Old Russian words in the modern language are quite common, but sometimes they seem strange and incomprehensible to us. The fragments of ancient dialects spread throughout the territory of distant Kievan Rus, they can denote the same words and concepts as thousands of years ago, can slightly change their meaning, and can be reborn, adopting new, modern interpretations.
Old Russian or Old Slavic?
You can start your journey into the ancient world with commonly used words that are still found in modern speech. Mom, motherland, uncle, land, wolf, work, regiment, forest, oak - Old Russian words. But with the same success they can be called Old Belorussian, and Old Ukrainian. Until now, they are found in these languages ​​in almost the same form as thousands of years ago. Old Russian words and their meanings can be found in many monuments of Slavic literature. For example, the textbook “The Word about Igor's Regiment” is a real treasury for collectors of various ancient words.
Probably, Russian and pan-Slavic words should be separated, but there is no way to do this in this article. We can only observe the development of the ancient word - from its original meaning to the modern one. And an excellent visual aid for studying such a development can be the old Russian word “fishing”.
Word history
The "Initial Chronicle" tells of how Prince Vsevolod in 1071 on the lands of the city of Vyshgorod "did animal fishing." This word was also known in the days of Monomakh. In his “Instruction”, Prince Vladimir says that he himself “kept a hunting party”, that is, he kept in order stables, dog packs, hand-held falcons and hawks. The term "fishing" was already a commonly used word and meant hunting, catching the beast.
Later, already in 13-14 centuries, the word "fishing" began to appear in testamentary documents. The legal lists mention “fishing”, “beaver fishing”. Here, the word "fishing" is used as a reserve, a reserve - private land with great opportunities for hunting and fishing. But in both the old and the new meaning, “fishing” means hunting by catching an animal or fish. The root of the word remains the same.
Modern fishing
In modern speech, the word "fishing" is also often found. Only it, like many other Old Russian words, is used in a truncated, different meaning - we can say “herring fishing” or “autumn cod fishing”. But we’ll never say “fishing for wolves” or “fishing for beavers”. For this, in modern Russian there is a convenient and understandable word "hunting". But in the composition of the complex words “fishing” is found everywhere.
Children and grandchildren
Recall the words "mousetrap", "hunters", "trap" and others. After all, all these are children and grandchildren of the ancient word "fishing". Some “children” of “fishing” did not survive the time and now they are found only in ancient chronicles. For example, the word “catch” arose much later than “fishing,” but it did not take root in the Russian language. Lovitva was known in the 15-17th centuries and was widely used in the meaning of “hunting”. But already at the time of Pushkin this concept was not used.
For contemporaries of the great poet, “fishing” and “fishing” are obsolete, inanimate words. Old Russian "catchings" do not exist in modern speech, but having seen them in an old book, one can understand the meaning of this word without much difficulty.
"Nadolba" and "goalkeeper"
Old Russian words with translation can be found in many explanatory dictionaries. But what if the old word is used in a new, modern meaning? Old Russian words and their meanings, as you can see, change over time. A vivid example can be quite well-known Old Russian literary words "nadolba" and "goalkeeper".
The word "nadolba" was known in all-Russian military terminology many thousands of years ago. These were called thick-knit thick branches and logs - an impenetrable obstacle for infantry and cavalry in ancient, distant times. The appearance of guns and guns made the construction and the words themselves unnecessary. Old Russian warriors invented new effective methods for defense and attack, and had to be scrapped.
A thousand years later, at the very beginning of the Great Patriotic War, gouges returned from the past. Now they were built from reinforcing blocks, logs, construction debris. Such designs were designed to stop the advance of fascist tanks and thwart the attack of enemy troops. After the war, the needles were dismantled, but the word remained. Now it is found in many literary military works, in eyewitnesses, in stories and novels about the war.
Returned to the modern language and the word "goalkeeper". True, his story is far from being as heroic as the previous word. The goalkeepers used to be called modest monk gatekeepers who opened the gates of monasteries and temples in the morning and closed them with the sunset, fearing dashing people. Goalkeepers have virtually disappeared from our lives, but up to a point. The development of collective sports, the successes of our teams in hockey and football competitions have led to the emergence of modern “goalkeepers” - athletes who guard the gates of their own team from opponent attacks. Moreover, the word not only spread widely, but also put on both blades of the foreign “goalkeeper”.
The old "plane"
Do you think, during the time of Peter the Great, was the word “airplane” known? And not as a fabulous flying object (carpet-plane), but a very real engineering design? It turns out that self-propelled ferries were called airplanes in those days, allowing large convoys with weapons and food to be transported to the other side of the river. Later, the word passed into highly specialized jargon and began to be used in weaving.
A similar story happened with the word "bicycle." It turns out that it was used with might and main in medieval Russia - in Muscovy. So then called runner-walkers. The surname of Bicycles may be translated as “Bystronogov” and not “owned by a bicycle”. Therefore, both the bicycle and the plane can also be attributed, with great justification, to ancient, Old Russian words. Unlike catch, these terms survived several of their meanings, became relevant in modern speech, however, completely changing their interpretations.
Shards of the past
Oddly enough, many modern dialects have become remarkable monuments of the ancient usage of the word. Old Russian words, examples of which you can no longer find in their initial form, feel great in a fixed, unchanging form. For example, everyone knows such words as “evil”, “luck”. Derivatives of these concepts are also not difficult to understand - “in spite”, “at random”. They have long become understandable and simple parts of speech.
Other words are known, compiled by a similar principle. For example, "hastily." "Obliquely", "on one side." But “leap”, “becken” or “haste” are obsolete words. Old Russian, their initial meanings are the headache of lexicographers and linguists.
Summary
As you can see, Old Russian words and their meanings leave a wide field for research. Many of them were able to understand. And now, meeting in the old books the words “command”, “Vedenets” or “fret”, we can safely search their meanings in dictionaries. But many of them are still waiting for their researchers. Only painstaking work with ancient words will help explain their meanings and enrich the modern Russian language.