Grammar is perhaps one of the first sciences of language, its origins lie in the writings of ancient Indian scholars and philologists. This term was used in ancient Greece in the meaning of a discipline studying the rules of writing and reading. It is from these two traditions that both European and Russian grammar originates.
Grammar - section of linguistics
The historical grammar of the Russian language is a subsection of general grammar, the subject of study of which is text and word formation, i.e. the formal side of the language. As the name implies, this is a section of linguistics responsible for the correct use of language in speech and writing. Hence, such derivative words as "literate" and "letter", which are semantically associated with the letter, the correct word.
Grammar establishes the connection between words and segments of speech, and also regulates the formation of words and language structures. She studies the formal side of the language - its grammatical structure. Moreover, the object of her research varies from a morpheme (the smallest significant unit of a language) to a text (the largest independent part of the language system).
Typically, the grammar includes two sections of linguistics: this is morphology and syntax. The first studies the word in its grammatical meaning, the second - the construction of words. In addition, spelling, vocabulary, phonetics, graphics, spelling of the Russian language are closely related to grammar, including historical.
The unity of grammar and lexical
Do not also forget about the inextricable connection of grammar and vocabulary, the form and content of the statement. Sometimes the lexical meaning of a word determines its grammatical features, sometimes - vice versa.
For historical grammar, the relationship between vocabulary and grammar will be important. For example, phraseological units are formed through the process of lexicalization: the grammatical form is fixed in the language as an unchangeable and separately significant lexical unit. Grammarization, on the contrary, affirms a word as a grammatical indicator, translating it into the category of affixes and service words.
Examples of polysemous words in the Russian language are also a consequence of the interaction of historical grammar and vocabulary. Not always new words in a language are formed through an increment of units: with the development of society, the meaning of a word may become obsolete and acquire a new or additional meaning.
With the course of history, the language transforms, streamlining the structure of its elements - the system becomes clearer and simpler. However, in order to understand this, it is necessary to have an idea of the historical processes that occurred and are happening in the language.
The origins of historical grammar
The historical grammar of the Russian language, like all Russian grammar in general, originates in the writings of Mikhail Vasilievich Lomonosov, who dealt with the relationship between the Russian language and other Slavic and European languages. The works of the scientist established grammar as a scientific discipline. Its heyday falls on the XIX century and is associated with such names as Alexander Khristoforovich Vostokov, Izmail Ivanovich Sreznevsky and Fedor Ivanovich Buslaev.
The “historical grammar of the Russian language” by Valery Vasilievich Ivanov is already a modern stage in the development of linguistic science. His book was published in the 80s of the last century and is still considered an authoritative manual for students of philological faculties.
Subject of study
Nowadays, historical grammar is one of the sections of linguistics that describes the laws of historical changes in the structure of the language both at the level of sounds and words, and at the level of complex syntactic constructions. Moreover, the interest of science is both written and colloquial (dialectic) speech. The latter has even more contributed to the construction of the language system.
The aforementioned V.V. Ivanov focuses on the fact that historical grammar reflects the dynamic process of transformation of the language system in time. A language develops according to its laws and internal rules of its individual sections (phonetics, syntax, morphology, and others).
Grammar of the Russian language F.I. Buslaev
Since historical grammar is a discipline studied in higher education, it is worth mentioning the main works and textbooks on this topic.
The “historical grammar of the Russian language” by Fedor Ivanovich Buslaev was a significant contribution to the work on this subject. By and large, he is a pioneer in the method of comparative linguistics. The innovation of the approach lies in the fact that the author explains the transformations taking place in the modern language based on related languages. It is from the confluence of Old Russian, Old Slavic and other Slavic languages that the modern literary equivalent was formed.
The author does not just build patterns in the grammatical structure of the language, but seeks out their causes in the origin of words. For Buslaev, the history of language serves as an aid in an attempt to comprehend those phenomena that are recognized by modern linguistics as exceptions.
Ivanov. Historical grammar of the Russian language
Buslaev’s work is concluded in two parts: the first is devoted to sounds and words, that is, morphology, the second to syntax. Thus, the number of parts of the book corresponds to the number of sections of the grammar.
The manual of the Soviet linguist V.V. Ivanov, intended for philological students, has a different structure. The author separately considers the issue of the origin of the Russian language and the features of its interaction with related Slavic languages. The textbook traces the history of the development of language elements of various sizes - from sounds to syntactic constructions. Separately, the history of the origin and development of each part of speech is given.
Historical grammar of the Russian language for students
The Russian language course of the school does not provide hours for studying historical grammar: the program is aimed at mastering the modern literary language, and not at deepening into its history. However, the Russian language with this approach turns into a boring subject, the main purpose of which is cramming the rules and various paradigms. How much easier and more understandable will be the language, if you open its past! It must be understood that language is not a frozen block, but a constantly changing system: like a living organism, it lives and develops.
There are several ways to incorporate historical grammar into school Russian. Firstly, this is the holding of separate lessons on the topic. Secondly, the principle of historicism may accompany the course of an ordinary lesson as additional material to the program. Examples of polysemantic words in the Russian language, phonetics, and alternating vowels - these and many other topics will become much clearer if they are explained using conclusions and observations of historical grammar.
Do not forget also that the course of literature is not complete without the help of the history of the language, especially when getting acquainted with the monuments of ancient Russian writing. For example, “The Word about Igor’s Regiment” not only abounds with outdated and incomprehensible words in the text, but the name itself requires a separate historical commentary.
Merit of historical grammar
Knowledge of the facts of historical grammar allows a more meaningful approach to the study of language. Moreover, it becomes clearer even when reading the schemes and paradigms of its representing. To write and speak correctly, it is not necessary to memorize a lot of rules and exceptions - the historical grammar of the Russian language will help to understand the logical processes occurring in it.