REFLECTION OF LANGUAGE UNITS VARIABILITY IN “NOMENKLATOR” BY I. KOPIEVSKY


2014. № 2 (2), 463-469

Institute for Linguistic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Abstract:

The paper examines the phenomenon of variability in the Russian language of XVII–XVIII centuries on the basis of the Russian part of the “Nomenklator” in Latin, Russian and German, published in 1700 in Amsterdam by Ilya Kopievsky (Kopievich), and its later reprints. Peculiarities of the dictionary text allow to extensively reflect linguistic units variations, which is practically impossible in the regular text. This study allows us to conclude that the series of equivalents used to translate Latin words in “Nomenklator” by I. Kopievsky include two (sometimes three) variants of words, among which there are obsolete words of beginning of the XVIIIth century, as well as newly formed words. Most of the variants could be considered a result of linguistic redundancy based on the interaction of Russian dialects. Comparison of “Nomenklator” with its later editions (1718 and 1732) shows a number of changes relating to the reflection of the variants of words. Although the materials of Russian dictionaries in this aspect have not yet been considered, they may contain data of great interest for the history of the Russian language, as shown in our investigation.