words that have fallen out of active use, but are preserved in the passive dictionary and are mostly understandable to native speakers (for example, in modern Russian “arshin”, “bonna”, “vran”, icon”). Taken together, obsolete words form a system of obsolete vocabulary in the language, the structure of which is determined by the varying degrees of its obsolescence, various reasons for archaization and the nature of use. According to the degree of obsolescence, the following are distinguished: a) words whose meaning is incomprehensible to speakers of a modern language without appropriate lexicographical references (Russian “loki” ‘puddle’, “skora” ‘skin’, cf. “furrier”); b) words that are understandable to native speakers, but are part of a passive vocabulary and are used for certain, primarily stylistic, purposes. Many obsolete words are preserved in stable combinations (“nothing is visible”, “not a voice, not a sigh”). By origin, obsolete words, for example for the modern Russian language, can be native Russian (“ony”, “flare”, “alarm”), Old Slavonic (“vran”, “raven”, “broadcast”, “lobzat”) and borrowed from other languages ("infantry" 'infantry').

Depending on the reasons for archaization, obsolete words are divided into 2 categories: historicisms and archaisms. Historicisms are words that have fallen out of use due to the disappearance of the concepts they denote (for example, in Russian the names of ancient clothing: “armyak”, “kamzol”, “caftan”). Historicisms have no synonyms. Archaisms are words that name existing realities, but for some reason have been forced out of active use by synonymous lexical units. There are 2 types of archaisms.

Lexical archaisms, including: a) lexical archaisms themselves - words that are completely outdated as certain sound complexes (“neck”, “giving”, “right hand”); b) lexical and word-formative archaisms that differ from the synonymous word of the modern language only by a word-formation element, most often a suffix (“friendship”, “friendship”, “fisherman” “fisherman”); c) lexical-phonetic archaisms that differ from modern variants in only a few sounds (“klob” ‘club’, “piit” ‘poet’).

Semantic archaisms are the outdated meaning of words existing in the active dictionary (for example, the meaning of ‘spectacle’ in the word “shame”, cf. the modern meaning of ‘dishonor’).

Obsolete words differ in the nature of their use. Historicisms are used both as neutral words - if necessary, to name the realities they denote (for example, in historical works), and as a stylistic device. Archaisms are used only for certain stylistic purposes: in historical novels, stories, to recreate the real historical situation and speech of the characters (for example, in A. N. Tolstoy’s novel “Peter I”: “Gentlemen Swedes, isn’t this world better than Shlisselburg, Nyenshantz and Yuryev embarrassing battles? "); in journalistic and artistic speech - to create a highly solemn style (for example: “The sixteenth year is coming in the crown of thorns of revolutions” - V.V. Mayakovsky); to characterize negative phenomena, as a means of creating a comic - irony, satire, sarcasm (for example: “The average person is curious, he would like to know everything about drink” - Mayakovsky; “In general, in Taganrog it is fashionable to run around with actors. Many are missing their wives and daughters” - A. P. Chekhov).

Outdated words can come back into active use, acquiring a stylistic connotation of loftiness or a connotation of playfulness, irony (for example, the modern use of the words “command”, “spew out”, “recline”, “libation”, “youth”). In addition, some historicisms can find new life when applied to new realities as their designations. The word retains the same appearance, but acquires a new meaning (for example, the modern use of the words “ensign”, “Cossack” in the meaning of ‘the cut of a woman’s dress’).

Grigorieva A.D., On the main vocabulary fund and vocabulary of the Russian language, M., 1953; Shansky N.M., Outdated words in the vocabulary of the modern Russian literary language, “Russian language at school”, 1954, No. 3; Akhmanova O. S., Essays on general and Russian lexicology, M., 1957; Ozhegov S.I., The main features of the development of the Russian language in the Soviet era, in his book: Lexicology. Culture of Speech, M., 1974; Shmelev D.N., Modern Russian language. Lexika, M., 1977.

Obsolete words are a special group of words that, for one reason or another, are not used in modern speech. They are divided into two categories - historicisms and archaisms. Both of these groups are similar to each other, but still have several significant differences.

Historicisms

These include words denoting special things, positions, phenomena that have ceased to exist in the modern world, but took place earlier. An example of such words is boyar, voivode, petitioner, estate. They do not have synonyms in modern language, and you can only find out their meaning from an explanatory dictionary. Basically, such outdated words refer to the description of life, culture, economy, hierarchy, military and political relations of ancient times.

So, for example, petitioning is: 1) bowing with the forehead touching the ground; or 2) written request. Stolnik is a courtier, one degree lower than a boyar, who usually served at the boyar or royal table.

Most outdated historicism words are found among names related to military themes, as well as those related to household items and clothing: chain mail, visor, redoubt, arquebus, valley, prosak, armyak, seeder, camisole.

Here are some example sentences containing obsolete words. “Petitioners came to the tsar and complained about the governors, and said that they were taking away their estates and then giving them away; the nobles, stewards and boyars’ children also complained that the governors were taking away their palace villages. Cossacks and archers also came to the tsar, bringing petitions , asked for grain and cash wages."

Currently, one of the many groups of historicisms are those that arose during the formation of the USSR: food detachment, Budyonnovets, educational program, committee of the poor, NEP, lichenets, NEPman, Makhnovist, food surplus.

Archaisms

Obsolete languages ​​are classified into another broad group - archaisms. They, in fact, are a subgroup of historicisms - they also include words that have fallen out of use. But their main difference is that they can be replaced by synonyms, which are common words used today. Here are the cheeks, right hand, loins, verses, tightness, ramen. Accordingly, their modern analogues are cheeks, right arm, lower back, poetry, sadness, shoulders.

There are several basic differences between archaism and its synonym. They may differ:

a) lexical meaning (belly - life, guest - merchant);

b) grammatical design (at the ball - at the ball, perform - perform);

c) (fisherman - fisherman, friendship - friendship);

In order to correctly use archaism in a sentence and avoid confusion, use an explanatory dictionary or a dictionary of outdated words.

And here are examples of sentences containing archaisms: “In Moscow lived okolnichi, boyars, clerks, whom Bolotnikov threatened to turn into commoners or kill, and put nameless people in their place; industrialists and wealthy merchants also lived there, courtyards, money, whose shops “Everything was given to the poor.”

In this passage, the following words are archaisms: commoner, yard (in the sense of household), shop (trading enterprise), nameless. It is easy to notice that there are also historicisms here: okolnichy, boyar.

Outdated words perfectly convey the characteristic historicity and make the literary text colorful and bright. But for correct and appropriate use, you must always consult an explanatory dictionary so that flowery phrases do not ultimately turn into nonsense.

Introduction

Chapter 1. Types of obsolete words in modern Russian language

§ 1. Obsolete words

§ 2. Archaisms

§ 3. Historicisms

§ 4. The use of obsolete words in works of art

Chapter 2. Outdated words in the work of A.S. Pushkin "The Bronze Horseman"

§ 1. The use of archaisms in the story “The Bronze Horseman”

§ 2. The use of historicisms in the story “The Bronze Horseman”

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

Object our research are obsolete words (archaisms and historicisms).

The purpose of this work– consider the functioning of obsolete words in a literary text.

To achieve this goal it was necessary to complete a number of tasks:

study theoretical literature on this topic and define basic concepts;

highlight historicisms and archaisms in a literary text;

determine what types of obsolete words the author uses in his work.

Identify the functions of obsolete words in the analyzed work

Material for research served as a story by A.S. Pushkin "The Bronze Horseman".

Chapter 1. Types of obsolete words in modern Russian § 1. Obsolete words

The disappearance of words and their individual meanings from a language is a complex phenomenon that occurs slowly and does not immediately (and not always) lead to the loss of a word from the vocabulary of the language in general. The loss of a word or one or another of its meanings is the result of a straightforward process: in a number of cases, outdated words subsequently return again over a long process of archaization of the corresponding linguistic fact, when it, from a phenomenon of the active vocabulary, initially becomes the property of a passive dictionary and only then is gradually forgotten and completely disappears from the language .

Words fall out of use for various reasons. Many of them are forgotten as soon as some phenomenon or object disappears from life. Naturally, in this case, as a rule, there is a sharp change in their meaning (cf. the fate, for example, of such words as decree, soldier, ministry, etc.).

For example, a new life for some of the words denoting military ranks began when new military ranks were introduced in the Red Army. Outdated words soldier, corporal, lieutenant, captain, major, colonel, general, admiral and others acquired a new meaning and became commonly used words. In 1946, previously outdated words found new life minister, ministry in connection with the change in the name of the government of the USSR (the Council of People's Commissars was transformed into the Council of Ministers of the USSR).

Outdated words, the most common in works of art, are placed in explanatory dictionaries with the mark "outdated."(obsolete). From words found in written monuments of the past, scientists compile historical dictionaries, for example, the “Dictionary of the Russian Language of the 11th-17th Centuries” edited by S.G. Barkhudarov has now begun to be published.

Obsolete words, which together form the obsolete vocabulary of the Russian language, represent a complex and multi-layered system. The reason for this is their heterogeneity and diversity in terms of: 1) the degree of their obsolescence, 2) the reasons for their archaization and 3) the possibility and nature of their use.

According to the degree of obsolescence, we primarily distinguish a group of words that are currently completely unknown to ordinary speakers of the modern Russian literary language and are therefore incomprehensible without appropriate references. These include:

a) words that have completely disappeared from the language, not currently found in it even as part of derivative words ( locks- puddle, which- argument, prosinets- February, strict- paternal uncle, netiy- sister's nephew cancer– grave, tomb, etc.);

b) words that are not used in the language as separate words, but are found as root parts of derived words: rope - rope, rug - ridicule (scold), lie – boil, (cook, ravine), beef - livestock (beef, beef), sleeping - skin (hangnails), bully - bone (booze), mzhura – darkness, haze (to squint), khudog – skilled (artist) soon– skin (weed), treacherous- blacksmith (cunning), publican– tax collector (ordeal), beg- give (alms), etc.

c) words that have disappeared from the language as separate meaningful units, but are still used as part of phraseological units: falcon - an old battering ram, a large ram (a head like a falcon); zga - road (cf. path; not visible); stake – a small plot of land (no stake, no yard), etc.

All these words have fallen out of the vocabulary of the language and are now firmly forgotten. All of them have nothing to do with the lexical system of the modern Russian literary language and are not even included in its passive vocabulary. All of them, finally, are facts of previous, generally distant eras in the development of the Russian language. Unlike obsolete words, they are best called ancient.

The question arises whether it makes sense to consider such facts when analyzing the vocabulary of the modern Russian literary language, in which they really do not exist. It turns out there is. And this is explained by the fact that ancient words (or obsolete words of the second degree) are still occasionally used in necessary cases even now, naturally, in the form of special verbal inlays, external to the words surrounding them, and usually with the necessary explanations. Thus, such facts can still be found in individual speech works, and this is precisely what does not allow them to be excluded from consideration when analyzing modern vocabulary, despite the fact that they have nothing to do with the latter. Ancient words (for specific cases of their use, see below) are opposed in terms of the degree of obsolescence by a group of obsolete words, consisting of such lexical units that speakers of modern Russian literary language are known, but are part of its passive vocabulary and are used only for certain stylistic purposes.

These are already real units of language, although they have a limited scope of use and specific properties.

These types of outdated words include: verst, horse-drawn horse, vershok, student, policeman, bursa, ony (that), in vain (seeing), iroystvo, barber, just (only), verb (to speak), in order (to), cold (cold), etc.

Naturally, the time when it goes out of active use is of great importance in the degree of obsolescence of a particular word and its individual meaning. To a large extent, however, it is also determined by: 1) the place of a given word with the corresponding meaning in the nominative system of the national language, 2) the initial prevalence of the word and the duration of use in the active vocabulary, 3) the presence or absence of a clear and direct connection with related words and etc. Often a word that has long fallen out of active use is still not forgotten by speakers, although it appears sporadically in their speech, and vice versa, there are cases when a word that has moved into the passive vocabulary of the language relatively recently is forgotten and falls out of the language.

For example, words hunger, corvid, disaster came out of the active vocabulary of written speech (they did not exist in the spoken language before) more than 100 years ago, but they are still understandable in their basic meanings to speakers of modern Russian. On the contrary, the words ukom(county committee), uninterrupted, those that were in active use compared to those previously noted hunger, corvid, disaster recently.

Since toponymy (names of rivers, lakes, settlements, etc.) and anthroponymy (personal and family names) are the most stable facts in the dictionary material, much of what has already left the language as common nouns is preserved in toponymy and anthroponymy as proper names: river Shuya(shuya-left), station Bologoe(bologoe-good, kind, beautiful), Academician L.V.Shcherba(chap-crack, notch), city Gorodets(gorodets-gorodok, with the suffix – ets), city Mytishchi(Mytishche - place where they collected myto), village Chervlenaya(scarlet-red), cook Smury(gloomy-gloomy, cf. cloudy), etc.

Since the lexical system develops in each language according to its own internal laws, unique to it, obsolete or even ancient words that have completely disappeared from the Russian language can be preserved in other closely related Slavic languages ​​as lexical units of the active vocabulary. Wed. words Velmi– in Belarusian, fuska – in Polish (Russian luska lives as part of the production luska), krak – in Bulgarian (cf. Russian production ham), ul – in Czech (in Russian it comes out as a root in the word hive, street, etc.), bаz – in Bulgarian (cf. Russian production elderberry), etc.

In addition to the fact that obsolete words differ in the degree of their archaism, they also differ from each other in what led them to become part of the obsolete vocabulary (in the broad sense of the word). This difference is the most serious and fundamental.

Most of the words used in modern texts appeared in the Russian language in different eras - from ancient to modern, but they seem to us to be equally modern, necessary, and mastered by the language: eight, time, talk, collective farm, combine, our, new, revolution, plane, Soviet, telephone etc. For example, at the end of the 19th – beginning of the 20th century, before the advent of the tram, there was a city railway with horse traction. This road, as well as the carriage, was called such a road horse-drawn. With the advent of the tram, and then other types of transport, the need for horse traction disappeared, and the word horse-drawn outdated and therefore out of use. Other words are forgotten if new words appear to name that object, attribute, or action. For example: in the Old Russian language there was a word here- “fat”. Over time, the word began to be used in this meaning fat, originally meaning “feed, food”, and the word here ceased to be used, the subject remained, but the word became obsolete.

In addition to words, individual meanings of polysemantic words became obsolete. Yes, word map has five meanings and two of them are outdated: 1) “a sheet with a list of foods and drinks in a restaurant” (now this sheet is called "menu"; 2) “postcard”.

So, words can go out of active use and pass into a passive dictionary (and then disappear altogether) both because the phenomena, objects, things, etc. they call disappear, and due to the fact that they, as designations of some phenomena, objects, things, etc. in the process of use in the language they can be replaced by other words. In one case, words become unnecessary in the active vocabulary of speakers because they are designations of disappeared phenomena of reality; in another case, words go out of active use for the reason that they are replaced by other words (with the same meanings), which turn out to be more acceptable for expression relevant concepts. In the first case we are dealing with historicisms, in the second - with archaisms.