Vocabulary limited in its use. Stylistic features of vocabulary of limited use Words related to vocabulary of limited use
The correct choice of words in oral and written speech in different situations requires great care and a lot of knowledge. Some words are absolutely neutral, and therefore can be used in any life situation. Others, on the contrary, carry a certain emotional connotation, and can both emphasize those feelings that the speaker wants to express, and give away what he would like to hide from others.
There is also a separate category of words that belong to the so-called vocabulary of limited use. It may differ from commonly used vocabulary, for example, in the territory of its distribution or the sphere of professional activity to which it relates, or the social group that resorts to these expressions. Therefore, it is very important to understand what is commonly used vocabulary and what words belong to the vocabulary of limited use (the diagram is given below). First of all, you should understand the division of the vocabulary of the Russian language.
General information
When starting a conversation about dividing the lexical composition of the Russian language into groups, first of all they talk about general vocabulary and vocabulary of a limited sphere of use. The latter, as already mentioned, is divided into dialectisms, professionalisms and jargons, which include both words used by “declassed elements” and ordinary youth slang, and the first is more monolithic and is divided into only two groups: stylistically neutral vocabulary and emotionally charged . Guided by this classification, you can outline for yourself an approximate framework for the use of certain words.
General vocabulary
This category is the most extensive, including the main vocabulary of the Russian language, in fact representing its lexical core. This part of the vocabulary fund is also called national, since words of general use are used in their speech and understood by all native speakers of the Russian language or their overwhelming majority. This is a kind of base of the literary language, the use of which is possible both in oral and written speech. Moreover, it is the vocabulary of general use that is the foundation on which elements of the vocabulary of limited use are then located - terms, slang, professionalisms.
Examples include the following words: go, eat, work, read, book, food, water, fruit, animal, winter, spring, summer, word, girl, head and others.
Besides? vocabulary of general use can be divided into two broad groups: stylistically neutral words and emotionally charged ones. The latter is more often found in oral speech, journalistic or artistic text. It makes speech more lively, prevents it from becoming like the dry text of a dictionary or encyclopedia article, and helps to express the feelings of the speaker or the attitude of the author of the article to what he is writing about.
It should also be noted that there is constant interchange between commonly used and limited-sphere vocabulary. Sometimes neutral words go into the category of jargon or professionalism, and then become vocabulary of general use.
Vocabulary of limited use: types
This part of the lexical composition of the Russian language includes several groups, within which some division can also be made. Vocabulary of limited use, for example, includes words inherent in some dialects, special vocabulary, which includes terms and professionalisms, any jargon (including slang). At the same time, the first and last types are not included in the literary norm of the Russian language and are often used only in oral communication.
Dialectal vocabulary
The language in each individual region of the country has its own specific characteristics: phonetic, grammatical and, of course, lexical. Often it is lexical features that make it very difficult for visitors to understand the speech of the local population. In general, dialect vocabulary can be divided into several groups:
- phonetic dialectisms;
- grammatical dialectisms;
- lexical dialectisms.
Phonetic dialectisms differ from the literary norm only in the pronunciation of words, and therefore do not complicate the understanding of what is said too much. As an example, the replacement of the sound “ts” with the sound “ch” and vice versa in some northwestern dialects: tselovek, nemchi. Or the softening of the syllable “ka”, characteristic of southern dialects: barrel, Vankya.
Grammatical dialectisms are words used differently than in the standardized version of the language. For example, southern Russian dialects are characterized by the use in the feminine gender of those words that, according to the literary norm, are words of the neuter gender: the whole field, whose meat.
Lexical dialectisms are the most specific; they are often used to distinguish the dialect of one locality from the dialect of another locality. In dialect vocabulary, there is a special group called ethnographisms - words that denote objects and concepts characteristic of a particular area. Such words are often used in fiction; due to them, the literary text is given special expressiveness, and the speech of the characters is given authenticity and “naturalness.”
Special vocabulary
Words of limited use vocabulary also include professionalisms used exclusively in a certain field of activity. Often these words are commonly used words that have acquired an additional meaning that is understandable to all representatives of any profession. At the same time, part of the professionalism is an unofficial name of an object or process, and the official name will already be a term.
For example, the term used to refer to metal frozen in a ladle is nastyl, but metallurgists themselves call it “goat”. In this case, it is the “goat” that will be professionalism.
“Skin” is professionalism, used outside the environment of specialists. The corresponding official name would be "sandpaper".
It is worth noting that professionalisms are less “systemic” - they are born in oral speech, exist for a certain amount of time, and then disappear, replaced by new words. But sometimes they become fixed, becoming full-fledged terms. An exchange occurs between professional words and terms, similar to the exchange between general vocabulary and vocabulary of limited use - some words constantly move from one group to another.
Subtype of special vocabulary - terms
A term is a word that denotes a specific object or concept, and, as a rule, has no additional meaning; unambiguousness is a mandatory feature for words in this category, and the terminological “base” of any sphere covers all objects, phenomena and processes that take place in it . Unlike other words and their meanings, terms are created specifically. Careful work on them involves eliminating and establishing a clear framework for its use, its relationship with other terms from this field of activity.
Jargon
Argo, or, as it is also called, jargon, is that layer of vocabulary of the Russian language, the use of which is typical for certain social groups, these are words that are understandable only to “our own people.” Over time, some slang words seep into the vocabulary of general use, becoming words that are used by all native speakers, regardless of social status and social circle. Examples include the words swindler, nimble, linden (meaning “fake”).
They are also found in fiction, performing approximately the same role as dialect vocabulary. Due to them, the speech of fictional characters becomes more natural. In addition, with their help, the author can embody the stylistic idea and general concept of the work, which fully justifies the use of “reduced” vocabulary.
For example, in the novel “After the Wedding” by Granin, in the speech of the main characters you can find the expression “It’s me in the order of chatter,” that is, “It’s me just chatting about nothing.”
Youth slang
Since young people are a fairly large social group, their slang should be included as a separate item, since it is very extensive, even if we do not touch upon the slang of various subcultures and movements. Here you can find many examples of “rethinking” of commonly used words, which is why “wheelbarrow” becomes synonymous with the word “car”, parents become “ancestors”, and about a person who has passed away unnoticed they say “he faded away”.
A separate group is the words of student slang. Therefore, the “tails” of failed exams are trailing behind the careless student, there is a nest of “boa constrictors” in the record book (the grade is “satisfactory”), and the “late Styopa” or “stupa” turns out to be just a scholarship that fellow students will not receive.
Conclusion
To summarize, we can say that the vocabulary of the Russian language is incredibly extensive and is only enriched over time. Moreover, the division of words into any groups is very arbitrary, because the process of words moving from one category to another is continuous and inevitable. It helps to avoid creating rigid frameworks and overly strict rules for the use of a particular word, leaving the speaker room to choose means that correspond to the purpose of a particular utterance.
The vocabulary of the Russian language is heterogeneous in terms of the degree of its distribution and activity of use, as well as in the nature of its stylistic coloring. From the point of view of the degree of distribution and activity of use in the vocabulary of the Russian language, commonly used vocabulary is differentiated, i.e.
E. known to the entire Russian people and used by all speakers of the Russian language (read, five, white, man, city, etc.), and vocabulary is not commonly used, i.e. limited in its use either by territory or within social groups (in including professional ones), or the time of existence in the Russian language. The main categories of vocabulary of limited use are dialectisms and special vocabulary. Dialectisms are words that are used primarily by residents of a particular area. Dialectisms are part of folk dialects (territorial dialects). For example: gutarit (South Russian) - to speak, bait (Northern Russian) - to speak. Special vocabulary is words used in speech by representatives of certain branches of knowledge and professions. The core of the special vocabulary consists of terms - words denoting strictly defined concepts of various sciences (hypotenuse - in mathematics: the side of a right triangle lying opposite the right angle; affix - in grammar: a morpheme containing a word-forming or formal meaning; reprisals - in international law : coercive measures taken by a state in response to the unlawful actions of another state). The periphery of the special vocabulary consists of professionalisms and jargon. Professionalisms are words and phrases characteristic of people of a certain profession. For example: cook - cook (in the speech of sailors), window - free time between classes (in the speech of teachers, students). Jargons are words and expressions used by a separate social group for the purpose of linguistic isolation, separation from the main part of native speakers. For example: klava - keyboard, ICQ - communication program (in computer jargon), klipak - video clip, hang out - walk, have fun in the company (in youth jargon). Professionalism and jargon are outside the boundaries of common literary language. The vocabulary of limited use also includes obsolete words (historicisms and archaisms) and new words (neologisms). Historicisms are outdated words that have fallen out of use due to the disappearance of the objects or phenomena they denote. For example: chain mail - ancient military armor in the form of a shirt made of metal rings, kibitka - a covered road cart, bekesha - a man's coat (lined with fur or cotton wool) with ruching at the waist. Archaisms are outdated words naming objects or concepts for which new names have appeared in the language. For example: this - this, salary - salary, salary, cheeks - cheeks. Neologisms are new words that have recently entered the language and have not yet lost their novelty and unusualness. For example: in the 80s. XX century - perestroika - fundamental changes in politics and economics aimed at establishing market relations, developing democracy and openness; in the 90s XX century - boutique - a small store of expensive fashion goods, mass media - mass media, slogan - slogan. Most neologisms usually quickly become common words; some neologisms can exist as individual authorial new formations, or occasionalisms (for example: lips merge - in V.V. Mayakovsky, Pushkin notes - in V. Khlebnikov).
Ex. 58. Match the common words (left column) with dialect synonyms (right column); compare the way of expressing similar concepts.
Ex. 59. Distribute the words into two groups: 1) terms; 2) jargon. Note the cases where jargon arose on the basis of figurative meanings of commonly used words.
Authority (experienced thief), water area (a section of water surface), subsidy (state assistance), cop (policeman), monique (monitor), soap (email), cool (excellent, wonderful, deserving of respect), idiom (stable expression, characteristic only of a given language), ancestors (parents), deportation (forced relocation of individuals and peoples), cash (cash), dude (young man), chaos (natural), party (collective entertainment event), fan (admirer), eclecticism (mechanical combination of different views).
Ex. 60. Using explanatory dictionaries, determine the meanings of outdated words, distinguish between historicisms and archaisms.
Boyar, brow, oratay, cheeks, right hand, oprichnina, treasury, equerry, lorgnette, this, cutting, art, tower, interpreter, yare.
Ex. 61. Using modern explanatory dictionaries of the Russian language, determine the meanings of words new to the Russian language. Think about the reasons for their appearance.
Denationalization, post-Soviet, CIS, Duma member, businessman, office, marketing, pager, scanner, printer, killer, mafia, hamburger, ketchup, top model, thriller, portfolio.
In the Russian language, all words are grouped depending on what lexical feature of a particular word is meant.
If a word in Russian is used freely, unlimitedly, then it refers to commonly used vocabulary Commonly used vocabulary is understandable to all Russians, no matter where they live, no matter what profession they have.
Words not known to all Russian speakers called vocabulary of limited use. These include dialect and slang vocabulary, as well as professional and terminological vocabulary.
Common words used in a particular area are called dialectal, For example: kochet(rooster), fall(autumn foliage), drone(speak), empty(pie without filling), selyushki(chickens), wiper(towel), etc.
Uncommon words used by certain groups of people to name objects that have their own names in the literary language are called jargon, For example: box(TV), exchanger(currency exchange point).
Professional and terminological vocabulary is words used in a certain field of human activity. It makes it easy to distinguish a medical worker from a miner, a steelworker from a hunter, etc. Among the professional words stand out terms, denoting scientific concepts and highly specialized words. For example: scalpel, bronchoscopy, injection, syringe, anesthesia, amputate, resuscitation(medicine), tempera, ocher, canvas, cinnabar, stretcher(art), font, size, editor, proofreader, binding(publishing), alibi, amnesty, forensic expert, plaintiff, appeal(jurisprudence), etc.
All fields of science use special book words, which represent scientific concepts. Such words are called terms. To explain their meaning, there are special dictionaries: “Philosophical Dictionary”, “Dictionary of Linguistic Terms”, “Logical Dictionary” and many others.
Professional vocabulary is indispensable for the laconic and precise expression of thoughts in special texts. However, these words will be incomprehensible to a non-specialist, so professionalism is unjustified in texts intended for a wide range of readers.
Certain professionalisms are becoming part of the common vocabulary (give it away, assault, turnover). In fiction, professionalisms are used to realistically describe the lives of people associated with production.
Professional slang vocabulary has a reduced stylistic connotation, which is used only in the oral speech of people of the same profession. For example, engineers jokingly call a self-recording device sneaker, in there are words in pilots' speeches underdose, overdose, meaning undershoot, overshoot. Professional jargon words, as a rule, have synonyms that have a precise terminological meaning and are devoid of colloquial connotations.
Stands out slang vocabulary, used by a narrow circle of people united by a common interest, occupation, position. The use of jargon sharply violates the language norm.
Special vocabulary.
The vocabulary of the modern Russian language contains a large number of special words denoting certain concepts from the field of various professions, labor processes, scientific and technical activities, social practice, sports, etc.
The question of classifying special vocabulary turns out to be extremely difficult, because Special vocabulary is formed and functions in numerous areas of the most diverse professional, labor and scientific-technical activities, as well as in certain groups not directly related to production (for example, in various sports groups).
The second main issue related to the study of special vocabulary is the question of the linguistic essence of the term. There are two approaches to the study of this issue - normative (putting forward a number of requirements for the term: unambiguity, accuracy, brevity, absence of synonyms, etc.) and descriptive (requiring the distinction between redundant and non-redundant features - at different levels).
In the history of the development and enrichment of the vocabulary of the Russian language, professional and terminological vocabulary played a very important role.
A significant part of the terms have acquired new meanings in modern common literary language, i.e. determinologization has occurred... the splitting of the general semantics of a word into separate independent meanings (terminological and general literary), for example, excitement, accumulate, contact, potential, demagnetize...
Determinologized vocabulary occupies a prominent place in the vocabulary of the modern Russian language and is widely used to enhance the expressiveness of oral and written statements.
Slang and argotic vocabulary.
In various social groups and work teams, under the influence of certain socio-psychological factors, lexical units with a reduced professional connotation may appear, collectively forming professional jargon (jargon - French jargon, or slang - English slang). Jargons that make up the lexical base of a particular jargon are usually used in a narrow circle of people who have common professional interests or some other social community.
Professional jargons became quite widespread in the pre-revolutionary period among craftsmen who had a “guild” organization (tailors, shoemakers, printers, etc.). For example, in the speech of printers (newspapers) slang words existed and continue to exist: veneer - “a thin metal plate inserted between the lines of typesetting; goat - “omission of letters and words in the print”; blunder - “a gross mistake made in printing. Examples of jargon used in other professional groups: suitcase - “dense young spruce forest” (hunters), jig - “artificial bait for fish” (fishermen).
Argotisms are also very close to slang vocabulary. Argo (French argot - closed) is a closed social dialect, which is characterized by the presence of artificially invented words that replace common vocabulary and are used either for the purpose of conspiracy or for the purpose of deliberately “emphasizing” by the speakers of this argot their social isolation and “dissimilarity” with generally accepted norms of society behavior.
The speech of the so-called “camp inmates” - criminals - is also replete with argotisms.
Here are words from their everyday life: urkagan - “hero of the underworld”, raspberry - “shelter, hangout”, olive - “bullet”, maidan - “bazaar”, bochata - “clock”, jackal - “beggar”, wick - “ disabled person", paddock - "bunk", knock - "inform", informer - "informer".
Youth argot (jargon) is quite widespread in the school and student environment these days. Its vocabulary material consists of lexical and phraseological units that are very far from the true beauty, expressiveness and penetration of the Russian word.
The source of modern youth argot is primarily the psychological expression in which a young person can be and which encourages him to be original, to try to “make an impression” with his demeanor, his hairstyle, his clothing style, and, finally, his speech. Although the emergence and spread of youth argot is due to certain socio-psychological reasons, the very fact of the existence of this phenomenon causes great harm to the improvement of speech culture and the education of intelligence among the younger generation of our time, because sometimes deprives many of its representatives of the ability to understand the deepest meaning of the lofty works of literary genius, to feel the beauty of the pure Russian word and the aesthetics of living Russian speech.
Examples of youth argotisms include the following words: truncate - “understand, grasp the meaning”, give out ~ “do something especially impressive”, act out - “inappropriate to say something”, frame (sya) - “attract the attention of a girl ( young men)".
Dialectal vocabulary.
The national vocabulary, which forms the vocabulary basis of the modern Russian literary language, is opposed by groups of words that are known only to a limited circle of people united by a territorial dialect or social community.
The set of lexical units that constitute a specific affiliation of a particular territorial dialect and are common in the speech of only the local population forms dialect vocabulary.
Dialectal vocabulary remains outside the boundaries of the literary language and, as already noted, is used only in the oral speech of speakers of a particular territorial dialect. In addition, writers can use dialect vocabulary in works of art to characterize characters’ speech or to generally stylize speech.
However, excessive “saturation” of the vocabulary material of a work with dialect vocabulary leads to a decrease in artistry and makes it difficult to understand.
Many dialect words penetrate into the literary language, gradually become fixed in it and even lose their dialect specificity. Such words are perceived by speakers as words of a literary language with one or another shade of emotionality and expressiveness. This is exactly how in the 19th century. The following words entered the literary language and gradually lost their dialect specificity: hunger strike, kids, arrogant, confusion, boring, etc.
Many colloquial words should be distinguished from dialect vocabulary. For example, colloquial (not dialectal) words are: blond, plump, thrashing, grinding, flickering, foisting, poor, dead, mug, yell, deceive, stunned, horde, hard worker, canteen, hard worker, be rude, wimpy, hang around and etc.
