In Russian, the active and passivevocabulary. The first consists of words that each of us uses almost on a daily basis, the second group includes words rarely used in speech. These include archaisms, historicisms, neologisms. Their study takes place in the section «Vocabulary and Lexicology».
Active and passive vocabulary
The vocabulary of the Russian language has millions of words. Linguists divide all the words of the Russian language into two large groups — active vocabulary and passive.
Passive vocabulary includes words that are familiar to a person or recognizable to him, but are rarely used. Here distinguish archaisms, historicisms, neologisms.
Active vocabulary includes words that wewe use quite often. These include alliances and pronouns, words by which we designate the world around us. This is the name of furniture, clothes, products, words for referring to kinship ties, professions, names of emotions and many others.
Active and passive vocabulary of every personis individual and depends on age, place of residence, professional activity. Throughout our entire life, its volume changes in one direction or another, depending on a number of factors.
Passive vocabulary
Old and new words belong to the passive vocabulary.
Among the obsolete words there are two maingroups: archaisms and historicisms. We will talk about them first of all, we will consider the definition, the function performed by archaisms and historicisms, examples of the most frequently encountered words.
New words form a much smaller part of the passive stock of the language and are called neologisms. Next, we will discuss their concept and the causes of occurrence in speech.
Archaisms
To begin with, we will analyze obsolete words — archaisms andhistoricisms. Archaisms are obsolete words that are currently out of use. These are old names of modern objects or names. Often, other words come to replace archaisms, which refer to the same concepts and objects as the obsolete word. Each of them has a modern analog, in other words, a word-synonym.
Depending on the mode of formation, archaisms are:
- Lexical, which were replaced by words that have different roots. These words are difficult to understand without knowing their translation or the original meaning. This includes words such as mouth — lips, finger — finger, interpreter — interpreter.
- Lexical and word-building. In this situation, archaism and its modern version have one root, but they differ in word-forming morphemes. For example, familiar — familiar, fish — fisherman.
- Lexico-phonetic — differ from the modern version of phonetic design. For example, pi’ite — poet, history — history, number — number.
- Lexical and semantic. These include archaisms, which still function in the language, while having a different meaning. For example, the word a shame previously meant catcher, today — shame or dishonor.
At the end of the article, we will consider the role of archaisms in the Russian language, especially literature. Archaisms are fixed in explanatory dictionaries with the mark «obsolete».
Historicisms
Historicism refers to words that are usedto identify words and objects that existed before, but have already disappeared from our lives. Historisms, examples of which we find most often in the literature, policeman And so on. These concepts function today in historical works and chronicles, old books and newspapers.
Historicism includes words that denotedthe social structure of life, the name of institutions, persons and positions, military ranks, weapons items and weapons, ancient units of measure, currency, household items. For example: tavern, caftan, mace, altyn, serf, governor, gunner.
It is important to note that historisms do not have synonyms. This is very important to remember, as this is one of the hallmarks of historicism.
Words-historisms are also introduced into explanatory dictionarieswith a litter «obsolete», less often «ist». Also there are various dictionaries of historicisms, where you can see not only the meaning of the word, but also get acquainted with the image of the object that denotes the concept.
Historisms and Archaisms: The Difference in Concepts
Quite often students and students, andjust people who are not associated with philology, the question arises: how archaisms are different from historicisms? The main difference is that archaism is an obsolete designation of an object or concept that is still present in our life. Historicism also denotes concepts and objects that have long since disappeared from use.
As already noted, another distinctivesign — archaisms have synonyms, historicisms — no. Based on these two distinctive features, you can easily figure out which category belongs to a particular obsolete word.
Neologisms
Neologisms are words that appear inthe emergence of new phenomena or concepts. Some time the word is considered a neologism, later it becomes common and enters the active vocabulary of the language.
Neologisms can arise as a result of developmenttechnologies, and to leave the pen of the authors. Thus, FM Dostoevsky became the author of the word «fade away», and N. M. Karamzin introduced the word «industry» into the vocabulary. Based on this, authorial and general language neologisms are distinguished.
In different periods, neologisms were such words as car, rocket, laptop, mail and many others. When the use of neologisms reaches their peak and their meaning becomes clear to everyone, these words automatically become the most commonly used ones.
If historisms and archaisms are fixed in dictionarieswith special notes, neologisms get into the dictionaries only after they enter the active stock of the language system. True, in recent years, begin to publish special dictionaries of neologisms.
Causes
We have examined archaisms, historicisms, and neologisms. Now a few words about the reasons for their occurrence.
The reasons for the transition of words from active to passivethe vocabulary has not yet been studied in detail. And if with historicalisms all is more or less clear, since after the disappearance of the concept, the word denoting it goes into a passive stock, then with archaisms everything is much more complicated.
The most common are the following reasonsthe emergence of archaisms: various social changes, cultural factors, various linguistic causes — the influence of other languages, stylistic connections, language reforms.
The main reasons for the appearance of neologisms are:
— various changes in the social life of society;
— technical progress, that is the emergence of new objects, concepts and phenomena.
Today, most neologisms are associated with the development of computer science and computer technology.
Stylistic value
A few words about the stylistic role of words in the passive vocabulary of the Russian language. The most frequently used data are groups of words in fiction.
Thus, the use of archaisms helps the writermore accurately recreate the described era, characterize the character with his speech. Surely you noticed that in the speech of some characters, one vocabulary prevails, for example, more modern, in the speech of others — another, outdated or dialectic. Thus, the writer draws a psychological and social portrait of the character.
They also use them in verse speech to give a more solemn, exalted color to the work. In satire, archaisms serve to create a comic or satirical effect, giving irony.
Study at school
Partially archaisms, historicisms, neologismsstudied in school, at Russian language and literature classes. Usually acquaintance with this class of words occurs in the fifth and tenth classes in the study of «Lexicology». Students are taught to distinguish words, to find them in texts of various kinds. In addition, while studying the works of classics, we come across unfamiliar words that have long since disappeared, become acquainted with their meaning, origin.
Studying at the university
A more detailed acquaintance with the active and passivethe vocabulary of the Russian language begins in universities when studying the section «Lexicology». Often this happens in the second year, at the Faculty of Philology. Students are taught how archaisms differ from historicisms, how and where it is possible to find the meaning of these words, how to classify them depending on their origin, determine the function in those or other texts.
Students can make their own dictionaries,learn to find passive vocabulary in texts and replace it, analyze the origin of neologisms, the reasons for the disappearance of words from the active use of the speakers of the literary Russian language.
conclusions
The passive vocabulary of the Russian language includesthe following groups of lexemes: archaisms — obsolete names of words and concepts, historicisms — names of objects and phenomena that have left our everyday life, neologisms — words that are used to denote new concepts.
Disused words are used in fiction when writing historical texts to recreate the atmosphere of the time described in the work.
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МИНОБРНАУКИ
РФ
ФГБОУ
ВПО «ЧЕЛЯБИНСКИЙ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ
УНИВЕРСИТЕТ»
ФАКУЛЬТЕТ
ЛИНГВИСТИКИ И ПЕРЕВОДА
КАФЕДРА
ТЕОРИИ И ПРАКТИКИ АНГЛИЙСКОГО ЯЗЫКА
Report
“Lexical
and grammatical archaisms”
Челябинск,
2013
Language
is never stable. In the course of time the vocabulary changes by
being supplemented with new words which come into being with the
development of science and culture. A certain number of obsolete
words usually drop out of the vocabulary of the language. Obsolete
words pass out of use completely or remain in the language as
elements performing purely historical descriptive functions. The
disappearance of old occupations causes the disappearance of their
old names. The names of such old occupations can be preserved as
family names: Chandler (candle
maker), Webster (weaver), Wright (worker).
Archaic words can be preserved in proverbs: Many
a little makes
a mickel. The
verb to read in the old meaning to interpret, to guess survived in to
read a riddle. An old sense of favour (features, looks) survived in
hard-favoured, ill-favoured, well-favoured. The preposition on was
once common in the meaning because of. This meaning survives in on
purpose, on compulsion. The preposition with originally meant against
and now this meaning is preserved in withdraw, withstand. Archaic are
the following adverbs: therefore, therefrom, wherein, thereon.
Archaic are the participles ending in -en: drunken, gotten, washen.
Here
we came to the definition of an archaism. Archaism is
the use of a form of speech or writing that is no longer current.
This can either be done deliberately (to achieve a specific effect)
or as part of a specific jargon (for
example in law)
or formula (for example in religious contexts).
Many nursery
rhymes contain
archaisms. Archaic elements that occur only in certain fixed
expressions (for example ‘be that as it may’) are not considered to
be archaisms.
Another
term that can be confused with an archaism is historism. Historisms
belong to obsolete words. The causes of their appearance are
extralinguistic. It is the denotatum that is outdated. They are very
numerous as names for social relations and institutions and objects
of material culture of the past. The names of ancient weapons, types
of boats, types of carriages, instruments belong to historisms:
battle axe, battering ram.
Archaisms
differ from historisms in this respect that they are obsolete names
for existing objects. Archaisms always have synonyms: to deem — to
think, glee – joy.
Archaisms
can be classified into lexical and grammatical. Lexical archaisms are
words: woe (sorrow), nigh (near), aught (anything).
Grammatical archaisms are old grammatical forms: thou (you),
the -est inflexion
for the 2nd person
singular, -th for
the 3rd person
singular, the plural form of brother
(brethren), tense forms like wilt,
spake, builded.
Sometimes
a lexical archaism begins a new life, getting a new meaning, then the
old meaning becomes a semantic archaism, e.g. “fair” in the
meaning “beautiful” is a semantic archaism, but in the meaning
“blond” it belongs to the neutral style.
Sometimes
the root of the word remains and the affix is changed, then the old
affix is considered to be a morphemic archaism, e.g. “beauteous”
— ous was substituted by — ful, “bepaint” — be- was dropped,
“darksome” -some was dropped, “oft” -en was added etc.
Archaisms
are most frequently encountered in poetry, law, and ritual writing
and speech. Their deliberate use can be subdivided into literary
archaisms, which seeks to evoke the style of older speech and
writing; and lexical archaisms, the use of words no longer in common
use. Archaisms are kept alive by these ritual and literary uses and
by the study of older literature. Should they remain recognised, they
can be revived, as the word anent was in the past century.
Archaisms
are frequently misunderstood, leading to changes in usage. One
example is the use of the archaic familiar second person singular
pronoun “thou” to refer to God in English Christianity. Although
originally a familiar pronoun, it has been misinterpreted as a
respectful one by many modern Christians.
We
shall distinguish three stages in the aging process of words:
-
The
beginning of the aging process when the word becomes rarely used.
Such words are called obsolescent, i.e. they are in the stage of
gradually passing out of general use. To this category first of all
belong morphological forms belonging to the earlier stages in the
development of the language. In the English language these are the
pronouns thou and its forms thee, thy and thine, the corresponding
verbal ending -est and the verb-forms art, wilt (thou makest, thou
wilt), the ending -(e)th instead of -(e)s (he maketh) and the
pronoun ye. To the category of obsolescent words belong many French
borrowings which have been kept in the literary language as a means
of preserving the spirit of earlier periods, e. g. a pallet (a straw
mattress); a palfrey (a small horse); garniture (furniture); to
peplume (to adorn with feathers or plumes). -
The
second group of archaic words are those that have already gone
completely out of use but are still recognised by the
English-speaking community: e. g. methinks (it seems to me); nay
(=no). These words are called obsolete. -
The
third group, which may be called archaic proper, are words which are
no longer recognizable in modern English, words that were in use in
Old English and which have either dropped out of the language
entirely or have changed in their appearance so much that they have
become unrecognizable, e. g. troth (=faith); a losel (=a worthless,
lazy fellow).
Examples
of archaisms in literature:
-
«The
old man raised the axe and split the head of John Joel Glanton to
the thrapple.» (the throat or windpipe)
(Cormac
McCarthy, Blood Meridian, 1985) -
…He
shall lie all night betwixt my breasts.(Song of Solomon 1:13)
(between) -
«Though thou
hast ever
so many counsellors, yet («yet»
is generally not an archaism, but it is in this context) do not
forsake the counsel of thy own
soul.» (English
proverb) (you have, but, your) -
«To thine own
self be true.» (William Shakespeare) (your) -
It’s
what a cove knows that counts, ain’t it, Sybil? (The Difference
Engine, by Bruce Sterling and William Gibson) (fellow)
СПИСОК
ИСПОЛЬЗУЕМОЙ ЛИТЕРАТУРЫ
-
Wikipedia.
Archaisms.
[Электронный ресурс]/Википедия
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaism) -
O.
Jespersen. Growth and Structure of the English Language[Text]/O.
Jespersen, Oxford, 1982 -
R.
Nordquist. Archaism. [Электронный
ресурс]/R.
Nordquist, About.com Guide
(http://grammar.about.com/od/ab/g/archaismterm.htm)
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Introduction
We often hear about words being added to dictionaries as they become part of everyday vernacular, but have you ever heard about any words that get removed? Some people argue that if a word has existed at some point in time then it merits a place in the dictionary.
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After all, who knows when someone may come across it in an old text and need to look up the definition? Others say that dictionaries should reflect the language that we use here and now, and so those words which have become obsolete in everyday language should no longer have a place in the dictionary. Language and culture are constantly changing, so how do we keep up with these changes without losing our past? The article is intended to go back in time and to disclose archaisms in the English language. Different groups of archaisms, the difference between archaisms and historisms, periods of their development, stylistic features, semantic groups and other problems got their reflection in the article.
Different viewpoints of scientists, the aim of using archaisms in belles-lettres and their classification are presented and illustrated by the examples in Russian and English.
How do Words in Everyday Language Become Obsolete?
The vocabulary of a language never remains stable. There are constant changes in the semantic structure of any language. Words appear, undergo a number of phonetic and semantic changes and finally pass completely out of use. The disappearance of various things, phenomena, etc. causes either complete disappearance of their names or turns them into «representatives» of a previous epoch.
Many words become obsolete in ordinary language, but remain in poetry, in books conforming to a definite style, in oratory, etc. A great many archaisms survive in English dialects. Thus the fate of obsolete words may be different. We distinguish two groups of obsolete words: archaisms proper and historical terms (historisms). Before turning to them it is of primary importance to distinguish the terms ”archaic” and ”obsolete”. The terms “archaic” and “obsolete” are used more or less indiscriminately by some authors.
The meaning of these temporal labels, however, can be somewhat different among dictionaries. The label archaic is used for words that were once common but are now rare. Archaic implies having the character or characteristics of a much earlier time. Obsolete indicates that a term is no longer in active use, except, for example, in literary quotation. Obsolete may apply to a word regarded as no longer acceptable or useful even though it is still in existence. In the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, (Boston: Houghton Mifflin [4th ed.], 2004) the archaic label is described this way: “This label is applied to words and senses that were once common but are now rare, though they may be familiar because of their occurrence in certain contexts, such as the literature of an earlier time.
Specifically, this label is attached to entry words and senses for which there is only sporadic evidence in print after 1755.” The AHD describes the obsolete label thus: “The label obsolete is used with entry words and senses no longer in active use, except, for example, in literary quotations. Specifically, this label is attached to entry words and senses for which there is little or no printed evidence since 1755.” In Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition (Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, 2003), the Explanatory Notes say, “The temporal label obs for obsolete means that there is no evidence of use since 1755. The label obs is a comment on the word being defined. When a thing, as distinguished from the word used to designate it, is obsolete, appropriate orientation is usually given in the definition.
The temporal label archaic means that a word or sense once in common use is found today only sporadically or in special contexts.” Random House Dictionary defines an obsolete word as one “no longer in use, esp. out of use for at least a century”, whereas an archaism is referred to as “current in an earlier time but rare in present usage”. However, it should be pointed out that the borderline between “obsolete” and “archaic” is vague and uncertain, and in many cases it is difficult to decide to which of the groups this or that word belongs.
Archaisms Proper: Etymology, Main Features and Usage.
In language, an archaism (from the Ancient Greek: ἀρχαϊκός, archaïkós, ‘old-fashioned, antiquated’, ultimately ἀρχαῖος, archaîos, ‘from the beginning, ancient’) is the use of a form of speech or writing that is no longer current. This can either be done deliberately (to achieve a specific effect) or as part of a specific jargon (for example in law) or formula (for example in religious contexts). Many nursery rhymes contain archaisms. Archaic elements that occur only in certain fixed expressions (for example ‘be that as it may’) are not considered to be archaisms. Archaisms proper are obsolete words denoting real things and phenomena, but the words themselves are no longer found in ordinary English: they were substituted by others, obsolete words becoming their stylistic synonyms. These words are moribund, already partly or fully out of circulation, rejected by the living language. There are three stages in the aging processes of words:
they become rarely used; they are in the stage of gradually passing out from use; these are the morphological forms belonging to the earlier stage of the development of the language [thee, thou], corresponding verbal endings [thou makest], many French borrowings [palfreu] they have already gone completely out of use and are still recognized by the English-speaking people. [me thinks = it seems to me, nay = no]. archaic words proper is no longer recognizable in modern English; such words were in use during the Old English period, are earlier dropped out of the language or have changed in the appearance so much that they have become unrecognizable [losso =lazy fellow].
While some words become obsolete from everyday language, others still exist but their meaning has changed over time. Words like fun fur have remained in use as their meanings have been adapted to current circumstances. Fun fur used to refer to cheap animal fur that had been dyed in several colors until the 1960s. Today it refers to synthetic fur.
Types of archaisms: lexical and grammatical archaisms and their peculiarities
Generally we distinguish lexical and grammatical archaisms. Grammatical archaisms are forms of words which went out of use with the development of the grammar system of the English language: -th – suffix of the 3rd person sing., Present Indef. Tense, e.g. hath, doth, speaketh; -st – 2nd person – dost, hast, speakest;
art – 2nd person of the verb «to be» pl.;
thou, thee, thy, thine – pronouns;
ye – plural, 2nd person.
Lexical archaisms. Poetry is especially rich in archaisms. Words that are too well known and too often used do not call up such vivid images as words less familiar. This is one of the reasons which impel poets to use archaic words. They are «new» just on account of their being old, and yet they are not utterly unknown to be unintelligible. The following are some of the most common lexical archaisms used in poetry: billow – война; save – кроме; plain – жаловаться; behold – видеть; yon (yonder) – тот; eke – тоже; brow – чело; foe – враг; ere – до; steed – конь; morn – утро; belike – вероятно; damsel – девушка; woe – rope; oft, oft-times – часто; mere – озеро, пруд; hearken – слушать; albeit – хотя, etc. Their last refuge is in historical novels (whose authors used them to create a particular period atmosphere) and, of course, in poetry which is rather conservative in its choice of words.
So their main function is to sustain a special evaluated atmosphere of poetry. They form an insignificant layer of special literary vocabulary. On the whole they are detached from the common literary vocabulary. Thus, the use of archaic words is a stylistic device. In historical novels they create an atmosphere of the past. In the depiction of events of the present they assume the function of a stylistic device proper. The stylistic functions of the archaic words are based on the temporary perception of the event. Even when used in a terminological aspect they create a special atmosphere in the utterance. They form a rather insignificant layer of the special literary vocabulary.
- They are used by authors to produce an elevated (возвыш) effect.
- They have a tendency to detach themselves from the common literary word-stock and assume the quality of terms denoting certain notions and calling forth poetic diction.
Closely associated with archaisms are poetical words. The use of poetic words doesn’t as a rule create the atmosphere of poetry, but it substitutes its expressiveness. The common way of creating such words is compounding [young-eyed, rosy-fingered]. Poetic words and expressions are understandable to a limited number of readers. In modern poetry words are often used in strange combinations [the sound of shame]. Poetic words in an ordinary environment may also have a satirical function. They can also be found in other styles, e.g. in journalistic style: proceed (go), the welkin (the sky), the vale (the valley), the devouring element (the fire).
Archaic words – yclept (to call, name), quoth (to speak), eftsoons (again soon after) are good examples. They evoke emotive meaning. They color the utterance with the certain air of loftiness (elevation). But generally fail to produce a general feeling of delight. They are taken hacked, too outdate. These words are often used by modern ballet mangers (сочинители баллад). Some poetical words and set expressions make the utterance understandable only to a limited number of readers. This poetical language is often called poetical jargon.
“Alas! They had been friends in youth;
But whispering tongues can poison truth
And constancy lives in realms above;
And life is thorny; and youth is vain;
And to be wroth with one we love,
Doth work like madness in the brain…”
(Coleridge)
Thou and thy, aye (“yes”) and nay (“no”) are certainly archaic and long since rejected by common usage, yet poets use them even today. (We also find the same four words and many other archaisms among dialectisms, which is quite natural, as dialects are also conservative and retain archaic words and structures). Numerous archaisms can be found in Shakespeare, but it should be taken into consideration that what appear to us today as archaisms in the works of Shakespeare, are in fact examples of everyday language of Shakespeare’s time. There are several such archaisms in Viola’s speech from Twelfth Night:
“There is a fair behavior in thee, Captain,
And though that nature with a beauteous wall
Doth oft close in pollution, yet of thee
I will believe thou hast a mind that suits
With this thy fair and outward character.
I prithee — and I’ll pay thee bounteously
— Conceal me what I am, and be my aid
For such disguise as haply shall become
The form of my intent…”
(Act 1, Sc. 2) 32
Further examples of archaisms are: morn (for morning), eve (for evening), moon (for month), damsel (for girl), errant (for wandering, e.g. errant knights), etc. Sometimes, an archaic word may undergo a sudden revival. So, the formerly archaic kin (for relatives; one’s family) is now current in American usage. Archaisms are also most frequently encountered in poetry, law, science, technology, geography and ritual writing and speech. Their deliberate use can be subdivided into literary archaisms, which seeks to evoke the style of older speech and writing; and lexical archaisms, the use of words no longer in common use. Archaisms are kept alive by these ritual and literary uses and by the study of older literature. Should they remain recognized, they can be revived, as the word anent was in this past century. Because they are things of continual discovery and re-invention, scie nce and technology have historically generated forms of speech and writing which have dated and fallen into disuse relatively quickly.
However the emotional associations of certain words (for example: ‘Wireless’ rather than ‘Radio’ for a generation of British citizens who lived through the second world war) have kept them alive even though the older word is clearly an archaism. A similar desire to evoke a former age means that archaic place names are frequently used in circumstances where doing so conveys a political or emotional subtext, or when the official new name is not recognized by all (for example: ‘Persia’ rather than ‘Iran’, ‘Bombay’ rather than ‘Mumbai’, ‘Madras’ rather than ‘Chennai’). So, a restaurant seeking to conjure up historic associations might prefer to call itself Old Bombay or refer to Persian cuisine in preference to using the newer place name. A notable contemporary example is the name of the airline Cathay Pacific, which uses the archaic Cathay (“China”).
Archaisms are frequently misunderstood, leading to changes in usage. One example is found in the phrase “the odd man out”, which originally came from the phrase “to find the odd man out”, where the verb “to find out” has been split by its object “the odd man”, meaning the item which does not fit. The compound adverbs and prepositions found in the writing of lawyers (e.g. heretofore, hereunto, thereof) are examples of archaisms as a form of jargon. Some phraseologies, especially in religious contexts, retain archaic elements that are not used in ordinary speech in any other context: “With this ring I thee wed.” Archaisms are also used in the dialogue of historical novels in order to evoke the flavour of the period. Some may count as inherently funny words and are used for humorous effect.
Historims: Main Features and Classification
Historisms are names of things and phenomena which passed out of use with the development of social, economical, cultural life of society but which retain historical importance. Unlike archaisms, historical terms have no synonyms in Modern English: they are only names of things and notions which refer to the past of the English people. The sphere of these words is restricted with scientific literature or with books and novels dealing with certain historical periods. There are lots of historisms in the historical novels of W.Scott and other English authors, e.g.: Historisms are very numerous as names for social relations, institutions and objects of material culture of the past. The names of ancient transport means, ancient clothes, weapons, musical instruments can offer many examples. Before the appearance of motor-cars many different types of horse-drawn carriages were in use. The names of some of them are: brougham, berlin, calash, diligence, fly, gig, hansom, landeau, phaeton, etc. It is interesting to mention specially the romantically metaphoric prairie schooner ‘a canvas-covered wagon used by pioneers crossing the North American prairies’.
There are still many sailing ships in use, and schooner in the meaning of ‘a sea-going vessel’ is not an historism, but a prairie schooner is. Many types of sailing craft belong to the past as caravels or galleons, so their names are historisms too. The history of costume forms an interesting topic by itself. It is reflected in the history of corresponding terms. The corresponding glossaries may be very long. Only very few examples can be mentioned here. In W. Shakespeare’s plays, for instance, doublets are often mentioned. A doublet is a close-fitting jacket with or without sleeves worn by men in the 15th-17th centuries. It is interesting to note that descriptions of ancient garments given in dictionaries often include their social functions in this or that period. Thus, a tabard of the 15th century was a short surcoat open at the sides and with short sleeves, worn by a knight over his armour and emblazoned on the front, back and sides with his armorial bearings.
Not all historisms refer to such distant periods. Thus, bloomers — an outfit designed for women in mid-nineteenth century. It consisted of Turkish-style trousers gathered at the ankles and worn by women as “a rational dress”. It was introduced by Mrs Bloomer, editor and social reformer, as a contribution to woman rights movement. Somewhat later bloomers were worn by girls and women for games and cycling, but then they became shorter and reached only to the knee. A great many historisms denoting various types of weapons occur in historical novels, e. g. a battering ram ‘an ancient machine for breaking walls’; a blunderbuss ‘an old type of gun with a wide muzzle’;
breastplate ‘a piece of metal armour worn by knights over the chest to protect it in battle’; a crossbow ‘a medieval weapon consisting of a bow fixed across a wooden stock’. Many words belonging to this semantic field remain in the vocabulary in some figurative meaning, e. g. arrow, shield, sword, vizor, etc. Thus we can distinguish the following types of historisms:
- words of social position: yeomen – йомен, knight – рыцарь, scribe – писец;
- names of arms and words connected with war: battle ax – боевой то порик, musket – мушкет, visor – забрало, warrior – воин, sword – меч, gauntlet – рыцарская перчатка = латная рукавица, archer – стрелок из лука, spear – копье;
- types of vessels: galley – галера, frigate – фрегат, caravel – каравелла;
- types of carts which went out of use: brougham – одноместная карета, chaise – фаэтон, легкая повозка с открытым верхом, hansom – двухместный экипаж, где сидение кучера расположено позади и несколь ко выше мест для седоков, coach – карета (почтовая);
- names of old musical instruments: lute – лютня, lyre – лира. So the number of historisms which reflect the social life and culture of the past is very great.
Conclusion
Though many of the words discussed above are rather old-fashioned, outdate and are rarely used in modern society, they still have a unique place in the depositary of English word-stock. Thus they can be found in bigger dictionaries as they might be relevant to specific fields. Words and their meanings are always bound to specific contexts and times in which their meaning makes sense. Anyone learning a language needs to be aware of how words are used today and historically in order to correctly interpret and understand their meaning. So one should always keep up with the constant changes in language to make sure that their skills are the most appropriate for today’s modern world.
Methodical literature
1. Атрушина Г. Б., Афанасьева О. В., Морозова Н. Н. Лексикология английского языка: Учеб. пособие для студентов. Дрофа, 1999 2. Гинзбург, С. С. Хидекель, Г. Ю. Князева и А. А. Санкин. Лексикология английского языка: Учебник для ин-тов и фак. иностр. яз. Высш. школа, 1979. 3. Арнольд И. В.
Лексикология современного английского языка: Учеб. для ин-тов и фак. иностр. яз. М.: Высш. шк., 1986. — 295 с., ил. — На англ. яз.
Internet sources
http://ru.scribd.com/doc/33264944/English-Lexicology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaism
http://dictionary.reference.com/help/faq/language/d25.html
http://window.edu.ru/library/pdf2txt/731/67731/41095/page6
http://matadornetwork.com/abroad/20-obsolete-english-words-that-should-make-a-comeback/2/
The Russian language has a constantly changingvocabulary: some previously often common vocabulary is almost not used, the other, on the contrary, is increasingly being used by us. Examples of obsolete words and neologisms are numerous, which indicates the development of language.
Such phenomena are closely related to the changesocial life: a new word arises with the appearance of a new concept, and if people no longer refer to a certain object or phenomenon, then the term serving for its designation is not used. In this article, we will look at obsolete words and neologisms, examples of their use, types and features.
Obsolete words: definition
Obsolete words are those that are either very rarely used at this time or are not used at all (for example, the right hand, the child, the Red Army man, the mouth, the People’s Commissar).
Obsolete words are a process, therefore differentconcepts can be at different stages of it. Still not released from active use, but used less often than before, the words are called «obsolete vocabulary.»
Neologisms and archaisms are used in differentpurposes. The latter are used, for example, for naming phenomena and objects, that is, they perform a nominative function (for example, in scientific and historical works). In works of fiction devoted to the historical theme, such vocabulary plays a nominative-stylistic role — serves not only to denote a concrete reality, but also creates a certain color of a given epoch.
In the literary text obsolete words canUsed to indicate the time when the action takes place. Archaisms (and neologisms) can serve the actual stylistic purpose. Obsolete words give the text solemnity, being means of expressiveness.
Neologisms: Definition
We answer the question of what is neologism,examples will also try to lead. These are new words that have not yet become everyday and habitual. Their composition is constantly changing, some of the neologisms are adopted in the Russian language, while others are not. So, the word «companion» in the middle of the 20th century was a neologism. Every year, the mass media use tens of thousands of new terms and concepts, but not all of them are part of everyday use. Some are used only once in oral speech or some text, while others are included in the language and, being used repeatedly, they lose their novelty. Certain new terms, not having time to enter the main lexical fund, immediately go out of use and become obsolete (such a fate befell, for example, the vocabulary of post-revolutionary years: universal, female girl, businesswoman, kerenka).
Ways of occurrence of new words
Obsolete words and neologisms of the Russian language — a very interesting phenomenon. It is especially curious to know how new concepts are emerging. They arise in several ways:
— the formation of lexical neologism (new term) from already existing in the language of morphemes and words according to existing models: drywall, disk drive, fiber optic;
— the borrowing of some foreign language with the subsequent formation from it new according to existing in the language models of word formation: scanner, scan, scan;
— the formation of a new lexical meaning is alreadyexisting in the language of the term (in this sense, the words are called semantic neologisms), including by means of calculating the meanings of the words of another language: the mouse is both a device for entering information into the computer, and an animal; Winchester — this is a device for storing information in the computer, and a gun;
— the formation of some stable word combinations with a new meaning (including the ones that have been squeezed): motherboard, hard disk.
Archaisms and historicisms
Among the obsolete vocabulary, archaisms and historicisms stand out. Obsolete words and neologisms, examples of which are indicated in this article, have different destinies.
It is determined by their use in speech, and not by»age»: those who call for necessary, vital concepts and terms do not age for centuries, while others quickly archaize, we stop using them, because the objects themselves, denoted by these words, disappear. For example, the education system in our country has changed, and therefore such terms as a classy lady, institute of noble maidens, an institute, a realist (in the sense of «a student in a real school») left the speech.
The concept of «historicism»
Employed by the names of already disappeared concepts,objects and phenomena of the word are called historicisms. All the above terms refer to them. These words occupy a special position in our language, since they are the only symbols of obsolete objects. Historicisms, therefore, do not and can not have any synonyms. In art works and historical literature about the past of the people they are inevitably used, because thanks to them the color of a particular epoch is recreated. These words give the features of historical authenticity to the description of the past.
Thus, historisms are words that weceased to apply due to the fact that the phenomena and objects they denoted disappeared: caftan, bursa, posadnik. They are used mainly in various texts describing the past (both artistic and scientific).
The concept of «archaism»
Archaisms — words that have passed into a passive reservebecause the names they denote, existing today, phenomena, objects and concepts have new names. Allocate different types of them, depending on which aspect of a particular word is out of date:
— lexical, if the word itself is obsolete and its sound-letter complex is no longer used, and meaning is now denoted by a new unit of vocabulary;
— semantic — in the case when the word in modern language exists, but has lost some meaning or several of them («depriving the belly»);
— phonetic — if the sound image of this or that term has changed, reflected in its writing («eighteen years»);
— word-building — when the very word-formation structure of this word is obsolete («poison drip»);
— grammatical — if certain grammatical forms have disappeared from use.
Archaisms do nothing fundamentally from historicismsare different. If the latter are the names of some obsolete items, then the first ones are obsolete names of ordinary concepts and phenomena that we encounter in everyday life.
Types of Archaisms
Among the archaisms, it is possible to identify specific groupswords. Some of them differ from their common synonyms with specific features in sounding, incomplete sound combinations (young — young, gold — gold, city — hail, shore — breg, crow — vrane, second words in these pairs sound archaic). These obsolete words are called phonetic archaisms. These include terms such as the Klob (club in modern vocabulary), number (number), stara (curtain), hospital (hospital) and other obsolete words and phrases in Russian that can be found in writers and poets of the 19th century. From their «rivals» they often differ only with one sound, less often with a few of them or with an out-of-date accent.
As you can see from the examples that came out ofthe use of lexicon differs in the degree of its archaic: some words are still used in speech, for example by poets, and others are known to us only from the works of literature of the last century. There are some that are completely forgotten today.
A very interesting phenomenon is the archaization of a certain meaning of the word.
The result is the emergence of semantic,or semantic, archaisms, that is, words that are used in an outdated, unaccustomed meaning for us. Their knowledge helps to understand the language of classical literature.
How neologisms appear
We have already answered the question about what isneologisms, examples of which were given above. Now we will find out how they arise in the Russian language. What appears faster: archaisms and neologisms? Let’s figure it out.
The rate of appearance is different for such layersvocabulary, as obsolete words and neologisms, examples of which are proposed in this article. Much more intensive and faster is the process of replenishing the language with a new lexical composition. In recent years, about 15-20 years, there have been great historical changes in our country, which was reflected directly in the state of the vocabulary of the Russian language. The neologisms that appeared at this time include such entities that did not exist before this, not only in the literary language, but also in any other spheres of its use (territorial and social dialects, functional styles). Only with the restructuring of the vocabulary included such concepts as the agrobank (that is, the land bank), corporatization (transformation into a joint-stock company of a state enterprise by issuing and selling various shares), addressed (addressed to a specific group of people), anti- countries to a market economy), as well as hyperinflation (inflation, rapidly developing and threatening economic collapse) and some others.
Kinds of neologisms
As you have already noticed, obsolete wordscontrasted neologisms. New units of vocabulary in their design are either individual words (tenantism, anti-Stalinism, audio cassette, ATM, band-formation), or compound names (UFO is a flying saucer, the poverty line is a certain level of the population’s well-being providing minimal consumption of basic material goods).
Such neologisms are considered lexical. One can note here also the phraseological ones, which are newly emerged stable combinations of words, for example: to include a printing press (that is, to begin additional printing of paper money that is not provided for the production of goods), hang noodles on the ears (meaning «to mislead anyone» ) and etc.
Lexical-phraseological neologisms are phraseological units, compound terms and words.
Four groups of neologisms
As you can see, the functions of obsolete words and neologisms are different. We already mentioned the role of the former. All new words can be divided into four main groups according to their purpose.
The first of these includes the names of concepts and realities,which earlier in the life of the people did not exist: the revivalists are followers of the pseudo patriotic movements of Russia, seeking to revive it, the grant is certain grants that form a form of additional financial support for scientific research,
The second group of neologisms is created forthe designations of phenomena already taking place in public life, but not received for some reason, for example ideological, their designation: a returnee who voluntarily returned from exile to his homeland, extrajudicial-that is outside the limits of legal procedure, Lenin’s, command-bureaucratic, etc.
The third group is made up of thereal life not existing, but possible in fantasies, predicted with the further development of technology and science: space ship, nuclear winter, cyborg.
The last, fourth group includeslexical units that duplicate words with a certain lexical meaning. This includes ideographic (complete) synonyms, identical in stylistic color and meaning: thoughtful — weighed, statist — sovereign, historical — fateful, monastic — loyal.
Interstyle and neologisms characteristic of a certain style of speech
Neologisms in the sphere of use are mainlyare interstyle, that is, they are used in all types of speech (interdevochka, image, case, yogurt, beneficiary, liberal-democratic, drug business, interbank). However, a certain part of them is peculiar to a specific style: journalistic (dissident, rejection, drug lord, integrator, weightedness), scientific (biolocation, aura, ozone hole, radioecology, cloning), business (dealer, depository, natural monopoly) or conversational (xerit, kompromat, nal, cheating, bad luck, strained).
We answered the question of what is obsoletewords and neologisms. Examples of them can be given a variety of, in this article were listed only some of them. In fact, both are a significant layer of vocabulary. There are even special dictionaries in which you can find other examples of obsolete words and neologisms.