In each historical period of language development, there is vocabulary that is constantly used in the language - active, and vocabulary of the passive vocabulary, which consists of words that have fallen out of use and have received an archaic connotation. There is also vocabulary - new words that are just entering the language and therefore have a connotation of unusualness. The transition of vocabulary from active to passive is a long process. At the beginning, some words cease to be used in speech, but are still familiar to all speakers. Then they are used for some time by writers and poets, historians when describing a historical era; over time, they disappear from the language completely, remaining only in texts - monuments of the era in which they functioned, for example, the Old Russian words " komon - horse", cherevye - type of shoe, in Ukrainian – cherevichki, “usnye – skin”. "Hangnail" formed from sleep.
But there are times when words that have not been used for some time return to the active dictionary. For example, soldier, officer, ensign or the recently lost connotation of archaic word “ parasite».
There are two groups of obsolete words: archaisms And historicisms.
TO historicisms include words that are outdated along with subjects about objects, events, phenomena, etc. With the historical change in the state structure, the previous names of administrative-elected assemblies, bodies, etc., as well as their members, disappeared: community, community member; veche, eternal; zemstvo, zemsky; Duma, vowel(member of the city council), Duma member(Member of the State Duma). The following words have left the active dictionary: as king, sovereign, monarch, royal; hussar, chain mail, tax in kind and others. Historicisms do not have synonyms among the words of the active vocabulary.
Archaisms are names of existing things and phenomena, for some reason supplanted by other words belonging to the active vocabulary. For example, these are the words: every day- Always, comedian- actor, gold- gold, guest– trader, merchant and many others.
Some of the words of this type are already beyond even the passive vocabulary of the modern literary language. These are words like thief- thief, robber; Stryi- paternal uncle; stryinya- wife of paternal uncle; wow- maternal uncle; stirrup- "down", sling- roof, vault of heaven; vezha- tent, tent, tower; here– fat, lard, etc. However, we can find them in phraseological units that have been preserved in the language: goof(rope spinning machine), you can't see anything – zga (stga)– road, path, stitch; hit with one's forehead, freak out with fat– fat (wealth); treasure it like the apple of your eye.
Stylistic function. Writers and poets often turn to outdated words as an expressive means of artistic speech.
Slavicisms, which have variants in the Russian language, were shorter than Russian words by a whole syllable, and poets of the 18th – 19th centuries used this difference to create rhyme. These were a kind of political liberties. For example, in Batyushkov’s “ I will sigh, and my voice will be languid,
will die quietly in the air»
Obsolete words perform various stylistic functions in artistic speech. Archaisms and historicisms are used to recreate the flavor of distant times. A.N. used them in this function. Tolstoy: " The land of Ottich and Dedich are those banks of deep rivers and forest glades, Kura, our ancestor came to live forever...» .
Archaisms, especially Slavicisms, give speech a sublime, solemn sound. Old Church Slavonic vocabulary performed this function even in ancient Russian literature. Modern authors also use the high, solemn sound of outdated words. In newspaper editorials, expressions such as “like a great unity”, “man’s labors”, etc. are used. For example, from I. Ehrenburg: “ Our people have shown their military virtues, and now all nations know that the Soviet Union and its army bring peace to the tormented world»
Outdated vocabulary can take on an ironic connotation. In a parody-ironic function, outdated words often appear in feuilletons and pamphlets. For example, from I. Ehrenburg: “ In vain some young women, who, smelling a rose, pricked themselves with a thorn».
There is an opinion that outdated vocabulary is common in official business style. These are the words: act, capable, done, punishment, retribution etc. are legal terms, although they are marked as archaic in dictionaries. Or used in documents: this year, herewith attached, the above-mentioned etc. - these are all special official business words within their functional style and do not have an expressive coloring, they do not carry any stylistic load.
The use of outdated words in speech without taking into account their expressive coloring becomes the cause of gross stylistic errors. For example, " The new residents welcomed the builders as their dearest guests."(must be welcomed); " The laboratory assistant went into the office of the chairman of the local committee, Nikolai Goman, and told him about what had happened."(told); " The chairman of the collective farm saw the efficiency of the young field farmer" All these words are listed in dictionaries as “outdated.” or "old."
Sometimes the use of outdated words leads to a distortion of the meaning of the statement " As a result of a stormy meeting of household members, the housing office began repairing the house on time" - Here household(members of the same family) is used to mean residents of the house. Thus, you need to be careful when using outdated words in your speech.
Neologisms.
Each era enriches the language with new words. The emergence of neologisms is facilitated by fundamental social changes in the life of society, such as the October Revolution, the development of scientific and technological progress, the flourishing of culture and art. All this causes the emergence of new concepts, and with them new words. The acquisition of new vocabulary by a language occurs in different ways. Some words are quickly acquired by native speakers and become widespread, becoming part of the active vocabulary ( collective farm, salary, TV, astronaut, satellite– spacecraft, etc. Others take a long time to master the language and retain a touch of unusualness.
The classification of neologisms is based on various criteria for their identification and evaluation. Depending on the methods of formation, neologisms are lexical, which are created according to productive models or borrowed from other languages, and semantic, which arise as a result of assigning new meanings to already known words.
As part of lexical neologisms, we can distinguish words formed with the help of suffixes ( earthlings, martians, aliens), prefixes ( pro-Western), suffix – prefix ( unpack, lunar landing); names created by compounding words ( lunar rover, lunodrome, hydroweightlessness); compound words or abbreviations, for example, supermarket, abbreviated words: deputy, manager, assistant.
As semantic neologisms, words such as “ bush" - association of enterprises, " signal"- a message about something unwanted.
Depending on the conditions of creation, neologisms should be divided into two groups: words, words whose occurrence is not associated with the name of their creator - they can be called anonymous, and their overwhelming majority; words whose origin is associated with the name of the creator, they are called individual author’s neologisms. Now no one can say who coined the words: collective farm, Komsomol, five-year plan, Sunday. But the words: party spirit, subbotnik, economism, drummer etc. first used by V.I. Lenin; pro-meeting- Mayakovsky. Such words quickly become part of the language and replenish the active vocabulary. The words created by Lomonosov have long entered the active vocabulary: constellation, full moon, mine, drawing, attraction; created by Karamzin: industry, future, falling in love, absent-mindedness, touching and others; Dostoevsky: fade away. Neologisms of this type are called general linguistic, but those specially invented by the author for a stylistic purpose are called contextual-speech (i.e., occasional). For example, Mayakovsky " Evpatorians», sickle, hammerhead, chamberlain and so on. Often this kind of neologism is created according to models already existing in the language: eyes were starry(glowing, Fedin); Moidodyr And Aibolit(Chukovsky); at Yevtushenko's the kid in me has risen"and similar: teasing, annoying, clever, unresponsive. ottdarok, blue(compare with the existing model words: laughter, sloppiness, gift, blackness) and many others. Occasional neologisms are words that are used in context only once and do not become part of the language. These include children's word formations: foot supports(footprints), the rain has started to rain, caterpillar with babies(about the goose) put this key in the closet etc. They are created involuntarily at the moment of speech. In book literary language, occasionalisms are used much less frequently. However, within occasionalisms, individual authorial neologisms occupy a special place. They are created by the author with a specific artistic purpose. For example, Blok " snow-covered columns», « will wake up"; Yesenin's leaflet", from Paustovsky " every evening».
Vocabulary that is no longer actively used in speech is not immediately forgotten. For some time, outdated words are still understandable to speakers, familiar to them from fiction, although when people communicate, there is no longer a need for them. Such words become part of the passive vocabulary; they are listed in explanatory dictionaries with the mark (obsolete). The special emotional and expressive coloring of obsolete words leaves an imprint on their semantics.
Obsolete words included in the passive composition of the language include historicisms - the names of disappeared objects, phenomena, objects, and archaisms - the names of existing objects and phenomena, replaced by their more active synonyms.
Historicisms are used mainly in specialized literature, where they perform a nominative function. However, they are also widely used by authors of works of fiction.
Archaisms in fiction perform diverse stylistic functions. They, along with historicisms, are used to create the historical flavor of the era, as a means of stylization, in the speech characteristics of characters. They give speech a touch of pathos and solemnity. Often used to create irony, satire, and parody.
Outdated vocabulary also includes Slavicisms - words of Old Church Slavonic origin. For example: sweet, captivity, hello. Their productive use is limited to fiction, but they are often found in other functional styles. Their main function is to create a special, “Russian” flavor.
Stylistic functions of obsolete words in artistic speech
1. obsolete words as an artistic means of expression
2. archaisms and historicisms are used to recreate the flavor of distant times
3. archaisms, especially Slavicisms, give speech a sublime, solemn sound
4. outdated vocabulary can take on an ironic connotation
Errors associated with the use of outdated vocabulary:
1. distortion of the meaning of a word
2. distortion of the grammatical form of a word
3. can give the text a clerical touch
4. violation of lexical compatibility of words
14. New words. Types of neologisms. Individual stylistic neologisms.
A neologism is a new word formation caused by the absence in the language of a word corresponding to a new phenomenon, concept, or feeling.
Types of neologisms:
By method of formation: lexical (created according to productive models or borrowed from other languages), semantic (assigning a new meaning to already known words).
According to the conditions of creation: anonymous, individual author.
According to the purpose of creation: nominative, stylistic (add figurative characteristics).
Are they included in the language or are a fact of speech: linguistic (national), occasional (random, used once): individual-stylistic. Individual stylistic neologisms have a number of significant differences from occasionalisms. Occasionalisms are used in colloquial speech mainly in oral communication; individual stylistic neologisms belong to book speech and are recorded in writing. Occasionalisms arise spontaneously, individual stylistic neologisms are created in the process of conscious creativity with a specific stylistic purpose.
Individual stylistic neologisms are similar in their artistic significance to tropes. Individual stylistic neologisms do not lose their freshness for a long time. Publicists appreciate the satirical coloring of individual stylistic neologisms. Individual stylistic neologisms are more capacious in meaning than ordinary words. The creation of individual stylistic neologisms may be due to the desire of writers to use lexical means to reflect the originality of a new literary direction.
Stylistic functions of neologisms
a) nominative
b) expressive
c) sound color
Errors caused by the use of neologisms
1. Appeal to neologisms should always be stylistically motivated; they should be created in accordance with literary and linguistic norms.
2. Neologisms in which the requirements for euphony of speech are violated are considered unsuccessful from the point of view of word formation.
3. The sound form of a neologism is unacceptable if it causes undesirable associations due to the similarity in sound of a new word with an already known one.
4. The creation of dissonant, punning neologisms is possible only in an ironic context.
5. Neologisms that have a clerical connotation receive a negative stylistic assessment.
STYLISTIC PROPERTIES OF WORDS CONNECTED WITH THEIR ASSIGNMENT TO THE ACTIVE OR PASSIVE COMPOSITION OF THE LANGUAGE
Lecture No. 6
I. Archaisms and historicisms, their stylistic functions.
II. Stylistic functions of neologisms
III. Stylistic use of words of foreign origin.
Words, like people, are born, live and serve us, grow old, retire and even die. Yes, they are dying! Because we ourselves do not use them, we turn away from them, we forget...
What words are called old? And is this definition applicable to words? This question is not as simple as it might seem. It is no coincidence that linguists prefer a more precise definition to this: outdated words. Their selection is not connected with our idea of “age”: words do not deteriorate, like things, from prolonged use, and do not grow old over the years. There are words that are thousands of years old, but they have not “aged” at all. Take for example these: earth, water, sea, sky, mother, daughter, son, after all, they were born in ancient times, and yet these words are “forever young.”
The fate of words is determined not by “age”, but by their use in speech; those who name vital, necessary concepts do not grow old for centuries; others become archaic quite quickly, we stop using them, because the very concepts that these words denote disappear. The education system in Russia has changed - the words have disappeared from our speech Institute of Noble Maidens, classy lady, realist (student of a real school), schoolgirl.
Obsolete words included in the passive composition of the language include historicisms (names of disappeared objects, phenomena, concepts, etc.) and archaisms (names of existing objects and phenomena, supplanted, however, by their synonyms - words of active use).
Historicisms are used mainly in specialized literature, where they perform a nominative function - they serve as names for the realities of past eras. At the same time, the ability to use historicisms to paint a picture of the past, saturating it with a specific description, attracts the attention of authors of works of art to them. In historical literature, in works of art telling about the past of our people, it is impossible not to use historicisms. They help to recreate the flavor of the era and give the description of the past a touch of historical authenticity. This is how, for example, in the novel by A.K. Tolstoy’s “Prince Silver” depicts distant events from the time of Ivan the Terrible - preparation for a fist fight in which the hero’s fate is decided:
The day appointed for judgment duel. Even before sunrise, people crowded into Red Square... the place to which the guslar pointed was prepared for the king It consisted of a plank platform covered scarlet cloth. The royal chairs were placed on it, and the spears and spears sticking out there belonged to the guardsmen surrounding the platform... Inside the cordoned off place they were walking guarantors and solicitors both sides. They stood right there boyar and okolnichy, assigned to the field, and two clerk, who together with him were supposed to observe the order of battle. One of the clerks held an unfolded judge.
In addition to historicisms, other types of obsolete words are distinguished in our language. Have you ever observed how this or that word for some reason “falls out of favor”? We use it less and less in speech, replace it with another, and so it is gradually forgotten. For example, actor once called actor, comedian; they didn't say journey, A voyage, Not fingers, A fingers, Not forehead, A brow. As we see, such outdated words name completely modern objects, concepts that are now usually called differently. New names have replaced the old ones, and they are gradually forgotten. Obsolete words that have modern synonyms that have replaced them in the language are called archaisms. The stylistic functions of archaisms in fiction are diverse. First of all, they, along with historicisms, are used to create the historical flavor of the era, and this applies not only to the speech of characters, where their use is quite natural, but also to the author’s speech, in which they play the role of a means of stylization. Archaisms are used to characterize the speech of characters, for example, when conveying the speech of clergy. Wed. Pimen's remarks in A.S.'s tragedy Pushkin "Boris Godunov":
And his son Theodore? On the throne
He sighed for a peaceful life
Silent man. He is the royal palace
Converted it into a prayer cell;
There are heavy, sovereign sorrows
The holy souls did not outrage him.
God loved the king's humility,
And Rus' with him in serene glory
I was consoled - and at the hour of his death
An unheard of miracle happened:
To his bed, the only visible king,
The husband appeared unusually bright,
And Theodore began to talk with him
And call him a great patriarch.
And everyone around was filled with fear,
Having understood the heavenly vision,
Zane the holy lord before the king
I was not in the temple at that time.
Archaisms can give speech a touch of solemnity and pathos. They are widely used in poetic works. Most often, archaisms of Old Church Slavonic origin (historical Church Slavonicisms) are used for this purpose. This function is performed only by those Slavicisms that are outdated for our era and are not found in wide use, while their Russian version belongs to general use (cf.: voice - voice, young - young, daughter - daughter, etc. ) and such Old Church Slavonicisms are perceived as special poetic words, sublime and beautiful. Many of them have become an integral part of the poetic vocabulary of Russian classical literature. Old Slavonic synonyms of Russian words, often differing from them only by incompleteness, were especially convenient for poets, because they allowed them to choose a shorter word if the conditions of versification required it. For example, K.N. Batyushkova:
I'll sigh and voice my languid one,
Quietly in the air he will die.
Decembrist poets, contemporaries of A.S. Pushkin, used Old Church Slavonic vocabulary to create civil-patriotic pathos of speech. A great interest in outdated words was a distinctive feature of their poetry. The Decembrists were able to identify a layer in the archaizing vocabulary that could be adapted to express freedom-loving ideas. It is Slavicisms that carry the main stylistic load in the famous satire by K. F. Ryleev “To the Temporary Worker.” They contain the main distinctive meaning of the work ( villain, treachery, bribe, poverty), act as expressive epithets ( painful, arrogant, enraged); archaic verbs give speech a tense rhetorical sound: Your deeds will expose the people; Then tremble, O arrogant temporary worker!
A.S. Even in the later period of his work, Pushkin turned to archaic vocabulary as an irreplaceable source of the sublime sound of speech. Who will be left indifferent, for example, by the lines from Pushkin’s “Prophet” imbued with Slavism?
Arise, prophet, and see and listen,
Be fulfilled by my will
And, bypassing the seas and lands,
Burn the hearts of people with the verb.
Often in artistic prose, archaisms are used as a means of creating irony, satire, and parody. Typically, a similar effect is achieved by using archaisms against the background of everyday or reduced vocabulary. For example, Saltykov-Shchedrin has the following combinations: a host of ignorant and evil street loafers; the high priest of literary chatter; the order of service loudly cried out for soap and lye; the sanctuary of fun called the club; the underworld of Foolov's stomachs and so on.
Many funny examples of the ironic use of archaisms in the works of I. Ilf and E. Petrov: One-Eye did not take his only eye off the grandmaster's shoes; Father Fyodor became hungry. He wanted wealth.
For the same purpose, obsolete words are used in journalistic works, in newspaper feuilletons, etc. Wed: the unplanned coming of the holy messiah; buyers of the Slavic cabinet are Soviet Slavs, namely the Drevlyans, Polyans, Krivichi and Dregovichi; This press, not content with the round-the-clock work of the entire metallurgical industry, every day rushes to complete the construction of the giants of metallurgy. In the epistolary style, archaisms can give speech a humorous character, cf. in letters to A.P. Chekhov: impoverished very much ; crucian carp and tench, that is to say pond fish.
There is a type of archaism that deserves special mention. Let's start with a simple example. Let us remember the line from “Eugene Onegin”: “ With a dream, sometimes sad, sometimes charming, his late sleep disturbed him" At the present stage of the existence of the language, the phrase “ a dream, sometimes sad, sometimes lovely" After all, a modern author will never combine the words sad and dream, because a dream inspires, pleases, inspires faith, gives hope... However, during the time of A.S. Pushkin, such a combination was possible. In addition, we find in the poet even more amazing definitions for the word dream. For example, in “Poltava”: ...Perhaps (what a terrible dream), I am cursed by my father. What's the matter? Obviously, for A.S. Pushkin's word dream did not mean “object of desires, aspirations.” As in modern language, but something else is “creation of imagination, vision, thought.” This gave the right to write, for example, in “Gypsies”: ...I saw terrible dreams!
In modern language these meanings of the word dream forgotten, although the word itself is used. We find a modern interpretation of this word already among writers of the late 19th century. So, A.P. We meet Chekhov: Little by little his melancholy turned into a dream of buying himself a small estate somewhere on the banks of a river or lake.
The archaization of one of the meanings of a word is a very interesting phenomenon. The result of this process is the emergence of semantic, or semantic, archaisms, that is, words used in an unusual, outdated meaning for us. Knowledge of semantic archaisms helps to correctly understand the language of classical writers. And sometimes their use of words cannot but make us think seriously...
A comic example comes to mind. Famous writer and poet V.K. Trediakovsky, in the preface to one of the books most dear to him, addressing the reader, expressed the hope that “this book will be at least a little vulgar,” using the last word with its inherent meaning at that time: he wanted to say that he wanted his work became popular, received recognition, aroused interest among contemporaries... But since words sometimes “grow old” even faster than people, not even a few decades had passed before readers misinterpreted V.K.’s preface. Trediakovsky, and many are still perplexed when reading this “strange” wish.
You can't joke with archaisms! We shouldn’t neglect them either: they say, they disappear from the language, well, let’s forget them! Do not rush to pass judgment on outdated words.
There are cases when they return to the language and become part of the active vocabulary again. So, for example, it happened with the words soldier, officer, warrant officer, minister, adviser, which received a new life in modern Russian. In the first years of the revolution, they managed to become archaic, but then returned, acquiring a new meaning. The number of examples of the return of obsolete words could be increased, especially since in recent years this process has sharply intensified: for example, State Duma, lyceum, gymnasium, labor exchange and others. And yet, cases of the revival of “old words” and their transformation into modern names are not so frequent, while a huge number of outdated words retain their inherent shade of archaism.
The appeal to outdated vocabulary, since it stylistically stands out very much in comparison with the usual, neutral one, of course, must be justified. Imagine this scene. Your sister returned, flushed, from the skating rink, and you, meeting her in the corridor, exclaim: “ With open neckline you'll catch a cold! Is it appropriate to use archaism in this case? The answer is clear. Well, if your sister has a sense of humor, then she will laugh. Otherwise, she may be seriously afraid for your sanity, your use of an old poetic word will seem so absurd to her...
In conclusion, I would like to wish you to master the art of stylistic use of historicisms and archaisms and not allow lapses that make your interlocutor smile.
Vocabulary that is no longer actively used in speech is not immediately forgotten. For some time, outdated words are still understandable to speakers, familiar to them from fiction, although when people communicate, there is no longer a need for them. Such words become part of the passive vocabulary; they are listed in explanatory dictionaries with the mark (obsolete). The special emotional and expressive coloring of obsolete words leaves an imprint on their semantics.
Obsolete words included in the passive composition of the language include historicisms - the names of disappeared objects, phenomena, objects, and archaisms - the names of existing objects and phenomena, replaced by their more active synonyms.
Historicisms are used mainly in specialized literature, where they perform a nominative function. However, they are also widely used by authors of works of fiction.
Archaisms in fiction perform diverse stylistic functions. They, along with historicisms, are used to create the historical flavor of the era, as a means of stylization, in the speech characteristics of characters. They give speech a touch of pathos and solemnity. Often used to create irony, satire, and parody.
Outdated vocabulary also includes Slavicisms - words of Old Church Slavonic origin. For example: sweet, captivity, hello. Their productive use is limited to fiction, but they are often found in other functional styles. Their main function is to create a special, “Russian” flavor.
Stylistic functions of obsolete words in artistic speech
1. obsolete words as an artistic means of expression
2. archaisms and historicisms are used to recreate the flavor of distant times
3. archaisms, especially Slavicisms, give speech a sublime, solemn sound
4. outdated vocabulary can take on an ironic connotation
Errors associated with the use of outdated vocabulary:
1. distortion of the meaning of a word
2. distortion of the grammatical form of a word
3. can give the text a clerical touch
4. violation of lexical compatibility of words
14. New words. Types of neologisms. Individual stylistic neologisms.
A neologism is a new word formation caused by the absence in the language of a word corresponding to a new phenomenon, concept, or feeling.
Types of neologisms:
By method of formation: lexical (created according to productive models or borrowed from other languages), semantic (assigning a new meaning to already known words).
According to the conditions of creation: anonymous, individual author.
According to the purpose of creation: nominative, stylistic (add figurative characteristics).
Are they included in the language or are a fact of speech: linguistic (national), occasional (random, used once): individual-stylistic. Individual stylistic neologisms have a number of significant differences from occasionalisms. Occasionalisms are used in colloquial speech mainly in oral communication; individual stylistic neologisms belong to book speech and are recorded in writing. Occasionalisms arise spontaneously, individual stylistic neologisms are created in the process of conscious creativity with a specific stylistic purpose.
Individual stylistic neologisms are similar in their artistic significance to tropes. Individual stylistic neologisms do not lose their freshness for a long time. Publicists appreciate the satirical coloring of individual stylistic neologisms. Individual stylistic neologisms are more capacious in meaning than ordinary words. The creation of individual stylistic neologisms may be due to the desire of writers to use lexical means to reflect the originality of a new literary direction.
Stylistic functions of neologisms
a) nominative
b) expressive
c) sound color
Errors caused by the use of neologisms
1. Appeal to neologisms should always be stylistically motivated; they should be created in accordance with literary and linguistic norms.
2. Neologisms in which the requirements for euphony of speech are violated are considered unsuccessful from the point of view of word formation.
3. The sound form of a neologism is unacceptable if it causes undesirable associations due to the similarity in sound of a new word with an already known one.
4. The creation of dissonant, punning neologisms is possible only in an ironic context.
5. Neologisms that have a clerical connotation receive a negative stylistic assessment.
Vocabulary that is no longer actively used in speech is not immediately forgotten. For some time, outdated words are still understandable to speakers, familiar to them from fiction, although when people communicate, there is no longer a need for them. Such words become part of the passive vocabulary; they are listed in explanatory dictionaries with the mark (obsolete). They can be used by writers depicting past eras, or by historians when describing historical facts, but over time, archaisms completely disappear from the language. This was the case, for example, with the Old Russian words komon - “horse”, usnie - “skin” (hence the hangnail), cherevye - “a type of shoe”. Individual obsolete words sometimes return to the vocabulary of the active vocabulary. For example, the words soldier, officer, ensign, gymnasium, lyceum, bill, exchange, department, which were not used for some time, are now again actively used in speech.
The special emotional and expressive coloring of obsolete words leaves an imprint on their semantics. “To say that, for example, the verbs rake and march (...) have such and such meanings without defining their stylistic role,” wrote D.N. Shmelev, “this means, in essence, to abandon precisely their semantic definition, replacing it with an approximate formula of subject-conceptual comparisons.” This places obsolete words in a special stylistic framework and requires a lot of attention to them.
1.9.2. Composition of obsolete words
The archaic vocabulary includes historicisms and archaisms. Historicisms include words that are the names of disappeared objects, phenomena, concepts (chain mail, hussars, food tax, NEP, October child (a child of primary school age preparing to join the pioneers), NKVD officer (employee of the NKVD - People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs), commissar, etc. .P.). Historicisms can be associated both with very distant eras and with events of relatively recent times, which, however, have already become facts of history (Soviet power, party activists, general secretary, Politburo). Historicisms do not have synonyms among the words of the active vocabulary, being the only names of the corresponding concepts.
Archaisms are names of existing things and phenomena, for some reason supplanted by other words belonging to the active vocabulary (cf.: every day - always, comedian - actor, zlato - gold, know - know).
Obsolete words are heterogeneous in origin: among them there are original Russian (full, shelom), Old Slavonic (glad, kiss, shrine), borrowed from other languages (abshid - “retirement”, voyage - “travel”).
Of particular interest stylistically are words of Old Church Slavonic origin, or Slavicisms. A significant part of Slavicisms were assimilated on Russian soil and stylistically merged with neutral Russian vocabulary (sweet, captivity, hello), but there are also Old Church Slavonic words that in modern language are perceived as an echo of high style and retain their characteristic solemn, rhetorical coloring.
The history of poetic vocabulary associated with ancient symbolism and imagery (the so-called poetisms) is similar to the fate of Slavicisms in Russian literature. Names of gods and heroes of Greek and Roman mythology, special poetic symbols (lyre, ellisium, Parnassus, laurels, myrtles), artistic images of ancient literature in the first third of the 19th century. formed an integral part of the poetic vocabulary. Poetic vocabulary, like Slavicisms, strengthened the opposition between sublime, romantically colored speech and everyday, prosaic speech. However, these traditional means of poetic vocabulary were not used for long in fiction. Already among the successors of A.S. Pushkin's poetisms are archaized.
1.9.3. Stylistic functions of obsolete words in artistic speech
Writers often turn to outdated words as an expressive means of artistic speech. The history of the use of Old Church Slavonic vocabulary in Russian fiction, especially in poetry, is interesting. Stylistic Slavicisms made up a significant part of the poetic vocabulary in the works of writers of the first third of the 19th century. Poets found in this vocabulary the source of the sublimely romantic and “sweet” sound of speech. Slavicisms, which have consonant variants in the Russian language, primarily non-vocal ones, were shorter than Russian words by one syllable and were used in the 18th-19th centuries. on the basis of “poetic license”: poets could choose from two words the one that corresponded to the rhythmic structure of speech (I will sigh, and my languid voice, like a harp’s voice, will die quietly in the air. - Bat.). Over time, the tradition of “poetic license” is overcome, but outdated vocabulary attracts poets and writers as a powerful means of expression.
Obsolete words perform various stylistic functions in artistic speech. Archaisms and historicisms are used to recreate the flavor of distant times. They were used in this function, for example, by A.N. Tolstoy:
« Land of Ottic and Dedich- these are the banks of deep rivers and forest clearings where our ancestor came to live forever. (...) he fenced off his dwelling with a fence and looked along the path of the sun into the distance of centuries.
And he imagined many things - difficult and difficult times: the red shields of Igor in the Polovtsian steppes, and the groans of the Russians on Kalka, and the peasant spears mounted under the banners of Dmitry on the Kulikovo field, and the blood-drenched ice of Lake Peipsi, and the Terrible Tsar, who parted united, henceforth indestructible, the limits of the earth from Siberia to the Varangian Sea...".
Archaisms, especially Slavicisms, give speech a sublime, solemn sound. Old Church Slavonic vocabulary performed this function even in ancient Russian literature. In poetic speech of the 19th century. Old Russianisms, which also began to be used to create the pathos of artistic speech, became stylistically equal to the high Old Slavonic vocabulary. The high, solemn sound of outdated words is also appreciated by writers of the 20th century. During the Great Patriotic War, I.G. Ehrenburg wrote: “By repelling the blows of predatory Germany, it (the Red Army) saved not only the freedom of our Motherland, it saved the freedom of the world. This is the guarantee of the triumph of the ideas of brotherhood and humanity, and I see in the distance a world enlightened by grief, in which goodness will shine. Our people showed their military virtues…»
Outdated vocabulary can take on an ironic connotation. For example: Which parent does not dream of an understanding, balanced child who grasps everything literally on the fly. But attempts to turn your child into a “miracle” tragically often end in failure (from the gas). The ironic rethinking of outdated words is often facilitated by the parodic use of elements of high style. In a parody-ironic function, outdated words often appear in feuilletons, pamphlets, and humorous notes. Let us cite an example from a newspaper publication during the preparation for the day the president took office (August 1996):
The new head of the working group preparing the celebration, Anatoly Chubais, set to work with enthusiasm. He believes that the script of the ceremony should be developed “for centuries”, and therefore there is no place in it for “temporary”, mortal delights. The latter included an ode already written for the holiday, which could conditionally be called “On the day of President Yeltsin’s accession to the Kremlin.” The work suffered a bitter fate: Chubais did not approve it, and on August 9 we will not sing:
Our proud state is great and majestic.
The whole country is full of strength, she made the choice!
("Inauguration is not a game")
There is an opinion that outdated vocabulary is common in official business style. Indeed, in business papers certain words and figures of speech are used, which in other conditions we have the right to consider as archaisms [for example, the legal terms act, capable, deed, punishment, retribution in dictionaries are accompanied by the mark (arch.)]. In some documents they write: this year, attached to this, the undersigned, the above, etc. These special official business words do not have an expressive connotation within “their” functional style. Such outdated vocabulary in an official business style does not carry any stylistic load.
Analysis of the stylistic functions of archaisms in a particular work requires knowledge of general linguistic norms in force in the era being described. For example, in the works of writers of the 19th century. There are words that were archaized at a later time. So, in the tragedy of A.S. Pushkin’s “Boris Godunov”, along with archaisms and historicisms, there are words that became part of the passive vocabulary only in Soviet times (tsar, reign, etc.); Naturally, they should not be classified as outdated vocabulary that carries a certain stylistic load in the work.
1.9.4. Errors caused by the use of outdated words
The use of outdated words without taking into account their expressive coloring becomes the cause of gross stylistic errors. For example: Sponsors were greeted with joy at the boarding school; The laboratory assistant came to the boss and told him about what had happened. The young entrepreneur quickly saw the efficiency of his manager - in these proposals the Slavicisms are archaic. The word welcome is not even included in S.I.’s “Dictionary of the Russian Language.” Ozhegov, in “Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language,” ed. D.N. Ushakov it is given with the mark (obsolete, poetic); the word to tell Ozhegov marked (obsolete), and Ushakov - (obsolete, rhetorician); see has a mark (old). A context in which there is no attitude towards a humorous coloring of speech does not allow the use of outdated words; they should be replaced with synonyms (greeted, told, saw [noticed]).
Sometimes authors, using an outdated word, distort its meaning. For example: As a result of a stormy meeting of household members, house renovation was begun - the word household, which has the mark (obsolete) in Ozhegov’s dictionary, is explained as “people who live in a family as its members,” and in the text it is used in the meaning of “tenants” . Another example from a newspaper article: At the meeting, even the most unpleasant shortcomings in work were revealed. The word impartial means “impartial”, moreover, it has limited lexical compatibility possibilities (only criticism can be impartial). The incorrect use of archaisms is very often complicated by a violation of lexical compatibility: Andreev was certified as a person who had worked on this path for a very long time (the path is chosen, the path is followed, but they do not work on it).
Sometimes the meaning of an outdated grammatical form of a word is distorted. For example: He refuses to testify, but this is not the point. The essence is the third person plural form of the verb to be, and the subject is singular, the connective must be consistent with it.
Outdated words can give the text a clerical feel. (Similar buildings that are not needed at one construction site are needed at another; Classes must be conducted in the appropriate premises). In business papers, where many archaisms have become established as terms, the use of such special vocabulary should be appropriate. It is impossible, for example, to consider it stylistically justified to resort to outdated figures of speech at your discretion, I add herewith, the above-mentioned violator, upon receipt of them, etc.
Stylists note that recently obsolete words that are outside the boundaries of the literary language have become widespread; and often they are given a new meaning. For example, the word is incorrectly used in vain, which has the mark (obsolete) in Ozhegov’s dictionary and is explained by synonyms fruitlessly, in vain [Intentions to find a reasonable compromise remained in vain; The issues of creating crop rotations and using a complex of fertilizers remain unanswered (better: It was not possible to find a reasonable compromise; ... Crop rotation has not been introduced and a complex of fertilizers is not used)]:
With frequent repetition, outdated words sometimes lose the archaic connotation that previously distinguished them. This can be observed in the example of the word now. In Ozhegov, this adverb is given with the stylistic marks (obsolete) and (high) [cf.: ... now there, along the renovated banks, slender communities are crowded with palaces and towers... (P.)]. Modern authors often use this word as stylistically neutral. For example: Many MIMO graduates have now become diplomats; Nowadays there are not many students at the faculty who would be content with a scholarship - in the first sentence the word now should have been omitted, and in the second it should have been replaced with the synonym now. Thus, neglecting the stylistic coloring of outdated words inevitably leads to speech errors.