The Russian language has an ever-changing vocabulary: some previously often used vocabulary is almost never used, and the other, on the contrary, is increasingly used by us. Examples of obsolete words and neologisms are numerous, which indicates the development of the language.
Such phenomena are closely associated with a change in social life: a new word arises with the advent of a new concept, and if people no longer refer to a certain object or phenomenon, then the term used to designate it is not used. In this article we will consider obsolete words and neologisms, examples of their use, types and features.
Outdated words: definition
Obsolete words are those that are either very rarely used or not used at all in a given time period (for example, right hand, child, Red Armyman, mouth, people's commissar).
The obsolescence of words is a process, so different concepts can be at different stages. Still not out of active use, but used less often than before, the words are called "obsolete vocabulary."
Neologisms and archaisms are used for different purposes. The latter are used, for example, to name phenomena and objects, that is, they perform a nominative function (for example, in scientific and historical works). In the works of fiction devoted to the historical topic, such vocabulary plays a nominative-stylistic role - it serves not only to indicate a specific reality, but also creates a certain flavor of this era.
In a literary text, obsolete words can be used to indicate when an action occurs. Archaisms (and neologisms) can also serve a stylistic purpose itself. Outdated words add solemnity to the text as expressive means.
Neologisms: definition
We will answer the question of what neologisms are, we will also try to give examples. These are new words that have not yet become everyday and familiar. Their composition is constantly changing, some of the neologisms take root in the Russian language, while others do not. So, the word "satellite" in the middle of the 20th century was a neologism. Every year, the media use tens of thousands of new terms and concepts, but not all of them are included in everyday use. Some are used only once in oral speech or in some text, while others are included in the linguistic composition and, when used repeatedly, lose their novelty. Certain new terms, having not yet managed to enter the main lexical fund, immediately go out of use and become outdated (such a fate befell, for example, the vocabulary of the post-revolutionary years: comprehensive education, female delegate, business man, and cherenka).
Ways to create new words
Outdated words and neologisms of the Russian language are a very interesting phenomenon. It is especially curious to learn how new concepts appear. They arise in several ways:
- the formation of lexical neologism (a new term) from morphemes and words already existing in the language according to existing models: drywall, disk drive, fiber optic;
- borrowing some foreign language word with the subsequent formation of new words from it according to the existing word-formation models in the language: scanner, scan, scan;
- the formation of a new lexical meaning of a term already existing in the language (in this meaning words are called semantic neologisms), which occurs, among other things, by means of tracing the meanings of words of another language: the mouse is both a device for entering information into a computer and an animal; Winchester is both a device for storing information in a computer and a gun;
- the formation of some stable phrases with a new meaning (including tracing): motherboard, hard drive.
Archaisms and historicisms
Among obsolete vocabulary archaisms and historicisms are distinguished. Outdated words and neologisms, examples of which are indicated in this article, have a different fate.
It is determined by their use in speech, and not by "age": those who call necessary, vital concepts and terms do not age for centuries, while others quickly become archaized, we stop using them, because the objects themselves, indicated by these words, disappear. For example, the education system in our country has changed, and therefore terms such as a classroom lady, an institution of noble girls, an institute, a realist (meaning "student of a real school") have left the speech.
The concept of "historicism"
Serving the names of the concepts that have already disappeared, objects and phenomena, the words are called historicisms. All of the above terms apply to them. These words occupy a special position in our language, since they are the only designations of obsolete objects. Historism, therefore, does not and cannot have any synonyms. In fiction, historical literature about the past of the people, they are inevitably used, because thanks to them, the flavor of a particular era is recreated. These words add historical authenticity to the description of the past.
Thus, historicisms are words that we have ceased to use due to the fact that the phenomena and objects designated by them have disappeared: caftan, bursa, posadnik. They are used mainly in various texts describing the past (both artistic and scientific).
The concept of "archaism"
Archaisms are words that have passed into a passive reserve because new names have arisen for the phenomena, objects and concepts that exist today. Their various types are distinguished, depending on which particular aspect of a particular word is outdated:
- lexical, if the word itself is outdated and its sound-letter complex is no longer used, and the meaning is now indicated by a new unit of vocabulary;
- semantic - in the case when the word in the modern language exists, but has lost some meaning or several of them ("deprive the stomach");
- phonetic - if the sound image of a term has changed, reflected in its spelling ("eighteen years");
- word-building - when the word-building structure of this word ("poison caplets") is outdated;
- grammatical - if certain grammatical forms have become obsolete.
Archaisms are not fundamentally different from historicisms. If the latter are the names of some obsolete objects, the former are the obsolete names of ordinary concepts and phenomena that we encounter in everyday life.
Types of Archaisms
Among archaisms, specific groups of words can be distinguished. Some of them differ from their commonly used synonyms by specific features in sound, inconsistent sound combinations (young - young, gold - gold, city - city, coast - breg, raven - vran; the second words in these pairs sound archaic). These obsolete words are called phonetic archaisms. These include terms such as clob (club in modern vocabulary), number (number), store (curtain), hospital (hospital) and other obsolete words and phrases in Russian that can be found among writers and poets of the 19th century. Often they differ from their "rivals" in just one sound, less often in a few of them, or now stressed outdated.
As you can see from the examples, obsolete vocabulary differs in its degree of archaism: some words are still used in speech, for example by poets, and others are known to us only from works of literature of the last century. There are those that are completely forgotten today.
A very interesting phenomenon is the archaization of a certain meaning of a word.
Its result is the appearance of semantic, or semantic, archaisms, that is, such words that are used in an outdated, unusual for us meaning. Their knowledge helps to correctly understand the language of classical literature.
How do neologisms appear
We have already answered the question of what neologisms are, examples of them were given by us above. Now let's find out how they arise in Russian. What appears faster: archaisms and neologisms? Let's figure it out.
The appearance rate is different for such layers of vocabulary as obsolete words and neologisms, examples of which are proposed in this article. The process of replenishing the language with a new lexical composition is much more intensive and faster. In recent years, in about 15-20 years, great historical changes have occurred in our country, which directly affected the state of Russian vocabulary. The neologisms that appeared at this time include such formations that did not exist before, not only in the literary language, but also in any other areas of its use (territorial and social dialects, functional styles). Only with the restructuring did the vocabulary include such concepts as agrobank (that is, a land bank), corporatization (transformation into a joint-stock company of a state enterprise by issuing and selling various shares), targeted (addressed to a specific group of people), anti-market (that is, the opponent of the transition countries to a market economy), as well as hyperinflation (inflation, rapidly developing and threatening economic collapse) and some others.
Types of Neologisms
As you have already noticed, neologisms are opposed to obsolete words. The new units of vocabulary in their design are either separate words (renting, anti-Stalinism, an audio cassette, an ATM, bandit formation), or compound names (UFO - a flying saucer, a poverty line - a certain level of well-being of the population, ensuring a minimum consumption of basic material goods).
Similar neologisms are considered lexical. It may be noted here that phraseological units, which are recent stable combinations of words, for example: turn on the printing press (that is, start additional printing of paper money, which is not provided by the production of goods), hang noodles on your ears (meaning "mislead someone" ) and etc.
Lexico-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 by their purpose can be divided into four main groups.
The first of them includes the names of concepts and realities that previously did not exist in the life of the people: revivalists - followers of the pseudo-patriotic movements of Russia, striving for its revival, grant - certain subsidies, which are a form of additional financial support for scientific research, etc.
The second group of neologisms is created to indicate phenomena that already take place in public life, but for some reason, for example, ideological, that have not received their designation: a returnee - voluntarily returning from emigration to his homeland, extra-judicial - who is outside the scope of legal proceedings, Leninist, command-bureaucratic and etc.
The third group consists of realities that do not exist in real life, but are possible in fantasies, predicted with the further development of technology and science: spaceship, nuclear winter, cyborg.
The last, fourth group includes lexical units that duplicate words with a specific lexical meaning. This includes ideographic (full) synonyms that are identical in stylistic coloring and meaning: thoughtful - balanced, statesman - sovereign, historical - fateful, servile - loyal.
Interstyle and neologisms peculiar to a certain style of speech
Neologisms in the sphere of use are mainly interstitial, that is, used in all styles of speech (inter-girl, image, case, yogurt, beneficiary, liberal-democratic, drug business, interbank). However, a certain part of them is peculiar to a specific style: journalistic (dissent, kickback, drug lord, integrator, balance), scientific (biolocator, aura, ozone hole, radioecology, clone), business (dealer, depository, natural monopoly) or conversational (Xeri, dirt, cash, cheating, bad luck, straining).
We answered the question of what obsolete words and neologisms are. Examples of them can be given very different, in this article only a few of them were indicated. In fact, both of them are a significant layer of vocabulary. There are even special dictionaries in which you can find other examples of obsolete words and neologisms.