UDC

811.161.1’04: 81’374

Authors

Elena V. Generalova
Faculty of Philology, Saint Petersburg State University
11 Universitetskaya nab., St. Petersburg, 199034, Russian Federation;
e-mail: elena-generalova@yandex.ru

Abstract

Involving data from the Dictionary of Everyday Russian Language of Muscovite Russia in the 16th and 17th Centuries, which presents the written language of Muscovite Russia at a conversational basis, this article summarizes conclusions about synonymy in the Russian language of the 16th and 17th centuries. The semantic basis of synonymic relations is studied here on the denotations of false accusations in the language of Muscovite Russia. The lexico-semantic system of the language of this period is characterized by: 1) wider synonymic relations than in the modern Russian language, 2) derivational and morphological variability of synonyms, 3) frequent relations of semantic identity, 4) close relationship of synonymy with the genre and stylistic stratification of vocabulary and stylistic changes, 5) diffuse semantics of words as a frequent basis of synonymic relations. The semantic basis of word convergence in the language of Muscovite Russia is described here using the material of the lexico-semantic field of клевета (libel) in the Russian language of the 16th and 17th centuries. A detailed study of the meaning of different roots (-ябед-, затей-, клеп-, клевет-, оговор-, извет-, вор-, напрас-, лож-) demonstrates, on the one hand, the existence of special semantics in each of them and on the other, a certain synonymy and interchangeability of different words in some contexts. Such synonymic word use is in many respects due to the diffuse and, in some cases, unclear semantics, ranging from a highly specialized to a wide syncretic meaning. The width and specific semantic basis of synonymic relations in the language of Muscovite Russia indicates accumulated resources of the language system at the point of transition to a new stage of the national language.

Keywords

synonymy, synonymic relations, Russian language of the 16th and 17th centuries, Muscovite Russia, diffuse semantics, denotations of libel

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