What is an etymological dictionary? Historical and etymological dictionary

The constant replenishment of the vocabulary of the Russian language makes the native speech more imaginative and fuller. Do not lag behind the new already known words - they can gradually change their meaning, giving them new nuances of meaning. Our speech is a living organism that carefully cuts off the dying and inactive particles, growing new, fresh and necessary words. And to understand the meaning of new words, you need an etymological dictionary. Its functions, structure and meaning are described below.

Definition

What is an etymological dictionary? First of all, the halls of old libraries with cobwebbed folios come to mind. But at present, thanks to the Internet, the etymological dictionary of the Russian language is accessible to the widest circle of the population. You can use it at any time.

The answer to the question of what an etymological dictionary is, is contained in the definition. Such dictionaries define the origin and history of different words. Many words - non-Slavic origin, their original meaning is sometimes quite far from the standard. Even the word "etymology" is of foreign origin. This term is borrowed from the Greek language and consists of two parts: in translation, etymos means "truth", logos is "word". The combination of these two concepts means "truth about words". Already one designation gives an idea of what etymology is engaged in and what is an etymological dictionary. In general, such a dictionary is a list of words of foreign or Russian origin, each of which has its own history and interpretation.

History of etymology

Attempts to explain the meaning of words appeared long before the distribution of writing, fragments of Sumerian, ancient Egyptian, Akkadian sages' writings reached us in which they explained the meanings of the words of the native language. And already in those distant times there were words that were older than the most ancient civilizations, the origin of which, most likely, will remain unexplained.

Over the centuries, languages and countries mingled, absorbed and disappeared, reviving new words. But there were always people who gathered the surviving parts of speech and tried to explain them. The first etymological dictionary included several words and stable phrases. Later, the vocabulary expanded, and each individual part of the speech was selected by its own interpretation.

The words of the Russian language

The first official etymological dictionary of the Russian language was published in 1835. But long before that, attempts were made to explain the meaning and origin of words. So, Lev Uspensky in his remarkable book "The Word of Words" quotes Theophany Prokopovich's phrase that making a dictionary - "Doing a Lexicon" - is a difficult and painstaking task. Even just to collect all the words of the literary language, separating common words from special terms, dialects, govorks - excessive work. Although many enthusiasts put their long years of life in order to collect the words of the native language in one etymological dictionary.

The first dictionaries

History preserved the names of the first enthusiasts, collectors of the Russian word. They were FS Shimkevich, K. F Reiff, MM Izyumov, NV Goriaev, AN Chudino and others. The first etymological dictionary of the Russian language in modern form was published in the early 20th century. Its compilers were a group of linguistic scientists under the direction of Professor A.G. Preobrazhensky. Under the name "Etymological dictionary of the Russian language", he was reprinted several times, with changes and additions. The last known edition dates back to 1954.

The most quoted etymological dictionary was compiled by M. Fasmer. For the first time the book was published in 1953. Despite the numerous linguistic works published by Russian linguists later, the Fasmer's etymological dictionary of the Russian language is considered the most authoritative publication of this kind.

How words are learned

The language of each people on earth is like a river - it is constantly changing and acquiring new forms. Each of us noticed how gradually new, borrowed or mutated words and whole phrases enter the conversation. Simultaneously, outdated and rarely used concepts go away - "washed out" of the language. Forms of words are also transformed - sometimes the sentences become simpler, sometimes they are weighted by additional constructions that make speech more imaginative and expressive.

Interpretation of words

Explaining words is not an easy thing to do. The study of a single word implies not only a list of its interpretations in the past and the present, but looks for the roots of those who are close in sounding or writing words, explores possible ways of transition of individual terms from one language to another. The historical and etymological dictionary will tell about the historical transformations taking place with different words of the Russian language. It focuses on how different meanings of a given word change over time. There is also a short etymological dictionary - it usually indicates a brief description of the word and its probable origin.

A few examples

What is an etymological dictionary, we consider on several examples. Everyone knows the word "entrant". The etymological dictionary of the Russian language explains that this linguistic unit has German roots. But in the language of the Germans the word came from Latin. In the language of the ancient Romans meant "departing." Practically the same meaning was given to the word and in German. But modern Russian speech gives the "entrant" a completely different meaning. Today, a person who comes to a higher educational institution will be so called. Etymological dictionary indicates and derivatives of this word - the applicant, the entrant. As studies show, the fewer adjectives and single-root words, the later this linguistic unit entered Russian speech. The birth of the Russian "entrant" occurred not earlier than the beginning of the XIX century.

Perhaps those words that we are accustomed to consider Russian have a less interesting biography? Here, for example, the familiar and familiar word "heel". It is not necessary to explain it, it is found in all Slavonic languages, and it is found in ancient Russian texts. But the history of this word scientists are investigating so far, and there is still no unequivocal opinion about the origin of the "heel". Some derive it from the common Slavic root "bow", which means "bend, elbow." Other scholars insist on the Turkic version - in the languages of the Tatars and Mongols "kaab" meant "heel". Etymological dictionary impartially brings in its pages both versions of the origin of the "heel", leaving the choice to its readers.

Let's consider one more familiar word - "sabot". So we call headphones and scammers. At present, the "slander" is a well-known curse, and in fact, once a man-scoundrel lived in respect and honor. It turns out that the so-called public prosecutors were called in Russia - at present such a position is occupied by prosecutors. The word has ancient Norse roots. It is interesting that in other Slavic languages (except Russian and Ukrainian) it is not used.

Results

The importance of an etymological dictionary is difficult to overestimate. If you understand the interpretation of individual words, you can more easily understand all the nuances of its meaning. Etymological dictionary will make its reader more literate, because often the correctness of spelling in Russian is checked by the selection of single root words. In addition, the Russian language is very sensitive to various borrowings. The words of German, English, French are found in it in a slightly modified form, the correctness of which can be verified by the same dictionary. It is not necessary to explain what the etymological dictionary means to students of humanitarian universities, journalists, translators, teachers of literature. To all those whose work is connected with the word. For them, the etymological dictionary is a necessary tool in the work.