Archaisms and historisms
Introduction
We often hear about words being added to dictionaries as they become part of everyday vernacular, but have you ever heard about any words that get removed? Some people argue that if a word has existed at some point in time then it merits a place in the dictionary. After all, who knows when someone may come across it in an old text and need to look up the definition? Others say that dictionaries should reflect the language that we use here and now, and so those words which have become obsolete in everyday language should no longer have a place in the dictionary.
Language and culture are constantly changing, so how do we keep up with these changes without losing our past? The article is intended to go back in time and to disclose archaisms in the English language. Different groups of archaisms, the difference between archaisms and historisms, periods of their development, stylistic features, semantic groups and other problems got their reflection in the article. Different viewpoints of scientists, the aim of using archaisms in belles-lettres and their classification are presented and illustrated by the examples in Russian and English.
1. How do words in everyday language become obsolete?
The vocabulary of a language never remains stable. There are constant changes in the semantic structure of any language. Words appear, undergo a number of phonetic and semantic changes and finally pass completely out of use. The disappearance of various things, phenomena, etc. causes either complete disappearance of their names or turns them into «representatives» of a previous epoch. Many words become obsolete in ordinary language, but remain in poetry, in books conforming to a definite style, in oratory, etc. A great many archaisms survive in English dialects. Thus the fate of obsolete words may be different. We distinguish two groups of obsolete words: archaisms proper and historical terms (historisms).
Before turning to them it is of
We often hear about words being added to dictionaries as they become part of everyday vernacular, but have you ever heard about any words that get removed? Some people argue that if a word has existed at some point in time then it merits a place in the dictionary. After all, who knows when someone may come across it in an old text and need to look up the definition? Others say that dictionaries should reflect the language that we use here and now, and so those words which have become obsolete in everyday language should no longer have a place in the dictionary.
Language and culture are constantly changing, so how do we keep up with these changes without losing our past? The article is intended to go back in time and to disclose archaisms in the English language. Different groups of archaisms, the difference between archaisms and historisms, periods of their development, stylistic features, semantic groups and other problems got their reflection in the article. Different viewpoints of scientists, the aim of using archaisms in belles-lettres and their classification are presented and illustrated by the examples in Russian and English.
1. How do words in everyday language become obsolete?
The vocabulary of a language never remains stable. There are constant changes in the semantic structure of any language. Words appear, undergo a number of phonetic and semantic changes and finally pass completely out of use. The disappearance of various things, phenomena, etc. causes either complete disappearance of their names or turns them into «representatives» of a previous epoch. Many words become obsolete in ordinary language, but remain in poetry, in books conforming to a definite style, in oratory, etc. A great many archaisms survive in English dialects. Thus the fate of obsolete words may be different. We distinguish two groups of obsolete words: archaisms proper and historical terms (historisms).
Before turning to them it is of