The constant replenishment of the vocabulary of the Russian language makes native speech more imaginative and rich. The well-known words are not far behind the new ones - they can gradually change their meaning, giving them new shades of meanings. Our speech is a living organism that carefully cuts off dying and inactive particles from itself, growing in new, fresh and necessary words. And to understand the meaning of new words, you need an etymological dictionary. Its functions, structure and meaning are described below.
Definition
What is an etymological dictionary? First of all, the halls of ancient libraries with web-covered tomes come to mind. But at present, thanks to the Internet, the etymological dictionary of the Russian language is available to the widest circles of the population. You can use it at any time.
The answer to the question of what is an etymological dictionary is contained in the definition. Such dictionaries define the origin and history of various words. Many words are of non-Slavic origin, their initial meaning is sometimes quite far from the generally accepted. Even the word “etymology” is of foreign origin. This term is borrowed from the Greek language and consists of two parts: translated etymos means “truth”, logos means “word”. The combination of these two concepts means "the truth about words." Already one designation gives an idea of ​​what etymology does and what is an etymological dictionary. In general terms, such a dictionary is a list of words of foreign or Russian origin, each of which has its own history and interpretation.
History of etymology
Attempts to explain the meaning of words appeared long before the spread of writing, fragments of the works of the Sumerian, ancient Egyptian, Akkadian sages, in which they explained the meaning of the words of their native language, reached us. And already in those distant times, there were words that were older than the most ancient civilizations, the origin of which, most likely, will remain unexplained.
Over the course of centuries, languages ​​and countries became confused, absorbed and disappeared, reviving new words to life. But there were always people gathering surviving particles of speech and trying to interpret them. The first etymological dictionary included several words and stable phrases. Later, the vocabulary expanded, and each individual part of the speech was selected its own interpretation.
Russian language words
The first official etymological dictionary of the Russian language was published in 1835. But long before that, attempts were made to explain the meaning and origin of words. So, Leo Uspensky in his wonderful book “The Word on Words” quotes Feofaniy Prokopovich that compiling a dictionary - “Making a lexicon” is a difficult and painstaking task. Even just collecting all the words of the literary language, separating common words from special terms, dialects, and sayings is an overwhelming work. Although many enthusiasts put many years of their life in order to collect the words of their native language into one etymological dictionary.
First dictionaries
History has preserved the names of the first enthusiasts, collectors of the Russian word. They were F. S. Shimkevich, K. F. Reiff, M. M. Izyumov, N. V. Goryaev, A. N. Chudino and others. The first etymological dictionary of the Russian language in its modern form was published at the beginning of the 20th century. Its compilers was a group of linguistic scientists led by Professor A.G. Preobrazhensky. Under the name “Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language”, it was reprinted several times, with changes and additions. The last known publication dates back to 1954.
The most cited etymological dictionary compiled by M. Fasmer. The book was first published in 1953. Despite numerous linguistic works published later by Russian linguists, the Fasmer etymological dictionary of the Russian language is considered the most authoritative publication of this kind.
How words are learned
The language of every nation on earth is like a river - it is constantly changing and acquiring new forms. Each of us noticed how gradually new, borrowed or modified words and whole phrases enter the spoken language. At the same time, obsolete and rarely used concepts go away - they are “washed out” of the language. Forms of composing words are also transformed - sometimes sentences become easier, sometimes they are weighted by additional constructions that make speech figurative and expressive.
Word interpretation
Explaining words is not an easy task. The study of a single word involves not only a list of its interpretations in the past and present, but also searches for the roots of words that are similar in sound or spelling, explores the possible ways of transferring individual terms from one language to another. The historical and etymological dictionary will tell about historical transformations taking place with various words of the Russian language. It focuses on how the different meanings of a given word change over time. There is also a short etymological dictionary - it usually indicates a brief description of the word and its probable origin.
A few examples
What is an etymological dictionary, consider a few examples. Everyone knows the word "entrant". The etymological dictionary of the Russian language explains that this linguistic unit has German roots. But in the German language the word came from Latin. In the language of the ancient Romans meant "leaving." Almost the same meaning was given to the word in German. But modern Russian speech gives the "entrant" a completely different meaning. Today they will call that person who comes to a higher educational institution. The etymological dictionary also indicates the derivatives of the given word - entrant, entrant. Studies show that the fewer adjectives and cognate words, the later this linguistic unit entered the Russian language. The birth of the Russian "entrant" occurred no earlier than the beginning of the 19th century.
Maybe those words that we used to consider Russian have a less interesting biography? Here, for example, is the familiar and familiar word “heel”. It is not necessary to explain it; it is available in all Slavic languages; they are also found in Old Russian texts. But scientists are still investigating the history of this word, and there is still no unequivocal opinion on the origin of the “heel”. Some derive it from the Slavic root “bow”, which means “bend, elbow”. Other scholars insist on the Turkic version - in the languages ​​of the Tatars and Mongols, “kaab” meant “heel”. The etymological dictionary impartially gives both versions of the origin of the “heel” on its pages, leaving the choice to its readers.
Consider another familiar word - "sneak." So we call headphones and scammers. Currently, “sneak” is a well-known curse, but once upon a time, a sneak-man lived in respect and honor. It turns out that in Russia they called public prosecutors - at present, prosecutors occupy such a position. The word has Old Norse roots. Interestingly, in other Slavic languages ​​(except Russian and Ukrainian) it is not used.
Summary
The significance of the etymological dictionary is difficult to overestimate. If the interpretation of individual words is known, it is easier to understand all the nuances of its meaning. An etymological dictionary will make its reader more literate, because often the spelling in the Russian language is often checked by the selection of cognate words.
In addition, the Russian language is very sensitive to various borrowings. The words of German, English, French are found in it in a slightly modified form, the correctness of which can be checked with the same dictionary. There is no need to explain what the etymological dictionary means to students of humanitarian universities, journalists, translators, and literature teachers. To all those whose work is related to the word. For them, an etymological dictionary is a necessary tool in their work.