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. Active vocabulary of the language – central part vocabulary relevant for modern speakers of the 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Outdated words.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 These words are used by native speakers, but are perceived by them as outdated.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 those that have disappeared from modern life objects, 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Archaisms(Greek - arrahaious) - unlike historicisms, these are outdated names of modern objects and phenomena, supplanted by synonyms from the active vocabulary ( this - this, enemy - enemy, zelo - very, mirror - mirror, eyelids -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.

Outdated vocabulary in modern Russian. Reasons for “going passive”. Historicisms as a type of outdated words. Archaisms and their varieties. Lexical and semantic archaisms. Dictionaries of obsolete words.

Obsolete vocabulary is words of the modern Russian language that have fallen out of active use, but are preserved in the passive dictionary and are mostly understandable to native speakers. Therefore, such words, for example Old Russian language, like magir (“cook”), maga (“fog”), maidan (“market square”), are not included in the vocabulary of the modern Russian language, even in its passive stock, but belong to the more ancient Russian language. Such words are usually not included in explanatory dictionaries of the modern Russian language; their place is in historical dictionaries(N.M. Shansky calls them “old” words). Obsolete words are words, although they have fallen out of active use, and therefore belong to the passive dictionary, but still - of the modern Russian language, understandable to the majority of its speakers. Therefore, they are included in dictionaries of the modern Russian language, but with the corresponding mark “outdated”. For example: UNMERCEED (obsolete) - “selfless person.” True, this criterion is not always met, which is why in dictionaries they also use the mark “old.” for vocabulary lost in modern Russian. For example: BRADOBREY (old) - “the same as a hairdresser.”

In modern speech, outdated words are used either for stylization “as antique” (for example, in A. Tolstoy’s novel “Peter the Great” or D. Kedrin’s poem “The Architects”), or to create a high, solemn, poetic style. Some frequently used obsolete words become, as it were, constant companions of poetic speech, and a certain stylistic coloring is also assigned to them - poetic. For example, for the word OCHI:

From the neighboring boys who catch rooks

And they carry their father’s sheepskin coat in their sleeves,

I saw these blue stars of the eyes,

What do they look at from Vasnetsov’s inspired paintings (D. Kedrin)

The thread of life is getting shorter,

At night they look into your eyes

Wise Asian eyes,

Like a steppe thunderstorm. (V. Lugovskoy)

Vocabulary becomes obsolete for various reasons, both linguistic (the word is replaced by another, new synonym) and extralinguistic (the word becomes obsolete along with the thing, the concept that it names). Therefore, obsolete words are divided into two groups: archaisms and historicisms.

Archaisms (from the Greek archaios - “ancient”) are outdated words that have been forced out of use by other synonymous words that are more common. Thus, many names of parts of the human body were replaced by others, as a result of which the former words went into passive stock: neck (neck), cheeks (cheeks), fingers (fingers), pupils (eyes), mouth (lips), right hand (hand). Now they are used only in poetry as a stylistic device, for example, in “The Prophet” by A.S. Pushkin: “With fingers as light as a dream, he touched my eyes, the prophetic eyes opened...”, “And he came to my lips and tore out my sinful tongue, both idle and wicked, and put the sting of a wise snake into my frozen mouth with his bloody right hand. "

These are the words that are given in explanatory dictionaries marked "obsolete." (sometimes accompanied by a stylistic mark) and synonymous interpretation: this (obsolete, high) - this; this (obsolete, high) - that; that is (outdated, bookish) - that is; velmi (obsolete) - very; abuse (obsolete) - fight; mortal (obsolete) - transitory; private (obsolete) - private, etc.

The possibility of synonymous replacement can serve as a sign of archaism (as opposed to historicism).

Not only a word, but also its form or meaning can become archaic; in this case, the mark “ustar” is placed in front of this meaning in dictionaries. For example: husband - 2. obsolete. "man". I hear the speech not of a boy, but of a husband (P.) Such archaisms are called semantic.

Thus, several types of archaisms are distinguished:

1) lexical (obsolete word): right hand ( right hand), hawkmoth (drunkard), how long (until what time), lepota (beauty), clicker (scribbler), slash (battle), sail (sail);

2) phonetic (outdated pronunciation): voxal (station), numbers (rooms), stori (curtains), koshemar (nightmare);

3) word-formative (outdated word-formation model): druzhestvo (friendship), fisherman (fisherman), Baltic (Baltic), Italic (Italian), Bashkir (Bashkir), muzeum (museum);

4) grammatical (obsolete grammatical form): sheets (leaves), clouds (cloud), rails (rail);

5) semantic (obsolete meaning): classes (lessons), train (string of carts), indignant (revolt), house (institution), etc.

Historicisms are words that have become outdated along with a certain phenomenon of reality, objects or concepts lost by reality itself, which they named. Therefore, they do not have synonyms in the active dictionary. These are the names of outdated measures (arshin, cubit, zolotnik), money (grosh, altyn), clothes (coat, camisole, frock coat, crinoline, tailcoat), positions, ranks, classes (mayor, constable, bailiff, boyar, captain, cornet, cavalry guard, midshipman), means of transportation (cart, charaban, ruler, carriage, crew), etc. Entire lexical-semantic fields of historicisms relate us to the past, to the life and way of life of past eras. For example, the LSP “noble nest” includes several LSGs: courtyard, nobleman, butler, courtiers; master, lordship, lady, barchuk, young lady; servant, footman, maid, housekeeper, valet; tutor, governess, nurse; count, prince, baron, etc. LSP “Soviet power” includes several LSG of already outdated or obsolete words and concepts: pioneer, October, Komsomolets, squad (pioneer), committee (Komsomol), uchkom (student committee), district committee, regional committee, Subbotnik, Voskresnik, City Council, Council of People's Commissars, Cheka, Chekist, Prodrazverstka, NEP, Collective Farm, State Farm, Collective Farmer, Collective Farmer, etc.

The specificity of historicisms (extralinguistic character) forces them to be described accordingly in explanatory dictionaries: the so-called “historical component” - an indication of belonging to a certain historical period. For example:

Master. In pre-revolutionary Russia: a person from the privileged classes.

Berkovets. An old Russian unit of weight equal to 10 poods.

Check. Abbreviated name of the Extraordinary Commission that existed in the period 1918-22.

Servants. Under serfdom: the landowner's servants.

Yamskaya. In the old days: relating to the transportation of mail, cargo, passengers on horseback.

Thus, outdated vocabulary is described in ordinary explanatory dictionaries, only these words are supplied with certain “historical” marks.

However, there are also special dictionaries of outdated vocabulary. All of them came out in the 90s of the twentieth century. This is “Dictionary of Rare and Forgotten Words” by V.P. Somov (1995), which includes not so much outdated (but used in literature), but rather rare and forgotten words and expressions of the 18th-19th centuries, including archaisms, exoticisms, barbarisms, professionalisms, etc., so that it bears mixed character. A number of dictionaries (including educational and school ones) are devoted to explaining only archaisms and historicisms. So, for example, in the reference dictionary “ Rare words in the works of authors of the 19th century” R.P. Rogozhnikova (1997) describes outdated vocabulary that is found in Russian classics, but is not included in explanatory dictionaries. The earlier “School Dictionary of Obsolete Words of the Russian Language: Based on the Works of Russian Writers of the 18th-19th Centuries” is of the same type. R.P. Rogozhnikova and T.S. Karskaya (1996) and “Dictionary of obsolete words (based on the works of the school curriculum" (compiled by Tkachenko N.G., Andreeva I.V. and Basko N.V., 1997). They included words like salary, gendarme, assessor , zemstvo, cabman, estate, schoolgirl, Cossack, Cossack (servant boy), chamberlain, kamilavka, corporal, princess, etc. All words, in addition to explaining the meanings, are illustrated with examples from fiction.

Dictionaries of obsolete words can, perhaps, also include a dictionary that reflects vocabulary that is becoming a thing of the past literally before our eyes. This is “Explanatory Dictionary of the Language of the Council of Deputies” by V.M. Mokienko and T.G. Nikitina (1998). The dictionary takes the reader back to our recent linguistic past - the Soviet one, that’s why it’s named that way, i.e. it describes the so-called “Sovietisms” - words and expressions of the Soviet era. These are words such as agitation, propaganda point, Andropov (the name of the city of Rybinsk in 1984-1989), fraternal (fraternal countries, fraternal republic), druzhinnik, Iskra ( female name 20-30s), collective farm, red (revolutionary: red commander), NEP, regional committee, etc.

More on topic 3.2.1. Outdated vocabulary. Archaisms and historicisms:

1. Vocabulary composition of the Russian language. Passive vocabulary (archaisms, historicisms, neologisms). Stylistic functions of obsolete words.

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 does not have one specific meaning. 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 is developing, and this development cannot be understood as a systematic development of tradition, but rather as colossal shifts in tradition (and the partial restoration of old layers plays an important 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 understand the content deeply and comprehensively. 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, attitudes literary school or literary direction.

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, various periods are distinguished on the basis of 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, and 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 literary language throughout the entire period of its development until today, words that have fallen out of mass use are used, but their historical location 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 a particular work of art, one should take into account the time of its writing and 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 turn to an 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”, “vocabulary scientific style", "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 literature 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 driving force language changes.

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, features, 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.

Vocabulary of obsolete words

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 the social processes, the more noticeably the vocabulary is replenished with new units, the faster some words and expressions become outdated 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 items officials on 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 the decree "On the introduction of the International Metric decimal system weights and measures", which served as the final impetus for the introduction of a unified International System of Measurements on January 1, 1927. Naturally, the names of the old measurement system after that gradually became a 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 at 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 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.

In recent years, dictionaries of a new type have been prepared and published, reflecting the movement of individual words and their groups in lexical system 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- bound 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 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-tailed 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, in everyday folk speech, especially rural population, is still in use today.

But the obsolescence of lexical units and their transition into historicisms is also 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 intense criticism 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 By state of emergency(the highest authority created in August 1991 during the coup attempt), 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 it means " general meeting members of any international organization", and in the 18th-19th centuries it 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 in connection with the withdrawal of any object from use and not in connection with the displacement of this meaning 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 constituting 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 meanings, which in classical Russian literature or folk poetry were used as means of artistic representation, but are currently 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 of artistic expression, 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 of the events described as having actually 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.

Outdated vocabulary is used quite often in various genres of modern literature and performs several functions in it.

First of all, archaisms and historicisms are one of the means of stylizing the speech of the era that the author talks about; they help the reader to feel the nuances of the language that the heroes of the work spoke and wrote. Here, for example, is an excerpt from Yu. Tynyanov’s novel “Kyukhlya” - a fragment of a letter from the director of the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, Yegor Antonovich Engelhardt: “Kuchelbecker lives like cheese in butter; he teaches Russian literature in the smaller classes of the newly established noble boarding school at the Pedagogical Institute and reads his noble children hexameters; moreover, he corrects the position of tutor..." Several outdated words used: historicisms noble boarding house, tutor, actual lexical archaism smaller and semantic archaism corrects – in combination with a word order that differs from the modern one, they convey to the reader the flavor of the language early XIX century.

Of course, when stylizing, the language of a bygone era is not reproduced absolutely accurately. Sometimes, in order to achieve the desired effect, the author only needs a few words that fit into the outline of the narrative, reflecting old order words Interestingly, very often such words are pronouns and function words: this one, so that, because and so on. Here, for example, is an excerpt from the historical story “A Breath of Freedom” by Bulat Okudzhava: “Probably the music played when they, pursuing Bonaparte, passed through Europe, and the homeland, already redrawn into this European manner, they saw it from afar. Imagine their disappointment when, upon returning, they found their land remaining in its previous form; what was their anger and fury at the thought of seven, and, already blinded, they rushed into their crazy enterprise so that the chains rattled." Here, in addition to outdated words abiding(about country), company(a deed undertaken by someone), obsolete used twice demonstrative pronoun this, which immediately gives the speech an archaic connotation.

Speaking about the role of outdated words in works telling about events of the past, it should be emphasized that, in contrast to archaisms, which carry a purely stylistic load, historicisms, in addition, perform a nominative function, being the only possible designations for those things about which the author writes (see . the above examples).

Outdated vocabulary is also widely used as a means of giving speech a solemn, pathetic sound. Poets especially often resort to it. Many poems by O. Mandelstam, A. Akhmatova, B. Akhmadulina sound solemn and majestic: “Let the names of blooming cities caress the ear with significance mortal. It is not the city of Rome that lives among the centuries, but the place of man in the universe" (Mand.); "For explosive valor coming centuries, For the high tribe of people I lost the cup at the feast of my fathers, And my joy, and my honor" (Mand.); "We know that now lies on the scales and what happens now. The hour of courage has struck on our watch, And courage will not leave us" (A.Akhm.); "What a madman festival started and generously named it Poetry Day? Along the road where my trail is lost, flocks to festival people" (B.Akhm.)*.

* Some obsolete words have become an integral part of the poetic style of speech, and this is reflected in explanatory dictionaries, where they are accompanied by the mark traditional-poet – traditionally poetic, for example: Lanits - traditional poet. Cheeks. His forehead, his cheeks burn with an instant flame (P.) (Russian language dictionary: V4 vol. T . 2.)

The use of outdated vocabulary is one of the distinctive features creativity of such poets as Vyacheslav Ivanov, Marina Tsvetaeva: “The soul is when its edges Will fulfill solar power, - Deep noon is hidden, Does not know effective ardor... By the celibate will of beauty Who is drunk, how this one beggar miser, Pochiy, as in the cup of the fullness of Mira comprehensive moisture" (Vyach. Iv.); "At the glow, in the time of anger, From drunk with the blood of the blocks the sprout of the saint has sprouted trees To the starry call of the treasured Pisces" (Vyach. Iv.); "So many of them fell into this abyss, I'll open it up away! The day will come when I too will disappear from the surface of the earth" (Color); "Harder than the cornerstone, with a suicide oath on bed: May you not be happy dolny, Ants, on my mountain!" (Color.); "My faithful desk! Thank you for walking with me along all the paths. Guarding me - like a scar... The strictest of mirrored Thank you for becoming - The temptation of the worldly threshold - All joys are across... Pillar stylite, mouth shut, You were to me - a throne, space, You were to me that to the sea of ​​\u200b\u200bJewish crowds - burning pillar!" (Color.).

It should be noted that in some cases, the pathetic quality of outdated words used in the context of modern speech corresponds to the importance and originality of what is the subject of the image (these are the examples given above). In other cases, the use of outdated words helps to emphasize the special significance of a phenomenon that, being described by familiar ones, in modern words, would appear to be within the bounds of ordinary consciousness: " How much worthy of praise and love, March, simple deeds yours, but the nightingales of my words are dead, and now their gardens are dictionaries. - ABOUT, sing! – the mouth of a snowfall, a cliff, a bush beg. I scream, but it’s like steam coming out of my mouth. Dumbness rounded the lips" (B.Akhm.). In general, similar poetic works, saturated with outdated words, require special intellectual tension from the reader, as a result of which the text itself is perceived at a higher and more intense emotional and intellectual level. In this way, contact is made with the unusual or with the familiar, as if seen with different eyes. A similar contact arises in liturgical texts, where outdated vocabulary, in addition to the above-mentioned function of giving speech a sublime, pathetic sound, also contributes to familiarization with the incomprehensible, unusual, i.e. performs a sacred* function.

* Sacral (from Latin sacri - “sacred”) - related to a religious cult and ritual, ritual.

Interestingly, in some existing modern translations liturgical texts into Russian, made in order to facilitate the perception of these texts by the modern reader, many archaisms are preserved. Here, for example, is the beginning of the famous “Prayer for all people,” recently translated along with other prayers for every day by priest Alexander Borisov: “Forgive those who hate and offend us, Lord More humane. Good for those who do charity create. Brothers and relatives grant fulfillment to ours petitions about salvation and eternal life. Visit the sick and heal grant. Help those who are at sea. Companion to travelers. For those who serve and have mercy on us, forgiveness of sins grant. Have mercy on those who have entrusted us, the unworthy, to pray for them, according to your great mercy. Remember, Lord, deceased our fathers and brothers and rest in peace them where the light of Your face shines."* In the preface to the "Prayer Book," the author of the translation explains the appeal to outdated words and forms as follows: "The problem of the archaic nature of the liturgical language is a problem not only for Russians, but for all Christian churches. In many countries, this problem is solved by directly translating worship into the language of modern times. But one cannot help but see that the ancient language always gives communication with God greater solemnity, elevates it and distinguishes it from ordinary worldly communication."**

* Prayer book for every day. Text on Church Slavonic language and translation into Russian. M.. 1993. P. 47.

**Prayer book for every day. S. 3.

Another function that obsolete words often perform in modern texts is to express the author’s attitude towards the subject of the image, most often irony. Andrei Bely, describing a meeting of decadents with professors of Moscow University, at which he read his new work D.S. Merezhkovsky and which ended in complete failure of the decadents, an absolute misunderstanding of the parties, constantly uses an outdated noun in relation to professors elders: “But - the bell; Merezhkovsky, seated in the center, lower than everyone... out of fright, lispingly jingled with a cranked, squiggle phrase composed of piercing subordinate clauses... only impressions: the second coming is already close (at elders shoulders jumped, even the glasses on their noses jumped); our intelligentsia does not yet have its own “yes” ( elders sprang up with a herd of gray-haired goats)... Sergei Trubetskoy lifts his head over all the gray hairs, twirling it like a camel in the middle of the desert... Merezhkovsky let M.S. Trubetskoy down. Solovyov, Trubetskoy - let society down; and this scandal is hushed up in silence ( elders great in the art of jamming)"*. Here the pompous and outdated elders contrasts with diminishing metaphors ( jumped up shoulders, jumped up even glasses) and comparisons (snapped a herd of gray-haired goats, twirling it like camel in the desert), colloquial ironically colored vocabulary (carries head, knead silence). Thus, the already comically presented situation is sharpened to the point of grotesqueness.

* Bely A. Beginning of the century. M., 1990. P. 198.

Finally, the use of obsolete words is sometimes motivated by versification tasks - the need to preserve the rhythmic pattern and rhyme in the stanza. Often this purpose is served by archaisms in V. Khlebnikov, whose work in general is characterized by an appeal to archaic means of language. For example: "Far from the noise and struggle Inside the thick beautiful grove I will sing, collect mushrooms, Looking for holy relics in the forest, What could be simpler for this life?”; “And the swan lay down at the feet of her. Like a snow-white snake."

New vocabulary

New vocabulary is those words that have recently entered our language, the novelty of which is felt by speakers: Bakhtin studies(a science that studies the works of the Russian literary philosopher M.M. Bakhtin), mayhem, mayhem, broker, voucher, voucherization, State Emergency Committee, Gekachepist, digest(print review), impeachment(bringing senior state officials to trial by parliament), Dudayevites(supporters of J. Dudayev), conversion(now - the transition of military industry enterprises to the production of civilian products), MP(small business), Riot police, riot policeman, joint venture(joint venture), special forces, Stalinist, teenager(young person aged 12 to 20 years), thriller(horror film), LLP(partnership with limited liability), phytodesign(decorating premises with plants), etc.

New words, or neologisms (from the Greek neos - “new”, logos “word”), appear in the language for the following reasons.

1. They arise as the name of a new reality, a new object, a new concept that has appeared in our life. These are from the examples above: Bakhtin studies, broker, voucher, voucherization, State Emergency Committee, Gekachepist, impeachment and some etc., as well as Democratic Party, marketing, arm wrestling(hand wrestling), videotape, clip, marketing, CIS, sponsor, supermarket, hit show(performance, list of the most popular singers, ensembles, etc.), shaping(a type of gymnastic exercise that helps improve your figure), shop tour, charter flight, etc.

2. The appearance of some new words and combinations of words is explained by the need to designate phenomena that were previously present in our lives, but did not have a corresponding designation in the language, since the very existence of these phenomena was hushed up. These are, for example, refusenik(one who refuses to perform his duties, in particular from military service), human rights activist(a public figure speaking before the authorities demanding their observance of generally recognized human rights and freedoms) or mafia, racketeer, racketeer, stagnation(era of stagnation) and some. etc. In a number of cases, these words also arise because the linguistic community seeks to give a new assessment to what was previously designated by an evaluative-neutral combination of words, for example: stagnation, era of stagnation(years of the reign of L.I. Brezhnev), Stalinist(formerly a loyal Stalinist, one who follows Stalin’s ideology), etc.

3. Sometimes a new word appears simply as a more convenient one-word designation for what was previously called using a phrase. These are, for example, the words given above digest, teenager, and visagiste(face artist), establishment(the ruling and privileged groups of society, as well as the system of power and control through which they exercise their dominance), image(the image of “oneself” that a TV journalist creates, political figure, fashion model, etc.), rating(an indicator of the popularity of a person), etc. (see also below about the spread of the word intelligentsia in the section "Borrowed vocabulary. Other types of borrowings", p. 172).

4. In some cases, new words arise as a result of the need to emphasize the partial change of a subject in our changing society. These are, for example, with Burbank(formerly savings bank), office(office, office space) and some. etc.

5. Finally, sometimes the appearance of new words is due to the influence that the culture of some other country has on Russian life at a given time, and is simply dictated by the fashion for foreign words included in the vocabulary of that country. This influence of American life, music, culture, etc. explains, for example, the appearance of numerous Anglicisms in youth slang in recent years: Girla(young woman), men(person, man) people(people, people, company), shoes(shoes), flat(apartment), etc.

What are the new words that have joined our vocabulary? Depending on how the new word appeared, three groups of new formations are distinguished: 1) neologisms-borrowings: arm wrestling, image, impeachment, marketing, pager, rating, freestyle etc.; 2) semantic neologisms (i.e. new meanings that have appeared for words already existing in the language): galloping(galloping prices), stagnation, Cossacks 2 (type of fashionable shoes), Velcro(type of fastener on clothes, shoes), leggings(women's tight-fitting knitted trousers), pirate(pirated videotapes), shell(shell garage), subject(subject of the federation); 3) neologisms created according to Russian word formation models: domineering(power structures), gekachepist, foreign car, lump(commission shop), defector, human rights activist, defense industry(defense industry), denationalization, Stalinism, Stalinism, LLP etc.

In different eras, different ways of the emergence of new words are activated. Thus, after the October Revolution, many new formations appeared in the Russian vocabulary, created according to Russian word-formation models, including complex abbreviated words and abbreviations: propaganda train, propaganda brigade, atheist, non-party member, All-Union Communist Party(b), university, university member, collectivist, Komsomol member, committee member(committee of the poor), educational program, disenfranchised, people's commissar, social activist, public, partuchet, political department, Central Committee, Cheka, young people etc.

In our time, the vocabulary is most intensively expanded through borrowing*.

* See below sections “Borrowed vocabulary. Other types of borrowings”, “Mastering borrowed words”.

Along with this, new words are still constantly being formed according to word-formation models (i.e., patterns) of the Russian language, and the same models remain productive as in the previous decade*. Thus, a large number of complex abbreviated words still appear: State Duma, foreign car, Sberbank, Sberfond, special store, special forces, travel agency etc. In colloquial speech, nouns are still formed, derived from the phrase “noun + adjective” + suf. -To- (for feminine nouns), -OK (for masculine nouns): currency(currency store), defense industry(defense industry), lump(commission shop), scoop(Soviet person). Many new abbreviations have emerged. Just look at the names of numerous political parties and associations: DDA(Democratic Choice of Russia), DPR(Democratic Party of Russia), ROPP(Russian United Industrial Party), LDPR(Liberal Democratic Party of Russia), " Apple"(bloc G. Yavlinsky, Yu. Boldyrev, V. Lukin) and many, many others, including even PLP(Party of beer lovers). Our vocabulary is constantly expanding due to difficult words with the first part audio Video-(which supplanted the previously leading radio, photo):audio equipment, audio cassette, audio equipment, audio lesson, video recorder, video piracy, video equipment, video film and many more etc.

* Cm.: Kalinin A.V. Vocabulary of the Russian language. 3rd ed. M., 1978. S. 115 – 116.

In the formation of nouns, as before, suffixes remain active -ets, -ist, -nick:Dudayevite, riot policeman, special forces soldier, gekachepist, golfer, Stalinist, human rights activist, servant etc.

In general, we can say that the second half of the 80s - the first half of the 90s were marked by the fact that the language seemed to open both external and internal “gateways” for new words*. The pages of advertising publications are literally full of them; we find them in the names of new companies, associations, newspapers, magazines, radio and television programs. For example, a television program for only one day (June 30, 1995) contains the names of 11 programs, which are neologisms: " Muzoboz", "TV menu", "Telemorning", "Rock lesson", "Hit conveyor", "Telenewspaper", "Forecast Leader", "Automig", "News", "Express camera", "Teledoctor".

For more information, see the section “Reflection of processes occurring in society and the vocabulary of a language” above.

Above were new words that have entered the Russian vocabulary and are regularly used by native speakers of the Russian language, i.e. linguistic neologisms. Author's neologisms should be distinguished from them - new words created by some author and living only in the context of a given work or several works. For example: fired, kuchelbecker(P.); thunderous(Tyutch.); lesoson, lesofea, golden noon, dream farce(I. Sever.); eagle-nosed, light-eyed, pink-eyed, hairy-haired(about M. Voloshin); climber(Color.); You 2light up, howl 2squirm, izd 2to wander, to walk in a hurry, to have fun, love, darling(Lighthouse.); noblewing, libidobeliberda(V. Nabokov), etc. Unlike linguistic neologisms, the appearance of which is determined by the needs of the language system, author's neologisms arise exclusively as a stylistic means to which authors resort to solve certain individual expressive and artistic problems. That is why the author’s neologisms, despite their expressiveness, in the vast majority of cases do not go beyond author's speech. We can give only a few examples of how the author’s neologism has become a fact of the national language: future(its author is N.M. Karamzin), mediocrity(creator – I. Severyanin), fade away(F.M. Dostoevsky), acmeism(N. Gumilyov) and some. etc.