“A man was born for a hostel,” the famous aphorism says. What kind of housing is called this word and what are its distinguishing features? Let's find out more about this.
The meaning of the word "hostel" in the XVIII-XIX centuries
In the old days, the term "hostel" was used in a slightly different sense than what happens today.
What is he like? To find out, just look at the meaning of the word "hostel" in the explanatory dictionary "Forgotten and difficult words of the XVIII-XIX centuries." In this respectable publication, the hostel is called "the ability of a person to behave in a civilized society." By the way, it is in this meaning that this term appears in the novel of Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin "Eugene Onegin."
The modern lexical meaning of the word "hostel"
In the same dictionary of forgotten and difficult words of past centuries, another interpretation of the term in question is mentioned. So in ancient times this noun was often called everyday life, everyday life. It is noteworthy that this interpretation turned out to be more “tenacious” and with minor adjustments remained in the 20th century.
So, with the advent of Soviet power in its Constitution, the term "hostel" has acquired the meaning of "norms of public life", as well as "everyday life."
Although today this interpretation of the word continues to be relevant, the majority of the Russian-speaking population understand by this name something else. Almost every adult and child knows that a hostel is a place for temporary cohabitation of students, workers, business travelers, and other persons who do not have their own permanent housing.
It is noteworthy that in those same XVIII-XIX centuries, such places of temporary residence at educational institutions were called “bursa”.
Origin of this noun
This name is native Russian and has no analogues in other Slavic languages. So in Ukrainian for the designation of this type of temporary housing, the word "gurtozhitok" is used, in Belarusian - "international", in Polish - schronisko, and in Czech - ubytovna.
The noun "hostel" is formed from a combination of two words: "common" and "live." By the way, precisely for this reason, when it is parsed into components of morphemes, two roots are singled out at once: “common” and “» ”, interconnected by the“ e ”interfix.
Synonyms
Having considered the meaning of the word "hostel" and its origin, it is worth paying attention to the selection of synonyms for it.
The most common analogue for this term is the single-root noun "hostel" for it. In most cases, this synonym has a somewhat familiar shade and, as a rule, is not used in official documentation.
The terms “housing” or “housing” can also be used as an analogue of the word “hostel” - however, they cannot always fully replace it.
Depending on which institution a particular hostel belongs to, the words “barracks” (at a school or other military facility) or “skit” (at a church, monastery) are used as analogues for this noun.
If a particular hostel is notorious, then, as synonyms for it, it is permissible to use such nouns as “den” or “nativity scene”.
If the word in question is used in the meaning of everyday life, synonyms can be selected for it: "everyday life" or "everyday life".
Dormitory Features
Having studied the meaning of the noun "hostel", it is worthwhile to study in more detail the features of this type of housing, as well as its types, norms laid down by current legislation.
The main feature of most of these dwellings is that several people live in the same room at once. Moreover, resettlement is most often carried out without taking into account their friendly or family ties (except for family hostels). Therefore, each inhabitant of the hostel has at his disposal only one bed and the ability to share a bathroom, kitchen, laundry and other common "amenities".
Regardless of the location system of the rooms in a particular building, on each floor or block there is a common bathroom, bathroom and kitchen. In some cases, a games room, gym, laundry, library.
As a rule, living in a hostel does not yet give the right to housing and its privatization. However, this applies only to the legislation of the Russian Federation. Indeed, according to Ukrainian laws, it is possible to privatize a dorm room, although it is very problematic to do this. These bans on the territory of the Russian Federation are related to the fact that each of these buildings belongs to a separate department (university, factory, military unit, etc.) and is not communal property. In this regard, their inhabitants in practice are practically powerless and can be expelled from the occupied area at any time. Because of this sad truth of life, most residents of the hostels perceive them as a temporary refuge and absolutely do not care about their well-being. As a result, the average hostel (photo below) looks very pitiable.
Although there are happy exceptions to this sad rule.
Area norms in hostels of Russia and Ukraine
On the territory of each state where there is such a thing as a "hostel", certain rules governing residence in them apply.
So, according to the legislation of the Russian Federation, at least 4.5 m2 of area should be allocated to each dormitory inhabitant.
But according to Ukrainian laws, this area is slightly larger - from 6 m 2 per inhabitant of the room, as well as from 5 m 2 for the city of Kiev.
Types of hostels
There are several types of this type of housing. It all depends on the organization to which it belongs, and on which residents it is designed for:
- A student dormitory is one of the most ancient types of this dwelling, which originates from the Middle Ages. As a rule, such dormitories consist of rooms for 2-4 people (sometimes more), equipped with beds and a desk. Such hostels are provided to nonresident full-time and part-time students during their studies. After graduation or expulsion, the student is automatically discharged from the hostel and has no right to this housing, even in theory.
- A small-family dormitory is a room that is assigned to an individual family or a specific resident. Outsiders are not hooked into it, as is the case in workers and student dormitories. Moreover, such a room is still deprived of certain amenities and is not subject to privatization.
- Work hostel is a specialized home for nonresident personnel of a particular enterprise. Among all types - this is the least comfortable. As a rule, from four to twenty workers live in one room of such a hostel. At the same time, the level of sanitation in such places can sometimes be similar to a hotel (two stars), although this is more an exception than a rule.
By the type of arrangement of the rooms, the dormitories are divided into block and corridor ones.
Dormitories are also female, male and cohabitation.
The difference between a hostel and a communal apartment
If a hostel differs from an ordinary apartment or a private house in that strangers live in it with whom they have to share the kitchen, bathroom and corridor, then they have much less differences with communal apartments. But they are.
First of all, in a hostel an individual person owns either one sleeping place or a room. In a communal apartment, several rooms can be assigned to a person or an entire family.
One of the main and most important differences is the ability of tenants in communal apartments to privately acquire occupied living space - to privatize it. What is impossible to do with a room in a hostel, according to the legislation of the Russian Federation (in Ukraine it is possible).
Although the bathroom and kitchen in communal apartments are also divided among themselves by several residents at once, as a rule, the electricity meters in each "apartment" are their own. Also, in communal apartments, the burners on the stove, kitchen utensils and pantries are usually divided among themselves. While in dormitories rarely set separate counters for each room. As for shared kitchens, usually about ten rooms are assigned to one kitchen, and in such a situation it is not possible to separate the burners and other accessories.