The events that took place in Ukraine several years ago aroused interest not only in the political situation in this country, but also in the realities of local life, traditions and geographical names. In particular, many have become interested in what Maidan is. The history of this token, its meanings and etymology are discussed below.
Origin of the word
In the lexical structure of the Russian language there are both words of a native Slavic origin, and a large layer of borrowed units. In particular, many lexemes of foreign etymology have entered our language for a very long time and are no longer perceived as foreign. For example, such words as “watermelon”, “arba”, “pencil”, “apricot” are known to all of us from early childhood and are very familiar to the Russian hearing, despite the fact that all these tokens are, in fact, borrowings.
To understand what Maidan is, you can turn to the help of linguists. In the etymological dictionary of the Russian language, compiled by the German linguist Max Fasmer, it is noted that by origin the word maidan goes back to the Turkic languages, that is, to Kazakh, Tatar, Turkmen, Turkish, etc.
The lexeme "Maidan" became known to the Russian man many centuries ago, possibly, even during the Tatar-Mongol yoke. The Türks called the Maidan any spacious, flat area.
It is no secret that it was precisely the visitors who were often engaged in trade in Russia, who chose the central places of the city for the market and called these places their usual words. Merchants from the Near and Central Asia, arriving in Russian cities, laid out their goods in the squares where they were purchased, bought by local residents who heard someone else's speech. So, for example, the dialect word "spade" came to us, meaning apricot.
At the same time, Slavic merchants who went for food to distant countries adopted and brought foreign vocabulary to their homeland. The origin of the word "maidan" is undoubtedly associated with the history of trade relations between Russia and Asian countries.
The meaning of the word in Russian language of the XIX century
Having become a full member of our language, having settled down in a new environment, a foreign word rarely exactly retains its original meaning. To understand how the semantics of the lexeme changed in the Russian language, we can refer to the meaning of the word "maidan" by Dahl.
In the work of a famous folklorist, more than ten options for using the analyzed token are noted!
The Dahl dictionary details what Maidan is (the meaning of the word and its dialect usage). Two hundred years ago, in any region of our country, any square, any elevation, forest plant, tarry, hut in the forest, a place for city gatherings, a bazaar and part of the bazaar where cards and bones were played, a hut in which the villagers were called Maidan gathered to discuss important issues. And in the southern regions of the Russian Empire, "Maidan" was a synonym for "mound" - an ancient Scythian burial.
Thus, it is not so easy to determine exactly what the “Maidan” is. Indeed, over time, this word not only lost its original semantics, but also acquired a number of new meanings, some of which, however, completely disappeared by the end of the 20th century.
Interpretation of the word in modern Russian
Nowadays, the word "maidan" has almost lost its meaning. If several centuries ago this lexeme could be found almost everywhere on the territory of the Russian Empire, now it is found only in the south of our country and in Ukraine.
In the Kuban and along the Black Sea coast, Maidan is still called a bazaar or a market square. This is probably due to the fact that for centuries the Tatars and immigrants from Central Asia lived in these regions, and they kept the word in its original meaning. Let us recall how the word "maidan" is translated - "flat unoccupied area" - is not it, the best territory for trade?
What does "maidan" mean in Ukrainian
In the Ukrainian language, there are several words that in Russian mean the area: “square”, “parade ground”, “dvir”, “maidan”. There are certain differences in the semantics of these tokens.
So, the last token is most often used to denote a large village or city square. In other words, in the Ukrainian language, Maidan is precisely the place where trading is held, meetings are held, issues are resolved, etc. It seems that the origin of the word "Maidan" is quite consistent with this interpretation.
The remaining synonyms of the lexeme are used primarily as the term geometry or for the name of any flat territory. For example, Russian. "Sown area" - Ukrainian "Square zasivna", rus. "Square area" - Ukrainian "Square square."
How did the toponym “Independence Square” appear
The main square of Kiev in Russian is called Independence Square. But such a place in the city center began to be called relatively recently, namely after the collapse of the USSR and the formation of Ukraine as an independent state.
Until 1991, the main square of Kiev at different times bore the names of the Goat Swamp, Sovetskaya Square, Kalinin, Khreshchatitskaya and some other names. After the country gained independence, the authorities thought about giving the square some original name, which is why the word "maidan" was chosen, although the area in the center of Kiev had never worn such a designation.
What does "maidan" mean in Ukrainian
The coup d'etat, which took place not so long ago in the homeland of Taras Shevchenko, brought a new trend to the history of the word. From now on, to understand what the Maidan (meaning of the word and its history) is, it is not enough to turn to explanatory dictionaries. The language develops continuously, and lexicography cannot immediately respond to these changes, as a result of which new words are not marked in dictionaries for a long time.
Everyone who remembers 2014 understands what the "Maidan" in Ukraine is. For many locals, this word has become synonymous with rebellious spirit, revolution, courage and fearlessness. At the same time, for most Russians (and some Ukrainians), this token began to mean meaningless cruelty, stupidity, extremism, racism and the abandonment of their own history.
Which of these values to choose is up to you. But let's hope that in the new explanatory dictionaries the meaning of the word "Maidan" will be presented objectively.