How much speech means to us ... Our language is not a physical organ, but nevertheless an inanimate part of our body, without which it would be very difficult for us to live, almost like without a soul. With the help of words we express our feelings and teach children, communicate with neighbors and travel the world. We and language are inseparable things.
Background
Not only many people, but many generations participated in the formation of the language, making changes and correcting speech according to the situation and the events around them. One can safely say that everyone has, without exception, a story. The influence of those peoples that were close to the Russian-speaking population in his speech is enormous. The society lived, actively cooperating. Contributed to this trade and art, science and war. All that humanity has lived for hundreds of thousands of years is reflected in our language. The layers of information transmitted to us by ancestors through language lie in commonplace words familiar from childhood.
Question
One of them is a āmattressā. Or a "mattress"? How to spell this word? Just a couple of decades ago, no one would have doubts, the school had strict rules for writing this word. Now everything is easier. Or harder?
You wonāt say so right away. The abolition of strict rules, in theory, should make the language easier, but there it was. Not everyone knows how to spell a banal, at first glance, word. There are more and more doubters of their own knowledge. So how is it right: āmattressā or āmattressā?
Answer
The answer is banal to indecent. Right and so and so. Write as you want. So interpret the grammar of the new rules of the Russian language. Agree, a somewhat vague statement for us. We are used to school, that every word has a clear spelling and there should not be any improvisations.
It was such a nuance that created so many difficulties for foreigners trying to learn our language. Not the ratio of pronunciation and spelling introduces many into a stupor. Vocabulary words that need to be learned in hundreds fill the brain with information in which it is difficult for a foreigner not to get confused.
History
But back to the question posed earlier: how is it spelled - āmattressā or āmattressā? What letter should I put at the end of the word for soft bedding? Maybe this is affected by the context? Why in our written speech it became possible to spell a word in two versions, we will answer later, but now a small excursion into the history of the word that appeared in our speech relatively recently (from a historical point of view).
Peter I
Paradoxically, it could not have done without the most famous Russian innovator. Peter I, who changed the country, forced to shave his beards, demanded that the decoration of the bedrooms be transformed. So, together with the European fashion, the design of the premises entered our life. Before that, it was customary in Russia to sleep in the sun (a wooden bench). No feather mattresses or cotton mattresses were used until the time of Peter the Great. Everything was simple and concise. In fairness, it must be said that even after Peter's innovations, this bed attribute did not go into every home. Simple peasants continued to spend the night on benches and furnaces until the 20th century. This subject has become obligatory for people from the upper class. Most often it was filled with swan fluff, and it was very expensive. A mattress or mattress, in this context is not so significant, was considered a compulsory item included in the dowry set of any wealthy bride.
Dutch period
It is easy to guess that Peter borrowed this word, like the subject itself from the Dutch, more precisely, from the Netherlands, where he studied shipbuilding. He lived there enough to appreciate the charm of soft litter containing bast (linden bark), hair or wool. They could also contain straw or hay in their bowels. In general, it was something that was put on a bed for sleeping. Another term that was actively used in relation to this subject was the word āmattressā. In Russian, he had one more meaning, which had nothing to do with sleep and comfort. So designated one of the types of firearms. It is thought that for this reason the word did not fasten to bedding, giving way to a word of foreign origin.
In the language of the people of the Netherlands, the word is written as matras. It is from this word that our āmattressā came out. This type of borrowing is called transliteration, when a word is introduced into the language in the form of a term rewritten in Russian letters. That is, due to the fact that at the end of the Dutch (Dutch) word there is the letter ācā, it is also in our word āmattressā.
German period
From the foregoing, we can conclude that it is correct to write a mattress. Or is the mattress appropriate too? After all, it was with ācā at the end that Dal introduced this word into his dictionary. Why? The answer is all the same in history. And to be completely accurate, there are a huge number of Germans who came to our country after Peter I ācut throughā the window to Europe. Naturally, a tremendous influence was exerted on the language, and an adjustment was introduced earlier. The fact is that German and Dutch languages āāhave one base, namely they are the languages āāof the West German group, the South German subgroup. The difference, in principle, is not significant, most often due to the dialect. It is said a little crudely, more precisely, too extensively, but the principle is true. The word "mattress" is proof of this. Or a "mattress" to anyone as you like. In German, it writes as Matratze. It is clearly seen that the difference is solely in the ending. In the German version, tze is nothing but ācā in Russian. In this case, linguists used a slightly different type of translation, namely transcriptional. Or, as it is also called, phonetic. That is, the Germans, pronouncing the Dutch word āmattressā in their own way, put the letter ācā at the end, not ācā.
This inconsistency and misled those who at one time compiled dictionaries and systematized information about the Russian language. So in different dictionaries, both this and the other form of writing this word appeared. Therefore, it makes no difference what you cover with sheets at home - a mattress or a mattress. Spelling allows you to use both forms of speech. All for our convenience.