There is a stereotype that everything bad comes to us from outside. Therefore, many Russians believe that swearing appeared as a result of the presence of the Tatar-Mongol horde on Russian soil.
This opinion is erroneous and is denied by the majority of scientific researchers. Of course, the invasion of nomads led by a handful of Mongols influenced the life, culture and speech of the Russian people. For example, such a Turkic word as baba-yagat (knight, knight), changed social status and gender, turning into our Baba Yaga. The word karpuz (watermelon) turned into a well-fed little toddler boy. The word fool (stop, halt) began to be used to describe a stupid person. Swearing has nothing to do with the Turkic language, because it was not customary for the nomads to swear, and swear words were completely absent from the dictionary.
From Russian chronicle sources it is known that swear words appeared in Rus' long before the Tatar-Mongol invasion. Linguists see the roots of these words in most Indo-European languages, but they became so widespread only on Russian soil. There are three main swear words and they mean sexual intercourse, male and female genitalia, all the rest are derivatives of these three words. But in other languages, these organs and actions also have their own names, which for some reason have not become dirty words.
To understand the reason for the appearance of swear words on Russian soil, researchers looked into the depths of centuries and offered their own version of the answer. They believe that the mat phenomenon originated in the vast territory between the Himalayas and Mesopotamia, where in the vast expanses lived a few tribes of the ancestors of the Indo-Europeans, who had to reproduce in order to expand their habitat, so great importance was attached to the reproductive function. And words associated with reproductive organs and functions were considered magical. They were forbidden to say them in vain, so as not to jinx them or cause damage. The taboos were broken by sorcerers, followed by untouchables and slaves for whom the law was not written. Gradually I developed the habit of using obscenities out of fullness of feelings or just to connect words. Basic words began to acquire many derivatives. They say that there are virtuosos who can pronounce swear words for hours without repeating themselves. Not so long ago, just a thousand years ago, a word denoting a woman of easy virtue became one of the curse words. It comes from the usual word “vomit,” that is, “vomit abomination.”
Why, out of many Indo-European peoples, did swear words stick only to the Russian language? Researchers also explain this fact by religious prohibitions that other peoples had earlier due to the earlier adoption of Christianity. In Christianity, as in Islam, foul language is considered a great sin. Rus' adopted Christianity later, and by that time, along with pagan customs, swearing was firmly rooted among the Russian people. After the adoption of Christianity in Rus', war was declared on foul language.
And what Russian doesn’t express himself with strong words? Moreover, many swear words have been translated into foreign languages, but the interesting thing is that there are no full-fledged analogues of Russian swear words in foreign languages and are unlikely to ever appear. Linguists have long calculated that there are no other languages on the planet with as many curse words as in Russian!
In oral form
How and why did swearing appear in the Russian language? Why do other languages do without it? Perhaps someone will say that with the development of civilization, with the improvement of the well-being of citizens in the vast majority of countries on our planet, the need for swearing naturally disappeared? Russia is unique in that these improvements never occurred in it, and swearing in it remained in its virgin, primitive form... It is no coincidence that not a single great Russian writer or poet avoided this phenomenon!
Where did he come to us from?
Previously, a version was spread that swearing appeared in the dark times of the Tatar-Mongol yoke, and before the arrival of the Tatars in Rus', Russians did not swear at all, and when swearing, they called each other only dogs, goats and sheep. However, this opinion is erroneous and is denied by most research scientists. Of course, the invasion of nomads influenced the life, culture and speech of the Russian people. Perhaps such a Turkic word as “baba-yagat” (knight, knight) changed social status and gender, turning into our Baba Yaga. The word "karpuz" (watermelon) turned into a well-fed little boy. But the term “fool” (stop, halt) began to be used to describe a stupid person.
Swearing has nothing to do with the Turkic language, because it was not customary for the nomads to swear, and swear words were completely absent from the dictionary. From Russian chronicle sources (the oldest known examples in birch bark letters of the 12th century from Novgorod and Staraya Russa. See “Obscene vocabulary in birch bark letters.” The specifics of the use of some expressions are commented on in the “Russian-English Dictionary Diary” by Richard James (1618−1619) .) it is known that swear words appeared in Rus' long before the Tatar-Mongol invasion. Linguists see the roots of these words in most Indo-European languages, but they became so widespread only on Russian soil.
Here to stay
So why, out of many Indo-European peoples, did swear words stick only to the Russian language? Researchers also explain this fact by religious prohibitions that other peoples had earlier due to the earlier adoption of Christianity. In Christianity, as in Islam, foul language is considered a great sin. Rus' adopted Christianity later, and by that time, along with pagan customs, swearing was firmly rooted among the Russian people. After the adoption of Christianity in Rus', war was declared on foul language.
The etymology of the word “mat” may seem quite transparent: it supposedly goes back to the Indo-European word “mater” meaning “mother”, which was preserved in various Indo-European languages. However, special studies propose other reconstructions.
So, for example, L.I. Skvortsov writes: “The literal meaning of the word “mate” is “a loud voice, a cry.” It is based on onomatopoeia, that is, involuntary cries of “ma!”, “me!” - mooing, meowing, roaring of animals during estrus, mating calls, etc.” Such an etymology might seem naive if it did not go back to the concept of the authoritative Etymological Dictionary of Slavic Languages: “...Russian mat, - a derivative of the verb “matati” - “shout”, “loud voice”, “cry”, is related to the word “matoga” - “curse”, i.e. grimace, break, (about animals) shake your head, “curse” - disturb, disturb. But “matoga” in many Slavic languages means “ghost, ghost, monster, bogeyman, witch”...
What does it mean?
There are three main swear words and they mean sexual intercourse, male and female genitalia, all the rest are derivatives of these three words. But in other languages, these organs and actions also have their own names, which for some reason did not become dirty words? To understand the reason for the appearance of swear words on Russian soil, researchers looked into the depths of centuries and offered their own version of the answer.
They believe that in the vast territory between the Himalayas and Mesopotamia, in the vast expanses, there lived a few tribes of the ancestors of the Indo-Europeans, who had to reproduce in order to expand their habitat, so great importance was attached to the reproductive function. And words associated with reproductive organs and functions were considered magical. They were forbidden to say “in vain,” so as not to jinx them or cause damage. The taboos were broken by sorcerers, followed by untouchables and slaves for whom the law was not written.
Gradually I developed the habit of using obscenities out of fullness of feelings or just to connect words. Basic words began to acquire many derivatives. Not so long ago, just a thousand years ago, the word denoting a woman of easy virtue, “f*ck,” became one of the swear words. It comes from the word “vomit,” that is, “vomit abomination.”
But the most important swear word is rightfully considered to be the same three-letter word that is found on the walls and fences of the entire civilized world. Let's look at it as an example. When did this three-letter word appear? One thing I will say for sure is that it was clearly not in Tatar-Mongol times. In the Turkic dialect of the Tatar-Mongolian languages, this “object” is denoted by the word “kutah”. By the way, many now have a surname derived from this word and do not consider it at all dissonant: “Kutakhov.”
In the Indo-European base language, which was spoken by the distant ancestors of the Slavs, Balts, Germans and other European peoples, the word “her” meant a goat. This word is related to the Latin "hircus". In modern Russian, the word “harya” remains a related word. Until recently, this word was used to describe goat masks used by mummers during carols.
Thus, we can conclude that swearing arose in ancient times and was associated with pagan rituals. Mat is, first of all, a way to demonstrate readiness to break taboos and cross certain boundaries. Therefore, the theme of curses in different languages is similar - “bottom line” and everything related to the fulfillment of physiological needs. And among Russians this need has always been great. It is possible that even, like no other people in the world...
Don't be confused!
In addition to “corporal curses,” some peoples (mostly French-speaking) have blasphemous curses. The Russians don't have this.
And one more important point - you cannot mix argotisms with swearing, which are absolutely not swearing, but most likely just foul language. As, for example, there are dozens of thieves’ argotisms alone with the meaning “prostitute” in the Russian language: alura, barukha, marukha, profursetka, slut and the like.
HISTORY OF THE RUSSIAN MATThis is what caught my eye today:
The results of the all-Russian campaign “Day without swearing” have been summed up:
- The work of all car services was completely paralyzed.
- All loading and unloading operations have stalled.
- Football and hockey players did not understand the coach on
installation before the match.
- All the plumbers and school labor workers died with a sigh.
- Ordinary residents did not know how to respond to
the elementary question "Where?" 
The history of the emergence of Russian swearing.
As historians note, the Slavic tribes, of course, swore, but their swearing was, in comparison with what happened next, sheer innocence, and their swearing was rather in comparison with domestic animals (cow, goat, ram, bull, mare, etc.). d.). But in 1342, Batu Khan attacked the Russian principality. And it is precisely for the swearing that we hear now that we can thank the Tatar-Mongols. Still, three centuries of yoke did not pass without a trace for Russia. What’s interesting is that in countries that have suffered the same fate, they swear in almost the same way. So, for example, the Serbian “ebene sluntce v pichku” is almost identical to our “e..t”. In fact, synonyms of swear words pronounced in Russian are reflected in both the Polish language and Hungarian - such a distant language of the Finno-Ugric group, and not at all of the Slavic group of languages.
After the Mongol everyone swore. Rich and wealthy nobles considered it beneath them to speak swear words, but the works of Pushkin, Nekrasov, and Gogol, who were not averse to using swear words, have reached us. All of them, in one way or another, learned to correctly express obscene thoughts from the actual founder of obscene poetry - Igor Semenovich Barkov - a classic of Russian obscene literature. However, swearing, precisely as a spoken language, was more characteristic of the workers and peasants, who, in the opinion of our beloved party for so long, made the revolution in 1917.
After this incident, a large number of these same peasants and workers - uneducated people who were accustomed to expressing almost all their thoughts through “b@ya” - fell into power and began to spin. Both Lenin (even though he was from an educated family) and Stalin, who graduated from a church gymnasium, swore. It was during the latter period that mating received particular development.
The constant exile of people who are not guilty of being Jews or born in Russia gave impetus to Russian swearing. In fact, at this time, multi-syllable obscene expressions began to form; they began to express their opinions using obscenities. Mat became the language of the zone, understandable both to the prisoners and to the people who guarded them. Half the country, serving time for crimes or nothing at all, gave a very big impetus to the development of swearing. In 1954, the so-called “thaw” began, and samizdat books began to appear with Barkov’s poems or attributed to his work (it was easier to indicate the name of a person who died in the 18th century than to answer for everything said). It was then that most of the obscene ditties appeared, reflecting the changes and inventions of mankind (TV, space flights, the end of the war). Mat has become an integral part of Russian life. “The Gulag Archipelago,” for which Solzhenitsyn received the Nobel Prize, is replete with obscene expressions that more express the state of the novel’s characters than the literary language.
In connection with freedom of speech, which has been in Russia for 10 years now, swearing has come out of hiding, and well-designed publications with swear words and dictionaries of swear words have begun to appear.
Attention attention! This article will contain obscene language(after all, how can you write about the history of swearing without it?). Therefore, for those with a delicate mental structure and those who may be offended, please just walk nearby and under no circumstances press the “Read in full” button. And everyone else - welcome to our next journey along the paths of history, and the topic of today's historical research will be such a difficult (or maybe, on the contrary, mega simple) thing as obscenities (aka swearing, swearing, obscene language, “strong words” and others like them ), where they came from, their history, origin and even sacred meaning... Oh yes, sacred meaning, because swearing is not just all sorts of “dirty words” or vulgar language, for some, swearing is a kind of poetry, an integral component of speech, writing, maybe even a sacred mantra.
Of course, we are talking more about the great and powerful Russian language, because it is no secret that swearing is an integral “cultural” property of Russian speech, this gives rise to some Ukrainians even making witty jokes about it.
But be that as it may, swearing is present not only in the Russian language, but also in many different languages around the world: English, Spanish, Polish, Magyar and many others. (It would be interesting to listen to, say, how Eskimos swear, or how swearing sounds in sophisticated French or other languages). It seems that obscenities, these dirty words, are written and sealed somewhere deep in the wilds of our common collective subconscious - “ Having pinched his fingers, the plumber Ivanov, as always, wanted to talk about the terrible pain that tormented all the nerve endings of his swollen fingers and how his delicate and sensitive nature was suffering, but as always, only a short “Fuck your mother!” ».
But still, whatever one may say, Russian swear words are the most colorful, poetic, as the famous Russian humorist Mikhail Zadornov (whom I love very much) once beautifully said: “Only a Russian person can swear at a sunset.” And this is true, for some Russians swearing is not just swearing, (as is the case primarily for all other nations) for them it is often a way of self-expression, internal expression, even admiration. And there is something so otherworldly, magical about this, as if when swearing a person is saying a certain magical formula, spell, mantra.
But let's finally turn to history: there are several different versions about the origin of swearing. According to the most common of them: in ancient times, our ancestors did not swear, but came to the mats along with the Mongol-Tatar horde. Although, as for me, this version is complete nonsense, because the same English or Spaniards are also not exactly fond of swearing, but no Mongol-Tatars came to them. The question also arises: where did the Mongol-Tatars come from and whether different ancient peoples in ancient civilizations had it, say, did they swear in Sumer, Ancient Egypt or Greece? There is no clear answer to this question, since there have been no written references with obscene words since then. But, nevertheless, this does not mean that the ancient Egyptians or Babylonians did not swear, maybe they did. (I think that if some simple Egyptian fisherman from those times, who was suddenly grabbed by a crocodile from the Nile in one place, at that moment he was not reciting sacred mantras, but was winging the crocodile with a real ten-story obscenity, but who knows...?) But of course , obscenities were not written on clay tablets and were not carved on the lids of Egyptian tombs or sarcophagi, in a word - censorship! (already)
Another version of the origin of the mat looks more plausible - they came to us (and at the same time to the whole of Europe) along with nomadic tribes (those strong guys on horses who at one time destroyed the great one). The Huns themselves (more precisely, some tribes), who first lived in Asia, long ago worshiped monkeys, considering them sacred animals (hello to Charles Darwin). It’s the monkeys who are to blame for the fact that people started swearing, because basically all swearing is associated with the genitals and sexual intercourse, and if we observe the behavior of monkeys, say chimpanzees, we will notice that male chimpanzees demonstrate their strength and superiority over their rivals and generally securing leadership status, often demonstrate their genitals or even imitate a sexual act. And the ancient Huns, following their sacred animals - monkeys, took and adopted their monkey customs into their everyday life - often showing their genitals to their enemies before battle (probably to scare them). Although not only the Huns did this, I remembered how in the film “Braveheart” the Scottish warriors showed off their bare asses before the battle with the British.
And from non-verbal customs, verbal ones have already emerged, and the meaning of some obscenities can be discussed a lot not only by all sorts of philologists and historians, but also by psychologists. For example, the popular swearing message “fuck you” (I warned you that there would be obscene language) - that is, to the male reproductive organ, puts the one who was sent, as if in a female sexual position, which means the loss of his masculine strength and dignity. Thus, the ancient Huns and later other barbarian tribes, sending their opponents to those same obscene three letters, tried to inflict a kind of damage on them, to deprive them of their male strength, so that they could easily later win and overcome them in battle. And without any doubt, the ancient Huns (if they brought the mats) invested them with enormous sacred meaning and magical power (though sometimes in a negative sense).
And finally, the most interesting version of the origin of swearing, according to which from ancient times they spontaneously arose in our Rus' (and not only among us, but also among other peoples) and at first they were not bad, “dirty” words, but quite the contrary - sacred mantras! So, precisely with sacred pagan mantras, which symbolized primarily fertility. And fertility, in turn, was associated with various erotic rituals, it’s just that our distant pagan ancestors believed that human eroticism and sexuality could also affect natural fertility, which gives a good harvest (after all, everything is interconnected, and what is above is not so below is it?). By the way, among the numerous Slavic gods, all these Peruns, Dazhbogs and Svarogs, there was one god named Ebun (by the way, then it was not a bad word at all) about whom for some reason historians and religious scholars do not actively remember (maybe they are embarrassed ?)
And the common swear words themselves, if you think about it, reflect nothing more than the symbolic structure of our universe: the first is the very word of three letters, the masculine active principle, the second is the feminine, passive principle, and the third is the process of their active interaction (by the way not only here, but also in all other languages, for example, the most popular English swear word “to fuck” in different variations, just means the active interaction of the masculine and feminine principles). It turns out to be a real yin and yang, a continuous renewal of life through the unity of opposites. And it is not surprising that in ancient times these words were attributed with real magical meanings and properties and used as amulets (and not as abuse).
With the advent of Christianity, of course, all pagan erotic cults were leveled, and obscenities also fell into disgrace, which from sacred pagan mantras and “words of power” turned into dirty words. So everything was turned upside down, turned upside down. It is interesting that some people intuitively feel the power of swearing and do not hesitate to actively use them, including on the Internet (just look at the mega-popular blog on the Russian Internet, Lebedev’s Topics). What do you think about using a mat?
In conclusion, a good esoteric anecdote:
Nicholas Roerich travels through Tibet, looking for the mystical city of Shambhala, the abode of highest wisdom. A year, two, three, but she feels that she is getting closer. And so he climbs the mountain, finds a descent into a cave there, goes down it all day and comes out into a huge hall. Thousands of Buddhist monks stand in rows along the walls, chanting the “ommm” mantra, and in the middle of the cave is a huge lingam, 30 meters high, made from a single piece of jade.
And a quiet voice sounds in Roerich’s ear:
- Nikolai?
- Yes!
- Roerich?
- Yes!
- Do you remember how on November 17, 1914, at the corner of Nevsky and Gorokhovaya, you were sent to hell by a cab driver?
- Well, yes …
- Congratulations, you have arrived!
Swearing has accompanied Rus' since its inception. Authorities, social formations, culture and the Russian language itself change, but swearing remains unchanged.
Native speech
Almost the entire 20th century was dominated by the version that the words that we call swear words came into the Russian language from the Mongol-Tatars. However, this is a misconception. Swearing is already found in Novgorod birch bark documents dating back to the 11th century: that is, long before the birth of Genghis Khan.
Revolt against matriarchy
The concept of “checkmate” is quite late. From time immemorial in Rus' it was called “barking obscene”. It must be said that initially swear language included exclusively the use of the word “mother” in a vulgar, sexual context. The words denoting the genital organs, which we today refer to swearing, did not refer to “swearing.”
There are a dozen versions of the checkmate function. Some scientists suggest that swearing appeared at the turn of society’s transition from matriarchy to patriarchy and initially meant the authoritative assertion of a man who, having undergone the ritual of copulation with the “mother” of the clan, publicly announced this to his fellow tribesmen.
Dog tongue
True, the previous version does not explain the use of the word “laya”. There is another hypothesis on this score, according to which “swearing” had a magical, protective function and was called “dog tongue.” In the Slavic (and Indo-European in general) tradition, dogs were considered animals of the “afterlife” and served the goddess of death Morena. A dog who served an evil witch could turn into a person (even an acquaintance) and come with evil thoughts (to cast the evil eye, damage, or even kill). So, having sensed something was wrong, Morena’s potential victim should have uttered a protective “mantra”, that is, sent him to “mother”. This was the time when the evil demon, the “son of Morena”, was exposed, after which he had to leave the man alone.
It is curious that even in the 20th century, people retained the belief that “swearing” scares away devils and that swearing makes sense even “for the sake of prevention,” without seeing a direct threat.
Calling the good
As already mentioned, ancient Russian words denoting the reproductive organs began to be classified as “foul language” much later. In the pagan era, these lexemes were commonly used and did not have an abusive connotation. Everything changed with the arrival of Christianity in Rus' and the beginning of the displacement of old “filthy” cults. Sexually charged words were replaced with “Church Slavinisms: copulate, childbearing, penis, etc. In fact, there was a serious rational grain in this taboo. The fact is that the use of the previous “terms” was ritualized and associated with pagan fertility cults, special conspiracies, and calls for good. By the way, the word “good” itself (in the old Slavic - “bolgo”) meant “many” and was used at the beginning precisely in the “agricultural” context.
It took the Church many centuries to reduce agrarian rituals to a minimum, but the “fertile” words remained in the form of “relics”: however, already in the status of curses.
Empress censorship
There is one more word that is unfairly classified today as swearing. For the purposes of self-censorship, let’s call it the “B” word. This lexeme quietly existed in the elements of the Russian language (it can even be found in church texts and official state documents), having the meanings “fornication”, “deception”, “delusion”, “heresy”, “error”. People often used this word to refer to dissolute women. Perhaps during the time of Anna Ioannovna this word began to be used with greater frequency and, probably, in the latter context, because it was this empress who banned it.
"Thief" censorship
As you know, in the criminal, or “thieves”, environment, swearing is strictly taboo. For a carelessly dropped obscene expression, a prisoner may face much more serious punishment than an administrative fine for public obscene language on the outside. Why do the “urkagans” dislike Russian swearing so much? First of all, swearing can pose a threat to “feni” or “thieves’ music.” The keepers of thieves' traditions understand well that if swearing replaces argot, they will subsequently lose their authority, their “uniqueness” and “exclusivity,” and most importantly, the power in prison, the elite of the criminal world - in other words, “lawlessness” will begin. It is curious that criminals (unlike statesmen) understand well what any language reform and borrowing of other people's words can lead to.
Renaissance mate
Today's times can be called a renaissance of swearing. This is facilitated by the boom of social networks, where people have the opportunity to swear publicly. With some reservations, we can talk about the legitimization of obscene language. There is even a fashion for swearing: if previously it was the lot of the lower strata of society, now the so-called intelligentsia, the creative class, the bourgeoisie, women and children also resort to “sweet words”. It is difficult to say what is the reason for such a revival of “barking obscenities”. But we can safely say that this will not increase harvests, matriarchy will not win, and will not drive out demons...