk poetic: mediocre- unhappy, unlucky, goy ecu; high style words: lamb- lamb, lamb, aki- as if, hunger- to want to eat, to crave something, purple- clothes in the form of a wide raincoat made of expensive bright red fabric, swearing- war, battle, hand, in advance- since, because.

Stylistic archaisms that have lost the function of representation include scarlet- bright red, red, bliss.

In some cases, the pronunciation of a word, its stress, word structure, and morphological design are archaized. For example, adjective English and adverb in English were pronounced accordingly English, English; in English, in English; noun shop- How shop, store; job vacancy- How vacancy. Modern pearl, music had stress on the second syllable ( pearl, music). Verb be could have the shape of 2 liters. units part of the imperative mood wake up: The horse has risen, and the trace disappeared. " Budi God's power is with us!" - then Gavrilo shouted(P. Ershov). Nouns hall And antechamber belonged to the feminine gender: Desert depth halls and the adjacent antechamber remained in darkness(A. Ignatiev); Out of boredom, he began to look at the decoration antechambers (L. Nikulin).

Masters artistic word, working in genres related to the description of the past, cannot do without historicisms and archaisms. They need them to recreate the historical flavor of the era being described, with speech characteristics characters. Here is a fragment from V. Shukshin’s novel “I Came to Give You Freedom,” which tells about the actions of Stepan Razin. The very beginning of the novel sets the reader up for the perception of that era:

Every year, in the first week of Lent, Orthodox Church cursed at different voices:

“The thief and traitor, and cross-criminal, and murderer Stenka Razin forgot the holy cathedral church and the Orthodox Christian faith, betrayed the great sovereign, and committed many dirty tricks and bloodshed and murders in the city of Astrakhan and in other lower cities, and all the Orthodox Christians who came to him treachery did not suit him, he beat him, then he himself soon disappeared, and with his like-minded people be damned!

Historicisms seem to introduce the era: thief, cross-criminal, great sovereign. Archaisms reinforce this impression: commit mischief, bloodshed and murder(now we would say commit), in the city, in grades(in the city, in the cities), together(together with someone, something), with like-minded people(to indicate compatibility, the preposition с is currently used with the instrumental case), disappeared(disappeared). As a result, the desired historical flavor is created, the impression that the events described are as if they really happened.

To get acquainted with historicisms and archaisms, we can recommend two new dictionaries:

Rogozhnikova R. P., Karskaya T. S. School dictionary of obsolete words of the Russian language (based on the works of Russian writers of the 18th-20th centuries). M., 1996.

Mokienko V. M., Nikitina T. G. Explanatory dictionary of the language of the Council of Deputies. St. Petersburg, 1998.

Active and passive vocabulary of the Russian language. Vocabulary is the most mobile part of the language system; it is constantly evolving. The vocabulary of a language of a particular era is a fixed constancy, remaining from a previous time, with some updates. The active vocabulary of a language is the central part of the vocabulary, relevant for modern speakers of a language word. This includes commonly used vocabulary. Passive vocabulary includes words that are rarely used in everyday communication and are not always understandable to native speakers. It includes obsolete and new words.

Each period of language development is characterized by a certain ratio of active and passive vocabulary. The boundaries between passive and active vocabulary are characterized by mobility, because They constantly change as the language develops. The vocabulary of the Russian language organically combines conservatism and mobility.

Outdated words. Obsolete words are words that have fallen out of active use, but are preserved in passive vocabulary. These words are used by native speakers, but are perceived by them as outdated.

According to the degree of obsolescence, the following are distinguished:

1) words understandable to most Russian speakers ( king, boyar, clerk, eyes);

2) words whose meanings few people understand without consulting a special dictionary ( fast - skin, fat - wealth, fat - fat, odrina - bedroom).

Obsolete words are divided into two groups: historicisms and archaisms.

Historicisms- words denoting objects that have disappeared from modern life, phenomena that have become irrelevant concepts ( volost, district, armyak, constable, serf, oprichnik, nepman, komsomol member). Semantic historicisms are currently irrelevant meanings of polysemantic words ( ram - battering ram weapon, shield - part of the weapon). Historicisms do not have synonyms in modern Russian, so their meaning can only be explained by resorting to an encyclopedic description. The composition of historicisms in the Russian language is most actively replenished during periods of radical change in the socio-political structure of the country (October Revolution, collapse of the USSR). Soviet historicisms - Sovietisms ( tax in kind, NEP, committee of the poor, workers' faculty). Over time, historicisms can return to the modern linguistic composition ( general, admiral, midshipman, minister, ladies and gentlemen).

Archaisms(Greek - arrahaious) - unlike historicisms, these are outdated names of modern objects and phenomena, supplanted by synonyms from the active vocabulary ( this - this, enemy - enemy, zelo - very, mirror - mirror, eyelids - eyelids, neck - neck).

Types of archaisms:

1 Phonetic archaisms are words that have an outdated sound form ( wardrobe - wardrobe, English, number, eighteen).

2 Accentological - words with the old accent ( epigraph, foundation, perspective).

3 Derivational ones had a different composition of the word ( nervous, restaurants, fishing).

4 Grammatical - obsolete forms of words that do not exist in the modern language ( elder, god, friend, father, man; piano, swan (f.r.), hall, veil (m.r.)).

5 Actually lexical - words that are completely obsolete ( so that, right hand, shuytsa, in vain, retreat, thief, abyss).

6 Semantic archaisms are outdated meanings of those words that exist in the modern Russian language, but name another phenomenon, another object ( verb, shame, presence, belly).

Archaisms are used as a means of stylizing ancient speech, creating historical speech flavor, and in journalism they can give the story a solemn character.

ANNOTATION. The article is devoted to the issues of composition and typology of outdated vocabulary in the field of “Education” in the modern Russian language. A classification of the named lexical category is proposed in terms of time and degree of obsolescence of lexical units. The main attention is paid to the features of each of the identified groups of analyzed outdated vocabulary and the dynamic processes of their development.

KEY WORDS: outdated vocabulary, archaism, historicism, Sovietism, vocabulary Russian language, sphere

Active processes in the development of the Russian language in the newest period of its history include redistribution between the active and passive stocks of verbal signs and changes in the composition of not only the active, but also the passive vocabulary of the Russian language (see about this:, most of which is represented by the so-called “outdated vocabulary." Changes in the composition of the outdated vocabulary of the Russian language at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries affect all thematic areas, including the field of Education, which in recent decades has been going through a very difficult period of reform.

It is obvious that the study of issues related to the composition and typology of outdated vocabulary in the field of “Education” in the Russian language of the modern period involves, first of all, determining the initial theoretical positions and terms used.

As is known, the question of the concept of “outdated vocabulary” in scientific linguistic literature
Information for contacting the author: [email protected] is considered to be debatable. A clear indication of this fact is the absence of a single generally accepted term to designate an outdated linguistic unit, as well as differences in the semantic content of the concepts “archaism” and “historicism”.

The term "archaism" in contemporary works can still be used to undifferentiately designate any obsolete verbal sign, and to name those obsolete words that are being forced out of active use by new synonymous nominations. In addition, archaisms can be called obsolete words that “have left the active layer of vocabulary, but are used in the language as stylistic synonyms of modern words to create a solemn tone of the narrative or as a means of creating satirical and comic.”

The term "historicism" is also used in different ways in modern scientific literature. In some
In works it denotes an independent lexical-semantic category of obsolete words, in others - one of the varieties of obsolete vocabulary. In modern scientific literature there is no unity of views on the typology of historicisms. From the point of view of some scientists, the main criterion for distinguishing historicisms is their relationship with history, understood, on the one hand, as a global process of development of society, reflected in historical science, and on the other, as a private, specific manifestation historical facts and events. In accordance with this, the first group of words includes historicisms that are correlated with historically significant realities (dominant historicisms). The second group includes linguistic units correlated with more private, specific facts of social life (textural historicisms). This point of view seems to develop the concept of dividing historicisms into terms and non-terms, according to which only historicisms that denote objects, concepts of the historical past, although obsolete, played a large role in the history of the people and in their development, belong to special (terminological) vocabulary. material and spiritual culture, and historicisms are non-terms that correlate with everyday, everyday concepts.

In recent decades, some researchers have identified another lexical-semantic variety of obsolete vocabulary, occupying an intermediate position between archaisms and historicisms - the so-called chronicisms. In such words, “a change occurs in both the signified and the signified: a partial change in the signified - a narrowing or expansion of conceptual or objective reference and the withdrawal of the word from active use. Unlike historicisms, the signified has not disappeared here, and unlike archaisms, repressed words correspond to words that are not in a relationship of synonymy or variation with them.”

As part of outdated vocabulary, in addition to archaisms and historicisms, some researchers also identify an intermediate group of polysemantic lexemes, which in one meaning have become outdated due to the disappearance of the designated phenomenon, concept, object, and in another meaning they have been forced out of active use by other words.

At present, in our opinion, the most legitimate point of view is that obsolete vocabulary represents verbal units that have fallen out of active use, but are preserved in the passive dictionary of native speakers. The category of obsolete vocabulary includes linguistic signs that in explanatory dictionaries characterizing the vocabulary of the modern Russian language have the stylistic marks “obsolete.” and "old." or special graphic marks, as well as an indication of historical character realities in the dictionary entry itself. The main lexico-semantic categories of obsolete vocabulary are archaisms and historicisms. Archaisms are words, stable combinations and lexical-semantic variants of words, “naming existing realities, but for some reason forced out of active use by synonymous lexical units”; and historicisms are words, stable combinations and lexical-semantic variants of words that “have fallen out of use due to the disappearance of the concepts they denote.”

Fundamentally important for the study of the composition of obsolete vocabulary in the modern Russian language, in our opinion, is the question of the possibility of classifying the named lexical category in terms of the time of obsolescence of lexical units.

Until recently, the most widespread point of view in Russian linguistics was that the obsolete vocabulary of the Russian language was divided into: 1) words that became obsolete before the Soviet period of history and are associated “with very distant eras”; 2) words that are outdated in the Soviet era and are associated “with recent events.”

Results of studying the processes of development of the Russian language at the end of the 20th century. - beginning XXI century, reflected in the scientific linguistic literature, and the authors’ own research of this article allow us to assert that in the composition of the outdated vocabulary of the field of “Education”, presented in the Russian language of the newest period, from the point of view of the time of obsolescence of linguistic signs, it is possible to distinguish, first of all, three main categories of words:

1) lexical units that were obsolete before the Soviet period in the history of the Russian language (“pre-Soviet” obsolete vocabulary);
2) lexical units that became obsolete during the Soviet period of the history of the Russian language (“Soviet” obsolete vocabulary);
3) lexical units that became obsolete in the latest period of development of the Russian language or tend to become obsolete at the named stage of linguistic evolution (“post-Soviet” obsolete vocabulary) (cf.:).

The first category of obsolete words sphere of education in the Russian language of the newest period (“pre-Soviet” obsolete vocabulary) is represented by lexical units that were obsolete before the Soviet period in the history of the Russian language.

As the studies show, the “pre-Soviet” outdated vocabulary of the named thematic sphere in the Russian language of the modern period constitutes a fairly significant group (about 10% of the total composition of the analyzed lexemes). IN this group includes mainly nouns that name educational institutions in Russia in the 17th-18th centuries (bursa, gymnasium, etc.), their teachers (guardian) and students (bursak). Other parts of speech are presented with separate examples.

Second category of obsolete lexemes The analyzed sphere in the Russian language of the newest period (“Soviet” outdated vocabulary) is represented by verbal units that were outdated during the Soviet period of the history of the Russian language.
The group of “Soviet” obsolete vocabulary of the Russian language of the modern period is the largest of the groups identified by the time of obsolescence (about 30% of all identified obsolete words).

As the studies have shown, within the “Soviet” outdated vocabulary, two subgroups of verbal units are distinguished: 1) words denoting the realities of “pre-Soviet” Russia; 2) words denoting the realities of “Soviet” Russia.

The first subgroup of verbal units passed into the passive stock of the Russian language immediately after the October Revolution of 1917. Words denoting the realities of pre-Soviet Russia include, first of all, linguistic units that are:

1) the names of state educational authorities and their representatives (for example, the Ministry of Spiritual Affairs and Public Education; the Minister of Education, the State Committee for Public Education; department; department of public education of the provincial zemstvo government, inspection of public schools, department of public education of the city duma, directorate public schools of the province, etc.);
2) names educational institutions(lyceum, gymnasium, pro-gymnasium; institute for noble maidens, private boarding school, women’s boarding school, cadet corps, cadet school, Sunday school, house of hard work (for girls of the middle class); seminary, higher elementary school, elementary public school, one- and second-grade schools, literacy school, zemstvo school, parish school, etc.), their employees (trustee, class monitor, tutor, governess) and students (for example, bachelor, master's student, cadet, seminarian, etc.);
3) names of academic subjects (Holy Scripture, God's Law, rhetoric). Significantly less frequent in the named subgroup of lexical units in the sphere of “Education” are adjectives (lyceum, gymnasium, trustee, cadet, etc.).

The second subgroup of “Soviet” obsolete verbal signs of the sphere under study includes words that became obsolete in the 40-50s of the 20th century. Among the vocabulary that is outdated in this period of the history of the Soviet state, we can distinguish, first of all, words that refer to bodies of state power as young Soviet republic(for example, the People's Commissariat of Education, the provincial council for public education, the provincial commissariat for public education, the provincial school council, the provincial teachers' council; provincial, district and volost departments of public education, etc.), the main directions of the state's educational policy (for example, Vsevobuch in the meaning of “general military education of citizens of the USSR”, laboratory-brigade method, national school, commune school, hut-reading room, library-reading room, seven-year school (seven-year school), nine-year school, provincial pedagogical courses, unified labor school , first-level school, second-level school, emergency commission for the eradication of illiteracy, etc.), as well as the names of documents in the field of education (for example, Decree, Circular of the People's Commissariat for Education, etc.). Among such outdated nominations, a very significant group consists of complex abbreviated words (gubpros in the meaning of “provincial committee of public education”; cult-prop in the meaning of “department of culture and propaganda”; cult-prosvetdepartment, cult-prosvet-circle, agitprop, propaganda point; vocational school, educational program - school for eliminating illiteracy , lik-point - a point for the elimination of illiteracy, shkrab - a school worker, teacher; People's Commissar of Pros - People's Commissar of Education, Volost-Volost Department of Public Education, Gubono, Gubernia Narobr&z - provincial department of public education, Gramcheka - Extraordinary Commission for the Elimination of Illiteracy, etc. ) and abbreviations: GUS - State Academic Council of the People's Commissariat of Education of the RSFSR, People's Commissariat of Education, etc.

The third category of obsolete lexemes sphere “Education” in the Russian language of the newest period (“post-Soviet” outdated vocabulary) is represented by lexical units that were outdated in the newest period of development of the Russian language or tending to become obsolete at the named stage of linguistic evolution.

“Post-Soviet” outdated vocabulary of education in the Russian language of the newest period is quantitatively the most significant (about 60% of all identified outdated vocabulary).
The bulk of the named group are linguistic units related, firstly, to the so-called “Sovietisms”, and secondly, to “new” outdated and obsolete words.

The first subgroup includes verbal units associated with designation:

1) educational authorities (for example, district, municipal, regional department of public education, etc.);
2) educational institutions of Soviet reality (for example, the Institute of Marxism-Leninism, TsKSH - central Komsomol school, KRO - workers' education plant, people's university, eight-year school, Palace of Pioneers, House of Pioneers, etc.) and their representatives (for example, Zavrono , class teacher, counselor, production counselor, etc.);
3) students and their organizations (for example, October, pioneer, Komsomol member, pioneer squad (team of young pioneers), asterisk, pioneer unit, Komsomol activist, student committee, drama club, cultural sector, vechernik, vechernitsa, etc.);
4) components of the educational process (for example, labor quarter, fifth quarter (work of schoolchildren in agriculture during the summer holidays), Lenin test, unified textbook, etc.);
5) educational subjects and university disciplines (for example, scientific communism, the foundations of Marxism-Leninism, dialectical materialism, etc.);
6) rewards and punishments used in educational institutions (for example, Lenin scholarship, Lenin Komsomol scholarship, Lenin scholarship, etc.);
7) mandatory school paraphernalia (for example, pioneer tie, Komsomol badge, bugle, drum, etc.).

This thematic subgroup also includes a number of items that are no longer in active use. difficult words with the first part of the party- (for example, party school, party organizer, etc.), political- (for example, political education, political school, political unit, political literacy, etc.), as well as abbreviations (for example, KUBU - commission for improving the living conditions of scientists, INOT - Institute of Scientific Organization of Labor, KSU - Commission for Assistance to Scientists, ShRM - School, Humanities ShSM - School of Rural Youth, SHUMP - School of Apprenticeship for Mass Professions, etc.).

The category of outdated nominations currently includes a number of stable phrases with the “school” component: eight-year school, ten-year school, school full day(with extended days), school for working youth, school for rural youth, party school, higher party school under the Central Committee of the CPSU, evening and Sunday school, higher school of political literacy, school of the foundations of Marxism-Leninism, school of ideological activists, school of agitators, school of scientific communism, school of communist labor, school of excellence, Stakhanov school, factory training school, factory apprenticeship school, etc.

To the second subgroup, i.e. “new” obsolete and obsolete words in the field of “Education” include lexemes that have passed into the passive stock of the language in recent years or show an obvious tendency to become obsolete.

Among the nominations of this subgroup are:

1) names of educational institutions (for example, college, vocational school, nursery school, etc.). Compare, for example, in the texts of modern media: According to the amendments made, the term “preschool education for children from 2 months to 3 years”, in other words, “nursery”, was replaced by “ preschool development" Previously, kindergartens were divided into nurseries and kindergartens and were obliged to provide preschool education to a child from the age of two months (AiF, 01.2014);
2) designations of types of educational programs (for example, specialty, free education, GOS - state educational standard, class-lesson education system, etc.). Wed: However, the traditional classroom-based education system of John Amos Comenius, based on the principle of “teaching everything to everyone,” turned out to be unusually stable, despite the fact that back in the 70s of the last century it had already ceased to meet the requirements of the time (“Continuous education: XXI century, No. 2 (10), 2015);
3) names teaching aids And auxiliary materials(e.g., variable textbook, chalk board, etc.);
4) designations of forms and types of control of students’ knowledge (for example, an oral entrance exam to a university, a paper journal, a paper diary, etc.).

As noted in the scientific literature, the time of obsolescence of verbal units largely determines the degree of their obsolescence. From the point of view of this criterion, among the analyzed vocabulary we can distinguish: 1) lexical units of the first degree of arachaization - words that have become less common, but remain known to the absolute majority of native speakers; 2) lexical units of the second degree of archaization - words that are on the periphery of the vocabulary, are rarely used and are found in special texts; 3) lexical units of the third degree of archaization - words that are no longer known to many native speakers and are preserved as relics past life in special texts, etc.

It should be noted that the obsolescence of verbal signs of the field under study in the newest period of development of the Russian language is often accompanied by changes in their semantics (cf., for example, changes in the meanings of the nominations dialectical materialism, scientific communism, pioneer, Komsomol member, etc.). For example, the phrase “dialectical materialism” in lexicographic publications of the Soviet period was defined as “the philosophy of Marxism-Leninism, a scientific worldview, a universal method of knowing the world, the science of the most general laws movement and development of nature, society and consciousness; based on achievements modern science and best social practices, constantly evolving and enriched along with their progress." In the latest period of development of the Russian language, in terms of the content of this linguistic unit, the semes of ameliorative evaluation, determined by denotative semes: “advanced”, “associated with progress”, “scientific”, have collapsed, and emotive semes of negative evaluation, determined by denotative semantic components: “dogmatized” have appeared. , “in the service of the ideology of the Communist Party.” Compare: “During the existence of the USSR, dogmatized dialectical materialism was proclaimed the only theoretical basis of science, culture and social life in general, placed at the service of the ideology and politics of the Communist Party."

In general, as research shows, the outdated vocabulary of the educational sphere in the Russian language of the modern period represents a rather significant lexical category, characterized by the instability of its composition and permeability of boundaries. As part of the named thematic field of outdated vocabulary in the sphere of education in the Russian language of the modern period, a significant layer of so-called “cultural history” stands out, i.e. verbal units denoting fundamentally important realities for national Russian culture and significant for the correct perception of Russian historical and artistic texts.

The study of outdated vocabulary in the field of “Education”, presented in the Russian language of modern times, is important for solving problems not only of a theoretical, but also of a practical nature related to the creation of modern general and educational dictionaries of the Russian language, including an educational normative-stylistic dictionary reflecting temporal-stylistic characteristics of Russian verbal signs and stylistic norms of the Russian literary language (about the essence of these concepts, see:.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

1. Belyanskaya, V.F. Outdated vocabulary of the modern Russian language (historicisms): abstract. dis. ...cand. Philol. Sciences [Text] / V.F. Belyanskaya. - L., 1978. - 24 p.
2. Large encyclopedic layer, GText1 / peya. A.M. TTTIOXOTIOR. — 2nd izya._ pepepyab. and yaop. - M.: Bolshaya Rossiyskaya e "Humanities. Philological sciences"
3. Great Soviet Encyclopedia: 30 volumes [Text] / Ch. ed. A.M. Prokhorov. — 3rd ed. - M.: Sov. encyclopedia, 1969-1978.
4. Large explanatory dictionary of the Russian language [Text] / ed. S.A. Kuznetsov. - St. Petersburg. : Norint, 2000. - 1536 p.
5. Golovin, B.N. Introduction to linguistics [Text] / B.N. Golovin. - M.: Higher School, 1977. - 231 p.
6. Edneralova, N.G. Outdated vocabulary of the Russian language of the newest period and its perception by linguistic consciousness modern schoolchildren: author's abstract. dis. ...cand. Philol. Sciences [Text] / N.G. Edneralova. - Voronezh, 2003. - 27 p.
7. Zabavina, I.A. To the distinction between the terms “archaism” and “historicism” [Text] / I.A. Zabavina // Communicative-functional aspect linguistic units. — Tver: Tver State. Univ., 1993. - pp. 24-27.
8. Zagorovskaya, O.V. Expressive and emotional-evaluative components of the meaning of a word [Text] / O.V. Zagorovskaya, S.E. Fomina //Semantic processes in the language system: interuniversity collection of scientific works. — Voronezh, state. univ. - Voronezh, 1984. - pp. 31-40.
9. Zagorovskaya, O.V. Problems of general and dialect semasiology and lexicography: monograph [Text] / O.V. Zagorovskaya. - Voronezh: Scientific book, 2011. - 383 p.
10. Zagorovskaya, O.V. Composition and main categories of outdated vocabulary in the Russian language of the newest period [Text] / O.V. Zagorovskaya // Russian language at the turn of the XX-XXI centuries: studies in sociolinguistics and linguoculturology: monograph. - Voronezh, 2013. - pp. 69-77.
11. Zagorovskaya, O.V. Russian language at the turn of the 20th—21st centuries: studies in sociolinguistics and linguoculturology: monograph [Text] / O.V. Zagorovskaya. - Voronezh, 2013. - 232 p.
12. Zagorovskaya, O.V. Variation of norms in the Russian language at the beginning of the 21st century and the task of creating a modern educational normative-stylistic dictionary [Text] / O.V. Zagorovskaya // News of VSPU. - 2015. - No. 1. - P. 185-191.
13. Zagorovskaya, O.V. Norms of the Russian literary language: Typology and grounds for classification [Text] / O.V. Zagorovskaya // News of VSPU. - 2016. - No. 3. - P. 134-138.
14. Culture of Russian speech: Encyclopedic dictionary-reference book [Electronic resource] / ed. L.Yu. Ivanova [and others]. - 3rd ed., erased. - M.: Flinta, 2011. - 840 p.
15. Lesnykh, E.V. Archaization of the vocabulary of the Russian language of the 20th century: dis. ...cand. Philol. Sciences [Text] / E.V. Lesnykh. — Lipetsk: Lipetsk, state. univ., 2002. - P. 242.
16. Linguistic encyclopedic dictionary [Text] / ch. ed. V.N. Yartseva. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1990. - 685 p.
17. Maslov, Yu.S. Introduction to linguistics [Text] / Yu.S. Maslov. - M.: Higher. school, 1975. - 326 p.
18. Mokienko, V.M. Explanatory dictionary of the language of the Council of Deputies [Text] / V.M. Mokienko, T.G. Nikitina. - St. Petersburg. : Folio-Press, 1998. - 704 p.
19. Rosenthal, D.E. Modern Russian language: textbook for universities [Text] / D.E. Rosenthal. - M.: Higher School, 1979. - 317 p.
20. Russian language: encyclopedia [Text] / ch. ed. Yu.N. Karaulov. - M.: Bustard, 2003. - 704 p.
21. Stylistic encyclopedic dictionary of the Russian language [Text] / ed. M.N. Kozhina [and others]. — 2nd ed., rev. and additional - M.: Flinta: Nauka, 2006. - 696 p.
22. Solieva, K.A. The evolution of archaic elements in newspaper vocabulary of the Soviet era: abstract. dis. ...cand. Philol. Sciences [Text] / K.A. Solieva. - M, 1985. - 24 p.

News of the VSPU. Pedagogical Sciences No. 4 (273), 2016

outdated vocabulary of Balashov archaism

Old and new in vocabulary

Speaking about language as a material of literature, one should keep in mind one of its important aspects, essences - it contains the possibility of artistic, aesthetically meaningful and directed use. And from this side, the entire set of linguistic means and established techniques can be considered as the material of verbal creativity, works of literature, considered as created from verbal material. Without language, literature is unthinkable. The word enters literature under certain conditions. The word doesn't have one certain value. It is a “chameleon”, in which each time not only different shades appear, but sometimes also different colors. A word has a new semantic meaning each time, depending on the lexical system in which it falls, and on the functions that the expressiveness of speech carries, on its belonging to a particular speech environment.

Each word is colored (acquires lexical coloring) by the speech environment in which it is predominantly used. The difference between one speech environment and another depends on the difference in the conditions and functions of language activity. Each activity and state has its own special conditions and goals, depending on this, this or that word receives greater or lesser significance. Each word has its own lexical characteristic created by the era, the national environment, but only outside this era and nationality is its lexical characteristic realized in it.

Each speech environment has an assimilative force, which forces it to carry out certain functions and not others. The originality and specificity of language functions in literature is determined by lexical selection. The traditional character of literature colors the verbal material. Literary language develops, and this development cannot be understood as a systematic development of tradition, but rather as colossal shifts in tradition (and quite a few important role Partial restoration of old strata plays a role here.

To talk about a writer, about his works and not say how he masters words, how he uses the possibilities of language, is the same as not saying anything about the writer’s work. If we do not pay attention and understanding to the language of the work, then we will not deeply and comprehensively understand the content of the literary work. The approach to the selection and use of colloquial, bookish, foreign language, and outdated means of depiction is determined by the aesthetic position of the writer, the attitudes of a literary school or literary movement.

The connection of language with national character, with national self-awareness and its expression in literature is an obvious truth for all Russian writers. In the process of development of literature, language education plays an important role. The change in literary language over the centuries occurred gradually, through the transition of quantitative changes to qualitative ones. In this regard, in the process of development of the Russian literary language there are different periods based on changes occurring within the language, associated with changes in the relationship of the Russian literary language to the Church Slavonic language, living speech, contacts of the Russian language with other languages, methods of literary usage.

From “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” to modern literature, the active process of interaction between folk speech and literary traditions continues, forming a new synthesis in the vocabulary fund of the language-creator people. At the same time, it should be noted that from the point of view of the historical development of the Russian language, it can be noted that in the literary language, throughout the entire period of its development to the present day, words have been used that have fallen out of mass use, but their historical relevance in literary texts is more or less relevant.

Analyzing the stylistic functions of obsolete words in artistic speech, one cannot help but take into account the fact that their use in some cases may not be related to a specific stylistic task, but due to the characteristics of the author’s style and the individual preferences of the writer. Thus, for M. Gorky, many outdated words were stylistically neutral, and he used them without any special stylistic intent.

In addition, it is important to emphasize that when analyzing the stylistic functions of obsolete words in one or another work of art you should take into account the time of its writing, know the general linguistic norms that were in force in that era. After all, for a writer who lived a hundred or two hundred years ago, many words could have been completely modern, commonly used units that had not yet become a passive part of the vocabulary.

The need to contact outdated dictionary arises, for example, among authors of scientific and historical works. To describe the past of Russia, its realities that have gone into oblivion, historicisms and archaisms are used, which in such cases act in their own nominative function.

Words forced out of use do not disappear without a trace, they are preserved in the literature of the past, they are necessary in historical novels and essays - to recreate the life and linguistic flavor of the era.

The term "lexicon" comes from the Greek lexikos - "relating to a word." This term denotes a set of words, or vocabulary, of a particular language [Rakhmanova, Suzdaltseva 2003; 21]. It is also used when talking about the totality of words used by any author (Pushkin’s vocabulary, Anna Akhmatova’s vocabulary), about the totality of words of any individual work or publication (vocabulary of the novel “Eugene Onegin”, vocabulary of the newspaper “Moskovsky Komsomolets”) , about specific words of one or another functional variety of speech: “official business vocabulary”, “scientific style vocabulary”, “newspaper vocabulary”, etc.

Over time, any national language continuously develops and changes quite significantly. It is no coincidence that Old Church Slavonic, Old Russian and modern Russian languages ​​are distinguished, and the texts of ancient literatures have to be literally translated into modern languages. Changes occur at all tiers of the linguistic system.

Each word has its own history, competes with other words, fights for its place in the sun, and ends up in an active fund national language, retreats into “reserves”, again enriched with semantic and stylistic shades previously unusual for it, sometimes completely changing its meaning and form beyond recognition. Naturally, the vocabulary of the language also changes. For various reasons, some words disappear from the language. Language is constantly “working”, functioning. The functioning of language is the driving force behind language change.

The vocabulary of a language is studied by lexicology. The tasks of lexicology include the study of problems associated with different aspects of the word. One of the most important branches of lexicology is semasiology (or semantics), which studies the meaning of a word. After all, words are distinguished from other units of language (for example, sounds or sentences) by the fact that they are direct names of individual phenomena of reality: objects, signs, processes, etc. The meaning of the word also reflects those connections that human thinking establishes between objects and phenomena, when, for example, objects that are similar in some way receive a common name (a leaf of a tree - a sheet of paper).

Semasiology also studies the relationships by which the meanings of different words are connected: it identifies groups of words that are similar in meaning (wizard - magician - sorcerer - sorcerer); uprising - mutiny - riot - putsch), and words of opposite meaning (beautiful - ugly), egoist - altruist)). Lexicology pays much attention to the stylistic stratification of the vocabulary of a given language: it establishes the emotional and expressive shades of words and determines what style of speech - official, scientific, colloquial, etc. - this word belongs.

Another task of lexicology is to determine the origin of words. By identifying such groups of words as native Russian and borrowed ones, establishing when and for what reasons the borrowed words came into the Russian language, lexicologists draw conclusions about the peculiarities of the process of formation of the vocabulary of our language.

Historical lexicology deals with the problems of forming the vocabulary of a language: it describes the vocabulary with the help of which the language is updated, replenished with new units, as well as groups of words that for some reason become outdated, leave active speech use, moving to its periphery, and sometimes even altogether disappear from the language.

The lexical system of a language differs from its other levels in its openness and non-closedness; the vocabulary of the language reflects the changes that constantly occur in the social, material and other aspects of society.

Outdated vocabulary is words that are used by native speakers, but are perceived by them as outdated: cavalry guard, lanits, ony, oprichnik, fingers, sey, etc.

The reasons why a word becomes obsolete and goes out of active use are different.

A word can become outdated because the person, object, phenomenon designated by this word is outdated, out of use: cavalry guard, chain mail, crinoline, arquebus, king, etc.

The word may, for some reason, be replaced by another designation of the same object, phenomenon: neck - neck, mirror - mirror, cheeks - cheeks, packs - again, this - this, brow - forehead, young - young, shelom - helmet, etc. .P.

Russian language

Archaisms and historicisms - what is the difference between them?

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In the life of society there are cultural, economic, social change: science develops, technology appears, life improves, political transformations occur.

This leads to the fact that words cease to be used, become obsolete, and are replaced by new words. Let's consider illustrative examples What are historicisms and archaisms? Two layers of vocabulary coexist.

The first is words that native speakers know and use (active vocabulary).

The other layer is words that do not sound in speech, the majority of language users do not know them, require additional explanations, or understandable names that have ceased to function in speech - passive vocabulary.

The passive dictionary includes obsolete words. They differ in the level of obsolescence and the reasons why they became so.

The difference between historicisms and archaisms

Historicisms are not used in speech; the objects and concepts that they named do not exist. Archaisms denote objects and phenomena that still exist today, but have been replaced by other phrases. The difference between the two groups is that archaisms have synonyms, this is important.

Examples: ramena (shoulders), tuga (sadness), destruction (death)

Historicisms have been in use for a very long time. Words that were once popular under Soviet rule have already become forgotten - pioneer, communist, Soviet power, Politburo. Sometimes words become common vocabulary: lyceum, gymnasium, police, governor, department

It also happens that outdated words return to speech in a new understanding. For example, the word squad in Ancient Rus' it meant “princely army.” In vocabulary, its meaning is “a voluntary community of people formed for a specific purpose” - people's squad.

Historicisms - how did they appear?

Society is developing at a rapid pace, and therefore cultural values ​​are changing, some things are becoming obsolete, and new ones are appearing. Fashion moves forward and the previously popular kaftan is now just an outdated word. Such clothes are not worn, and many outdated names can be found in ancient books or historical films.

For modern people, historicisms are part of history, they can be studied for development, but there is no need to use them in speech, others will not be able to understand their meaning. Misunderstandings will arise.
To understand historicisms, consider examples and interpretation of words.

Historicisms, examples Interpretation of the word
barnkeeper private barn owner who buys grain or rents out barns
disgusting food, dishes
business card men's clothing, a type of jacket with rounded flaps that diverge in front; originally intended for visits
hryvnia silver or gold neck decoration in the form of a hoop
hound bear a bear specially trained for palace “funny games”
clerk official in the order
stoker court official in the Moscow state
unworthy money money for unserved time, which the soldier was obliged to return to the community in case of early termination of service
order governing body of individual industries
cold shoemaker in Russia until 1917 - a shoemaker who did not have a workplace, but repaired shoes right on the street near a client who took his shoes off his feet

Among the reasons for the formation of historicisms: the improvement of tools, the complication of production processes, the development of culture, and political transformations.

The abolition of the dependence of the peasant on the landowner in Russia left the words: master, quitrent, corvee, tax, serf in the past. The main thing is that historicisms remain in the history of mankind and do not return to speech, therefore they do not matter. No one will wear a caftan now or there will be no corvée and serfdom.


Historicisms disappear from speech forever

Historicisms can be divided into groups to understand the meaning of words:

  • old clothes and shoes – salop, armyak, camisole, hose, shoe, bast shoes;
  • names of social life phenomena – duel, Comintern member, farm laborer, collective farmer, kulak, self-destructive;
  • craft and professions of people: squire, buffoon, journeyman, water-carrier, cooper;
  • monetary units – half, imperial, five-altyn;
  • measures of weight and length - verst, vershok, span, pound, fathom, pud;
  • titles and positions - excellency, driver, highness, mayor, hussar, orderly;
  • military household items - mace, chain mail, axe, flail, aventail, squeal;
  • names of administrative units – district, parish, province;
  • letters of the ancient alphabet - beeches, yat, lead.

Outdated phrases may appear in scientific style to designate phenomena in an epoch-making period, to give expressiveness to heroes and images in an artistic style.
In modern language one cannot find a synonym for historicism. What is remarkable is the fact that historicisms can date back several centuries.

Archaisms - what are they?

These are outdated names of objects and concepts that have been replaced with other words that are familiar modern society. The world is changing, people are changing along with it, and the language is expanding with new concepts, and new words are being invented for the old ones.

Archaisms have taken on a new look, therefore they can be classified as synonyms of modern words, but still their use in the Russian language will be strange rather than a common occurrence. To understand ancient objects, for in-depth study the cultures of ancient people, archaisms and their meaning can play a role.

To figure it out, let's look at the table where the interpretations of old words are written. It is not necessary to know them, but it will be a godsend for a historian.

Archaisms are divided into groups. Sometimes it is not the whole word that becomes obsolete, but only part of it. Let's take meanings that are completely outdated: verses (verses). Some words have outdated morphemes - prejudice.
The process of formation of archaisms is uneven. Thematic groups of archaisms are different:

  • person's character - word sower(chatterbox, idle talker), lover of words(scientist, expert), wordsmith(flatterer), fusser(idle talker);
  • profession - jump rope(gymnast), cattle feeder(cattle breeder), warehouseman(writer), skoroposolnik(messenger, messenger);
  • social relations - coverb(companion), friend(friend, companion), suvrazhnik(enemy);
  • family relations - sister(sister), kindred, kindred(relative);
  • objects of surrounding reality - Selina(a. dwelling, building; b. crevice), sennitsa(tent, tent);
  • natural phenomena - arrow(lightning), students(cold, cold);
  • things - saddle(chair, armchair), Servet(napkin), scramble(peel, skin, shell), screenshot(chest, casket), standing(stand);
  • abstract concepts - literature(eloquence), cleverness(inference), laughing(mockery), commonwealth(acquaintance, friendship).

Archaisms are rarely used in literature. If the writer is literate enough and speaks not only modern, but also ancient language, then such words will add a special “zest” to the speech. The reader will ponder and delve deeper into the reading, trying to understand and unravel what the author meant. It will always be interesting and informative.

Archaisms perform this function in rhetoric, judicial debates, and fiction.


A word may lose one of its meanings

Types of archaisms

Archaisms in literature and social activities of people are usually divided into types. For a deeper understanding of the language and its historical development. No novel based on historical events can do without mentioning outdated words.

1. Semantic archaisms

Words that previously had a different meaning, but in modern language they have a new meaning. We understand the word “housing” as a kind of real estate where a person lives. But earlier the word had a different meaning: he feels so bad as if he was walking to the fifth building; (housing - floor).

2. Phonetic archaisms

They differ from modern ones in one or two letters, even the spelling can be similar, as if one letter was removed or added. It may even seem like a mistake, but it's just an outdated expression.
For example: poet - drink, fire - fire, dishonest - dishonored.

3. Derivatives

Obsolescence occurs only in part of a word and usually in a suffix. It is easy to guess the meaning for understanding, but it is more common to recognize archaisms if you already know which letters have been replaced, removed or added.

  • The rubber ball bounces off the floor (rubber - rubber).
  • What a wonderful pencil drawing (pencil - pencil).
  • The entire audience, competing with each other, shouted out different phrases (competing - competing).
  • This nervous person is simply terrible (nervous - nervous).

4. Phraseological

When we talk about this type of archaism, we understand entire sayings, volatile expressions, a special ancient combination of words that was previously in use.
Examples of stable expressions include: I’ll buy myself a farm; wifey makes a nice profit from coke and juice; stuck it to whoever it should be.

5. Grammar

Such words remain in modern speech, but their gender has changed. Examples include tulle and coffee. Our coffee is masculine, but they want to make it mean. The word tulle is masculine, but sometimes it is confused and people want to make it feminine.
Examples of words: swan - was previously feminine, now has a masculine gender. Previously, poets wrote that a lonely swan floats.

The importance of obsolete words

Outdated vocabulary is valuable material for forming knowledge about the history of a people, introducing it to national origins. These are tangible threads that connect us to history. Its study makes it possible to restore information about the historical, social, and economic activities of ancestors, and to gain knowledge about the way of life of the people.

Outdated words are a means that allows you to diversify speech, add emotionality to it, and express the author’s attitude to reality.

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