Archaisms, historisms, neologisms: definition, examples of use in Russian

In the Russian language, active and passive vocabulary is singled out. The first consists of words that each of us uses almost every day, the second group includes words rarely used in speech. These include archaisms, historicisms, neologisms. Their study is in the section "Vocabulary and Lexicology."

Active and passive vocabulary

The vocabulary of the Russian language has millions of words. Linguists divide all the words of the Russian language into two large groups - active vocabulary and passive.

Passive vocabulary includes words that are familiar to a person or recognizable to him, but are rarely used. Here distinguish archaisms, historicisms, neologisms.

To the active vocabulary are words that we use quite often. These include alliances and pronouns, words by which we designate the world around us. This is the name of furniture, clothes, products, words for referring to kinship ties, professions, names of emotions and many others.

The active and passive vocabulary of each person is individual and depends on age, place of residence, professional activity. Throughout our entire life, its volume changes in one direction or another, depending on a number of factors.

Passive vocabulary

The passive vocabulary is obsolete and new words.

Among the obsolete words are two main groups: archaisms and historicisms. About them we will talk first of all, we will consider the definition, the function performed by archaisms and historicisms, examples of the most frequently encountered words.

New words make up much of the passive stock of language and are called neologisms. Next, we will discuss their concept and the causes of occurrence in speech.

Archaisms

To begin with, we will analyze obsolete words - archaisms and historicisms. Archaisms are obsolete words that are currently out of use. These are old names of modern objects or names. Often, other words come to replace archaisms, which refer to the same concepts and objects as the obsolete word. Each of them has a modern analogue, in other words, a word-synonym.

Depending on the mode of formation, archaisms are:

1. Lexical, which were replaced by words that have different roots. These words are difficult to understand without knowing their translation or the original meaning. This includes such words as lips - lips, finger - finger, interpreter - interpreter.
2. Lexical and word-building. In this situation, archaism and its modern version have one root, but differ in word-formation morphemes. For example, a friend is an acquaintance, a fisher is a fisherman.
3. Lexico-phonetic - differ from the modern version of phonetic design. For example, a poet is a poet, history is a story, a number is a number.
4. Lexical and semantic. These include archaisms, which still function in the language, while having a different meaning. For example, the word shame previously meant a spectacle , today - shame or dishonor.

At the end of the article, we will consider the role of archaisms in the Russian language, especially literature. Archaisms are fixed in explanatory dictionaries with a note "obsolete".

Historicisms

Historicisms are words used to describe words and objects that existed before, but have already disappeared from our lives. Historisms, examples of which we find most often in the literature, are a policeman, stationmaster, pood, and so on. These concepts function today in historical works and chronicles, old books and newspapers.

Historicism includes words that denote the social structure of life, the name of institutions, persons and positions, military ranks, items and weapons, ancient units of measurement, currency, household items. For example: a tavern, a caftan, a mace, an altyn, a serf, a mayor, a gunner.

It is important to note that historisms do not have synonyms. This is very important to remember, as this is one of the hallmarks of historicism.

Words-historisms are also introduced into explanatory dictionaries with a punctured "out-of-date", more rarely "ist". Also there are various dictionaries of historicisms, where you can see not only the meaning of the word, but also get acquainted with the image of the object that denotes the concept.

Historisms and Archaisms: The Difference in Concepts

Quite often pupils and students, and just people who are not connected with philology, the question arises: how archaisms differ from historicisms? The main difference is that archaism is an obsolete designation of an object or concept that is still present in our life. Historicism also denotes concepts and objects that have long since disappeared from use.

As already noted, another distinctive feature - archaisms have synonyms, historicisms - no. Based on these two distinctive features, you can easily calculate which category belongs to a particular obsolete word.

Neologisms

Neologisms are words that appear as a result of the emergence of new phenomena or concepts. Some time the word is considered a neologism, later it becomes common and enters the active vocabulary of the language.

Neologisms can both arise because of the development of technology, and leave the pen of the authors. Thus, FM Dostoevsky became the author of the word "fade away", and N.M. Karamzin introduced the word "industry" into the vocabulary. Based on this, authorial and general language neologisms are distinguished.

In different periods, neologisms were such words as a car, a rocket, a laptop, a mail and many others. When the use of neologisms reaches their peak and their meaning becomes clear to everyone, these words automatically become the most commonly used ones.

If historisms and archaisms are fixed in dictionaries with special notes, then neologisms get into dictionaries only after they enter the active stock of the language system. True, in recent years, special dictionaries of neologisms have been published.

Causes

We have examined archaisms, historicisms, and neologisms. Now a few words about the reasons for their occurrence.

The reasons for the transition of words from the active to the passive vocabulary have not yet been studied in detail. And if with historicalisms all is more or less clear, since after the disappearance of the concept, the word designating it goes into a passive stock, then with archaisms everything is much more complicated.

The most common are the following reasons for the emergence of archaisms: various social changes, cultural factors, different linguistic causes - the influence of other languages, stylistic connections, language reforms.

The main reasons for the appearance of neologisms are:

- various changes in the social life of society;

- technical progress, that is, the emergence of new objects, concepts and phenomena.

Today, most neologisms are associated with the development of computer science and computer technology.

Stylistic value

A few words about the stylistic role of words in the passive vocabulary of the Russian language. The most frequently used data is a group of words in fiction.

Thus, the use of archaisms helps the writer to more accurately recreate the described epoch, to characterize the character with the help of his speech. Surely you noticed that in the speech of some characters, one vocabulary prevails, for example, more modern, in the speech of others - another, outdated or dialectic. Thus, the writer draws a psychological and social portrait of the character.

They also use them in verse speech to give a more solemn, exalted color to the work. In satire, archaisms serve to create a comic or satirical effect, giving irony.

Study at school

Partly archaisms, historisms, neologisms are studied in school, at Russian language and literature lessons. Usually acquaintance with this class of words occurs in the fifth and tenth classes in the study of "Lexicology". Students are taught to distinguish words, find them in texts of a different kind. In addition, while studying the works of the classics, we come across unfamiliar words that have long since disappeared, become acquainted with their meaning and origin.

Studying at the university

More detailed acquaintance with the active and passive vocabulary of the Russian language begins in universities when studying the section "Lexicology". Often this happens in the second year, at the Faculty of Philology. Students are taught how archaisms differ from historicisms, how and where it is possible to find the meaning of these words, how to classify them depending on their origin, to determine the function in those or other texts.

Students can compose their own dictionaries, learn to find passive vocabulary in texts and replace it, analyze the origin of neologisms, the reasons for the disappearance of words from the active use of native speakers of the literary Russian language.

conclusions

In the passive vocabulary of the Russian language are the following groups of lexemes: archaisms - obsolete names of words and concepts, historicisms - names of objects and phenomena that have left our everyday life, neologisms - words used to denote new concepts.

Disused words are used in fiction when writing historical texts to recreate the atmosphere of the time described in the work.