One of the branches of vocabulary is etymology, which studies the origin of a word against the background of changes in the entire vocabulary of the language. They are originally Russian and are considered precisely from the standpoint of etymology. These are the two layers into which the entire lexicon Russian language, from the point of view of origin. This section of vocabulary answers the question of how the word came about, what it means, where and when it was borrowed, and what changes it has undergone.

Russian vocabulary

All words that exist in a language are called vocabulary. With their help we call various items, phenomena, actions, signs, numbers, etc.

The vocabulary composition is explained by their entry into the system, which determined the presence of their common origin and development. Russian vocabulary goes back to the past of the Slavic tribes and over the centuries has developed along with the people. This is the so-called original vocabulary, which has existed for a long time.

There is also a second layer in the vocabulary: these are words that came to us from other languages ​​due to the emergence of historical connections.

Thus, if we consider vocabulary from the perspective of origin, we can distinguish native Russian and borrowed words. both groups are represented in the language in large numbers.

Origin of Russian words

The vocabulary of the Russian language has more than 150,000 words. Let's see what words are called native Russian.

Original Russian vocabulary has several tiers:

Borrowing process

In our language, native Russian and borrowed words coexist. This is due historical development countries.

Since ancient times, as a people, Russians have entered into cultural, economic, political, military, and trade relations with other countries and states. This quite naturally led to the fact that words of those peoples with whom we collaborated appeared in our language. Otherwise it would be impossible to understand each other.

Over time, these linguistic borrowings became Russified, became part of the group, and we no longer perceive them as foreign. Everyone knows such words as “sugar”, “bathhouse”, “activist”, “artel”, “school” and many others.

Native Russian and borrowed words, examples of which are given above, have long and firmly entered into our everyday life and help build our speech.

Foreign words in Russian

Once in our language, foreign words are forced to change. The nature of their changes affects different aspects: phonetics, morphology, semantics. Borrowings are subject to our laws and regulations. Such words undergo changes in endings, suffixes, and gender changes. For example, the word “parliament” in our country is masculine, but in German, where it came from, it is neuter.

The very meaning of a word may change. So, the word “painter” in our country means a worker, and in German it means “painter”.

The semantics are changing. For example, the borrowed words “canned food”, “conservator” and “conservatory” came to us from different languages ​​and have nothing in common. But in their native languages, French, Latin and Italian, respectively, they came from Latin and have the meaning “to preserve.”

Thus, it is important to know which languages ​​words are borrowed from. This will help to correctly determine their lexical meaning.

In addition, it is sometimes difficult to recognize native Russian and borrowed words in the mass of vocabulary that we use every day. For this purpose, there are dictionaries that explain the meaning and origin of each word.

Classification of borrowed words

Two groups of borrowed words are distinguished by a specific type:

• came from the Slavic language;
• taken from non-Slavic languages.

In the first group, the majority are made up of Old Church Slavonicisms - words that have been used in church books since the 9th century. And now such words as “cross”, “universe”, “power”, “virtue”, etc. are widespread. Many Old Slavonic words have Russian analogues (“lanits” - “cheeks”, “mouth” - “lips”, etc. ) Phonetic (“gate” - “gate”), morphological (“grace”, “benefactor”), semantic (“zlato” - “gold”) Old Church Slavonicisms are distinguished.

The second group consists of borrowings from other languages, including:

• Latin (in the field of science, politics public life- “school”, “republic”, “corporation”);
• Greek (everyday - “bed”, “dish”, terms - “synonym”, “vocabulary”);
• Western European (military - “headquarters”, “junker”, from the field of art - “easel”, “landscape”, nautical terms - “boat”, “shipyard”, “schooner”, musical terms- “aria”, “libretto”);
• Turkic (in culture and trade “pearls”, “caravan”, “iron”);
• Scandinavian (everyday - “anchor”, “whip”) words.

Dictionary of foreign words

Lexicology is a very precise science. Everything here is clearly structured. All words are divided into groups, depending on the underlying feature.

Original Russian and borrowed words are divided into two groups based on etymology, that is, origin.

There are various dictionaries that suit specific purposes. So, we can call it a dictionary of foreign words, which contains foreign language examples that have come to us over many centuries. Many of these words are now perceived by us as Russian. The dictionary explains the meaning and indicates where the word came from.

Dictionaries of foreign words in our country have a whole history. The first was created at the beginning of the eighteenth century, it was handwritten. At the same time, a three-volume dictionary was published, authored by N.M. Yanovsky. In the twentieth century, a number of foreign dictionaries appeared.

Among the most famous are “ School dictionary foreign words" edited by The dictionary article provides information about the origin of the word, provides an interpretation of its meaning, examples of use, and stable expressions with it.

The number of foreign words in everyday speech increases from year to year geometric progression. The frustrating fact is that equivalent words still exist in the Russian language and are used less and less often. The situation is getting worse thanks to the means mass media, as well as the policies pursued by Russian ministries and departments in this direction. Increasingly, on TV screens we hear newly introduced words from the predominantly Germanic group of languages ​​(mainly English), such as " manager", "campus", "shopping", "creativity", "digger" and other similar words. It is worth noting that presidents, prime ministers and other high-ranking officials set a bad example in the use of the above words.

Below is a list of foreign words with their equivalent meanings in Russian. The list is formed in alphabetical order. If you have any additions or want to discuss this article, you can leave your messages in a specially created topic on our forum.

About the list

The Russian language is deliberately polluted, and ordinary people forget that there are words with the same meaning in their native language. Therefore, the question comes to mind: “Where is this rich and powerful Russian language?” We began to forget about the formation of words in our language. Where did such richness come from in our language? Separate articles can be devoted to this and other similar issues.

In some countries, special institutions are created at the government level that protect the pristine nature of the native language. For example, the population in France is very attentive and attentive to the language of their everyday communication. At the same time, it is interesting that the residents of the country are primarily concerned not with the effect obtained in response to the linguistic policy of official Paris, but with the problem of the possible gradual simplification of French, and as a consequence, the impoverishment and degradation of its potential. On December 1, 1975, French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing signed a law protecting the French language from the invasion of English and any other language, and therefore foreign culture. Similar measures need to be taken in Russia.

The purpose of this article is to write equivalent Russian words to English, German and others that have become embedded in our everyday use, as well as to highlight the misuse of words by celebrities and high-ranking officials.

The following words are widely used by the media in Russia and in speeches famous people at a time when there are original Russian meanings. If there are no such words or expressions in the list, then anyone can add them to this list by first registering in Wikijournal.

A

• Authoritative - significant,
• Alphabet - (came from the Greek language - ἀλφάβητος). The original word " ABC", also has the meaning " Glagolitic".
• Accent - equivalent meaning emphasis.
• Emphasize - Pay attention.
• Analogy, Analogue, Similar - (in English and French "analogue"). Has equivalent meaning in Russian " similarity"or as an adjective" like" or " same".
• Abstract - (in English "annotation"). Equivalent meaning in Russian " content".
• Aristocracy (from Greek - αριστοκρατία). Equivalent word in Russian " know".

D

AND

TO

L

• Legitimate - (from English "legitimate") - original Russian equivalent meaning - " law".

M

• Market - (from English "market"). Equivalent value " market".
• Manager is the most commonly used word in English meaning " manager" / "manager" or " supervisor". Often used in phrases office manager - in English it means " secretary".
• Message - (from English "message") - given word often used in Russian media. Equivalent value " message".
• Method - (from ancient Greek "μέθοδος" - the path of knowledge, in English "method") - means in Russian nothing more than " way".
• Moment - (with Latin language momentum - means driving force, but has no independent meaning. In English "moment" means a short period of time) - the equivalent meaning in Russian " moment".
• Monitoring - (from the Latin word "monitor") - today this word is often used as a verb "to monitor". Russian equivalent word " track", "track".

N

• Nick or Nickname - (from English "nick" or "nickname") - it is best to say " nickname", "nickname" or " pseudonym".

ABOUT

• Okay - (from English "ok"). Frequently occurring word in Everyday life, while in Russian there are many equivalent meanings such as " Fine", "OK", in other cases you can also say " Great", "agree", "coming", many words can be chosen, but the use is probably due to the brevity of the English version.

P

• Person - (from Latin "persōna", in English "person") - equivalent meaning in Russian - " personality".
• Positive - (from English "positive"). Equivalent meaning in Russian " positive". IN different variations may have other meanings.
• Prolong (from English "prolong"). No other way than " prolong" in Russian. Used in relation to the renewal of any contracts.

R

• Reception - (from English "reception" - reception, accept) equivalent word in Russian " reception" (most often in hotels).
• Real - (in English "real") means nothing more than " valid".

WITH

• Synchronously - (from the English word "synchronously" - means "simultaneously", "at the same time").
• Selfie - (from the English word "self" - means "himself" or "oneself"). This word has become widely used to mean “taking a photograph of oneself (or a group of people with oneself).” They couldn’t figure out how to take this word from the English language, whereas how can one express “ selfie". Quite understandable and in Russian.
• Sketch - (from English "scatch" is translated as " sketch"). This term Widely used in the construction industry and architecture. It is interesting that in the Russian language there has long been an equivalent word " sketch", and in common people you can say " underpainting".
• Speechwriter - (from English "speech" - speech and "writer" - writer) - a person who writes a speech for someone. An equivalent meaning could be the word " author" or " author of the text". This word is increasingly included in the vocabulary of central television channels and magazines.
• Stagnation - (from Latin stagno - to make motionless) - equivalent meaning in Russian " stop", "slow down"or as a noun" slowdown".
• Storedzh - (from English storage - storage, keep in stock) - equivalent meaning in Russian " storage".
• Soldier - (from Latin "Soldus", "Solidus", in English "soldier") - the original Russian equivalent meaning " warrior", "warrior" or " howls".

T

• Tolerance - (from the Latin tolerantia) an equivalent word in Russian " tolerance".
• Traffic - (from English "traffic" - movement). In Russian, this word began to be used mainly in two meanings. 1) In cases of describing the transport situation on the roads - “heavy traffic” - when one can say nothing more than “ traffic congestion" or " loaded stream"(cars) or even simpler - " traffic jams". 2) In a technical sense, about the number of users who visited a particular site - “large/small traffic”, when equivalent definitions can be said " high/low attendance"(site).
• Tradition - (from the Latin language "traditio" - legend, in English "tradition"). Unambiguous meaning in Russian " custom".
• Trading - (from English "trade" - trade). This word is being used more and more often on the Internet. Equivalent meaning in Russian " trade".
• Tour - (from English "tour"). The equivalent value is " journey".

U

• Weekend - (from English "weekend"). Literally means "end of the week", no less than in Russian " weekend".
• Unique (from Latin "unicus", in English "unique"). Equivalent meaning in Russian " special", "exceptional", "unique".

F

• Fake - (from English "fake"). Equivalent meaning in Russian " fake".

X

• Hobby - (from English "hobby") - equivalent meaning " enthusiasm".

Sh

• Shopping - (from English "shop" - store) - also means " purchase"or verb" do shopping". On the sign of one of the large stores in Moscow there was the inscription "pleasant shopping" - one might say "pleasant shopping."
• Show - (from English "show" - show) - equivalent meaning " show", also used in the phrases "TV show" - with the equivalent meaning " TV show" or " TV program".

E

• Equivalent - (comes from the Latin word "aequivalens", in English "equivalent") - in Russian means nothing more than " equivalence".
• Experiment - (comes from the Latin "experīmentum", in English "experiment") - equivalent meanings in Russian - experience, trial.
• Existential - (in English the verb "exsist") - equivalent meaning " existing"

Conclusion

The list, as we see, is quite impressive and other words will gradually be added to it. Dear readers, if you have additions to this article, other foreign ones with equivalent meanings, then leave your examples on

Introduction

1. History of borrowings

3. Mastering foreign words

4. Orthoepic norms of borrowed words

Conclusion

Language in its modern state cannot be unified, since it represents a combination of separate individual languages. Practical decisions must be based on how close these individual languages ​​currently are to each other.

Much in the Russian language was borrowed from Indo-European culture. It is assumed that the ancestral territory of the eastern Indo-European tribes, including the ancestors of the Slavs, was the north-west of Russia, the basin Baltic Sea. The comparative study of Indo-European languages ​​proves the special closeness between the Slavic and Baltic languages.

It should be noted that the original Slavs gravitated to the west - to the Germans, from whom they borrowed their material culture, their military life, political structure. Let us consider words related to these areas, borrowed by the Russian language from Germanic languages. For example: shelom - helmet; finely – milk, khyz – house, hut; as well as glass, buy, cattle, etc.

The number of words borrowed from Iranian languages ​​is very small. These are words like God - from ancient Persian. Baga; ax – tappari.

Another example of borrowing: from Germanic, Celtic and Latin is the word sea - lat. Mare, german. Meri, Celt. Muir.

Much is borrowed from Finnish languages: palttina - canvas; varpu – sparrow; arti – army; suntia – church minister; sun'd – judge, court.

2. Foreign language vocabulary

Before talking about foreign language vocabulary in the Russian language, let's say a few words about native Russian vocabulary. Let us say once again that these are words dating back to the Proto-Indo-European, Proto-Slavic and Old Russian eras and inherited by the Russian language, as well as created in the Russian language according to the models existing in it.

Russian words themselves arose from the end of the 14th century. These are almost all nouns with the suffixes –schik, -chik, -yatin (a), -lk (a), ovk (a), -telstvo (o), -sh (a), -nost, -emest, -shchin( a), -tel (with the meaning of a tool or device). For example: mason, hauler, sour, lighter, leaflet, certificate, doctor, reality, controllability, piecework, switch; compound nouns: university, salary. Actually Russian are also words that arose in more early eras, which then changed their meaning. Thus, the word red in Proto-Slavic and Old Russian meant “good”, “beautiful”, and in Russian it began to mean color.

The most ancient, Proto-Indo-European layer of native Russian vocabulary has correspondences in other Indo-European languages. These are some terms of kinship: mother, son, brother; animal names: wolf, goose, deer. Natural phenomena: water, moon, snow, stone. Body parts: nose, tooth, ear, eye; some actions: take, give, be, see; numbers: two, three, etc.

Proto-Slavic vocabulary is presented big amount and their diversity than Proto-Indo-European. These are words that have equivalents in Slavic languages and absent in other Indo-European ones: heart, child, spring, rain, grass, snake, saddle, labor, kind, ring, yesterday, etc. There are only about 2000 words of these two layers, but they are among the most common.

The Old Russian layer of vocabulary consists of words common to the Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian languages ​​and absent in other Slavic languages. These are words such as: uncle, spinner, samovar, lark, cheap, pockmarked, vouch, forty, ninety, etc.

Words of other languages ​​used in Russian as regular lexical units are called foreign language vocabulary. In the Russian language, about 10% of words are borrowed from other languages. Borrowing is based on trade, cultural, scientific ties between peoples and, as a consequence, language contacts. The overwhelming majority of foreign words were borrowed by the Russian language along with a thing, a concept: school is a Greek word, class is a Latin word, briefcase is French, satchel is German, pencil is Turkic, pioneer is English, tea is Chinese, candy is Italian, tundra is Finnish.

As you know, a borrowed word can denote a special type of object, concept that existed in the Russian language. For example, the word jam from English means “a special kind of jam”, from French, for example, porter - “a type of service in a hotel.”

The reason for borrowing words from other languages ​​may also be the desire to replace a descriptive expression or phrase with one word. Let's take an example: the English word sniper instead of the phrase "sharpshooter". Or, for example, motel (English word) - instead of “hotel for motor tourists”, tour (French word) - instead of traveling along a circular route.

Foreign words penetrated into the Russian language at different periods of its history. Some of these words came from the Old Russian language, which, in turn, could have received them from Proto-Slavic. Such ancient borrowings from Germanic languages ​​are, for example, prince, king, beech, carp, onion (as a plant), and barn.

The words whip, hook, pud, herring came into the Old Russian language from the Scandinavian languages. From Finnish - navaga, herring, salmon, fir, riga, blizzard, tundra. From the Turkic - armyak, bashlyk, shoe, sheepskin coat, horse, herd, barn, shed, chest, hero, guard. From Greek - bed, notebook, ship, sail, beetroot, whale, lantern.

It should be said that the borrowing of a word may not be direct, but through another language. Thus, many Greekisms penetrated into the Old Russian language through Old Church Slavonic, through Turkic languages words from other eastern languages ​​are borrowed. The words beads and dagger are borrowed from Arabic. Tub, turquoise, cripple are borrowed from Persian. At a later time, Greek words penetrated through various Western European languages. Such as anatomy, geometry, philosophy, analysis, democracy, politics, drama, tragedy, architecture. Latin words: inertia, radius, student, dean, dictatorship, republic. Words from Western European languages ​​could be borrowed through Polish. For example, a bottle, a guitar, a lady, a turkey, a carriage, a market, a fruit.

From the era of Peter I, the expansion of the vocabulary of the Russian language began due to borrowing from Western European languages. Maritime terms were borrowed from the Dutch language. For example, words such as boatswain, harbor, sailor, storm. And also from the English language: emergency, boat. At a later time, sports terms were borrowed from English. Let's give an example: boxing, volleyball, start, finish, champion. From German language Military terms came into Russian, for example: parapet, camp, officer, soldier, bayonet. And mining terms such as mine, adit, drift. Art terms were borrowed from the French language: ballet, parterre, landscape, still life, director. Literature terms: genre, novel, feuilleton, march. Culinary: dessert, cutlet, soup, puree, stew. Names of clothing: jacket, muffler, suit, coat. From Italian language musical terms entered Russian. For example: aria, baritone, cello, mandolin, serenade and many others.

At the very beginning of the 20s of the 20th century, due to the isolation of the country, borrowing became scarce. In the 20s, the influence of vernacular language, dialects, and jargons on the literary language was especially noticeable. The strengthening of literary language norms that began in the 1930s eliminated many words used in various literary genres in the previous period, but some of these words remained in the literary language. In the late 20s and 30s, mainly English words were borrowed. Such as jazz, combine, conveyor, container, speedometer, trolleybus. From the vernacular and dialects, such words as wilderness, milkmaid, dark, korzhik, kosovitsa, hassle, new settler, vacation, ladle, comb, study entered literary usage. As far as jargon goes, it’s junk. Blat, thieves, buzz. Some of these words have lost their non-literary connotation, while others still belong to colloquial or colloquial vocabulary.

There are adopted words in absolutely every language in the world. They come whenever countries interact. This article will help you understand what borrowed words are and how to distinguish between them.

In contact with

Dictionary of loanwords

Borrowed words in Russian appear in relationships with representatives of other countries and nationalities, and in this way speech is supplemented and improved. Borrowed vocabulary appears when an important concept is missing.

Borrowing words from other languages ​​significantly complements the speech in which they are included, makes people closer to each other, and it becomes easier to understand foreigners who use international terms in their speech.

The dictionary of borrowed words contains adopted words that came into Russian at different time periods. Meaning they are revealed very fully, the etymology is explained. You can find the required word by the first letter, as in a regular glossary.

Words borrowed from other languages

Foreign words that came through adoption behave differently. Some take root, become part of speech, changing according to all the rules of the Russian dialect (for example, sandwich), while others do not change, are used in their original state (a striking example is the word sushi).

Borrowed words divided into Slavic and non-Slavic. For example, Slavic dialects - Czech, Ukrainian, Old Church Slavonic, Polish, etc. Non-Slavic - Finno-Ugric, Germanic, Scandinavian, Turkic, etc.

List of foreign words in Russian

Most borrowed words are simply forced to change according to all the rules of the Russian dialect: phonetically, semantically and morphologically. But over time, such terms become so firmly established in everyday life that most simply cease to be regarded as foreign. For example, words “school”, “sugar”, “activist”, “bathhouse”, “artel” and others were originally introduced into Russian from other dialects, only now they are accepted as Russian.

Attention! Borrowed from others adverbs, words can change radically: some change only the endings, others can change gender, others even change their meaning.

Consider the words conservatory, conservator, canned food.

At first glance, their meanings are completely different, even these three expressions came from completely different countries, but they have something in common, something that even at first glance catches your eye - they are similar in spelling.

This is explained very simply. They came to our dialect from Italian, French and Latin. And from their side came one term from Latin, meaning “to preserve.”

Important! To correctly determine the lexical meaning of any word, you need to find out where it was brought from.

If you are not sure whether an expression comes from other languages ​​or is originally Russian, dictionaries come to the rescue, where not only the meaning is explained, but also its origin.

For clarity, below are examples of borrowed words in Russian:

Foreign words

You can often hear the phrase foreign word. What are foreign words?, what are they?

Foreign words are terms adopted from other dialects. The introduction of borrowed words occurs in two ways: through conversation and through literature. This is a natural process when two different languages ​​and cultures interact.

There are a number of differences that can be used to determine How do native Russian words differ from borrowed ones?.

The first sign is phonetic:

1. Starts with the letter a. It is easy to distinguish them, since truly Russian expressions begin with the letter a extremely rarely. They begin with just an interjection, imitation of sounds and their derivatives.
2. Original Russian words do not have the letter e at their roots; this is typical for adopted terms. Exceptions are , interjections and those formed from adopted words.
3. Letter f. Exceptions are imitation of sounds, interjections, the word owl.
4. Several vowels in the root of a word indicate borrowed words in Russian.
5. Consonant combinations“kg”, “kd”, “gb” and “kz” in the roots of words.
6. Combinations of "ge", "ke" and "he" at the root. Original Russian words have these combinations only in the stem-ending combination.
7. Combinations of “vu”, “mu”, “kyu” and “bu” at the root.
8. Double consonants in the root.
9. The hard sound of a consonant before the vowel e, read as e.
10. Words, starting with letter e.

The second sign is morphological:

1. Nouns that are not inflected.
2. Invariability of gender and number of nouns.

The third feature is word formation:

1. Consoles foreign origin.
2. Suffixes of foreign origin.
3. Roots such as aqua-, geo-, marine-, grapho-, etc.

To summarize, it should be noted that native Russian and borrowed words easy to distinguish, just paying attention to the above signs.

Borrowed vocabulary

What exactly is borrowed? These are expressions that have entered speech from other languages ​​due to external (political, commercial, general cultural relations, definitions of concepts, objects) and internal (law of conservation of verbal means, enrichment of language, popular term) reasons.

Let's consider examples of borrowed words and their meaning.

Examples of English words

List of foreign words in Russian we can continue endlessly. By finding out from which language the word came into speech, you can trace how the interaction between countries took place.

Examples of native Russian and borrowed words in the science of lexicology are strictly distributed by origin.

There are many glossaries that explain what foreign language terms are. They explain from what language came this or that expression. It also contains sentences with borrowed words from all centuries. After a long time, many expressions began to be perceived as originally Russian.

Now the most famous dictionary is the “School Dictionary of Foreign Words” by V.V. Ivanova. It describes which language which word came from, what it means, examples of use. This is one of the most comprehensive glossaries, covering the most basic concepts of the most commonly used terms.

Examples of loanwords

Are borrowed words necessary?

Conclusion

Find out from which language this or that word came, quite simply, once you understand its original meaning. The dictionary provides a whole list of expressions, and it is constantly updated. The history of terms and their origin can tell a lot, you just have to look up the word in the glossary.

Everyone knows that cultural contacts with neighbors are vital for the normal development of any nation. Mutual enrichment of vocabulary, borrowing words, terms and even names are inevitable. As a rule, they are useful for the language: the use of a missing word allows you to avoid descriptive phrases, the language becomes simpler and more dynamic. For example, a long phrase “trade in a certain place once a year” in the Russian language it is successfully replaced by the word that came from the German language fair. IN modern Russia Unfortunately, we often have to deal with the unlawful and unjustified use of foreign words in everyday speech. All kinds shops, consulting, marketing and leasing literally litter the Russian language, without at all decorating it. However, it should be recognized that sweeping prohibitions can harm its normal development. In this article we bring to your attention, we will talk about the successful use of foreign words and terms.

Let's start with terms that are close and familiar to any teacher of Russian language and literature. Word poetry has become so firmly ingrained in our language that we no longer even think about its meaning. Meanwhile, translated from Greek it means "creation". Word poem translated as "Creation", A rhyme – "proportionality", "consistency", the same root word for it is rhythm. Stanza translated from Greek - "turn", A epithet – "figurative definition".

WITH Ancient Greece Related terms are also epic ("collection of tales"), myth ("word", "speech"),drama ("action"), lyrics(from the word musical), elegy ("plaintive melody of the flute"), Oh yeah ("song"),epithalamus("wedding poem or song"),epic ("word", "story", "song"), tragedy ("goat song"), comedy ("bear holidays"). Name latest genre associated with the holidays in honor of the Greek goddess Artemis, which were celebrated in March. This month, the bears came out of hibernation, which gave the name to these performances. well and scene- of course, "tent" where the actors performed. Concerning parodies, that is - "singing inside out".

If the Greeks took upon themselves the “responsibility” of giving names to poetic and theatrical terms, then the Romans took prose seriously. Latin experts will tell us that this short word can be translated into Russian by the phrase “purposeful speech.” The Romans generally loved precise and short definitions. It is not for nothing that the word came to us from the Latin language lapidary, i.e. "carved in stone" (short, condensed). Word text means "connection", "compound", A illustration – "clarification"(to text). Legend- This "what must be read",memorandum – "things to remember", A opus– "work", "work". Word plot translated from Latin means "story", "legend", but it came to the Russian language from German with the meaning "plot". Manuscript- This handwritten document, well and editor- This a person who has to “put things in order”. Madrigal– also a Latin word, it comes from the root “mother” and means a song in the native, “mother” language. To end with literary terms let's say that the Scandinavian word runes originally meant "all knowledge", Then - "secret" and only later began to be used in the meaning "letters", "letters".

But let’s return to the Romans, who, as we know, developed a unique set of laws for that time (Roman law) and enriched world culture many legal terms. For example, justice ("justice", "legality"), alibi ("in the other place"), verdict ("the truth has been spoken"), advocate(from Latin "I urge"), notary – ("scribe"),protocol("first sheet"), visa ("viewed") etc. Words version ("turn") And intrigue ("to confuse") also of Latin origin. The Romans came up with the word blunder – “fall”, “mistake”, “wrong step”. The majority is of Greek and Latin origin medical terms. Examples of borrowings from the Greek language include words such as anatomy ("dissection"), agony ("struggle"), hormone ("set in motion"), diagnosis ("definition"), diet ("lifestyle", "regime"), paroxysm ("irritation"). The following terms are of Latin origin: hospital ("hospitable"), immunity ("liberation from something"),disabled person ("powerless", "weak"), invasion ("attack"),muscle ("mouse"), obstruction ("blockage"), obliteration ("destruction"), pulse ("push").

Currently, Latin is the language of science and serves as a source for the formation of new, never existing words and terms. For example, allergy – "other action"(the term was coined by the Austrian pediatrician K. Pirke). Christianity, as we know, came to us from Byzantium, whose inhabitants, although they called themselves Romans (Romans), spoke mainly Greek. Along with the new religion, many new words came to our country, some of which were sometimes tracing paper - a literal translation of Greek terms. For example, the word enthusiasm ("divine inspiration") was translated into Old Church Slavonic as "possession"(!). This interpretation was not accepted by the language. Much more often, new terms were accepted without modification. The original meaning of many of them has long been forgotten, and few people know that angel- This "messenger", apostle – "messenger",clergy – "lot", icon case – "box", liturgy – "duty", deacon – "minister", bishop– "looker from above", A sexton– "watchman". Word hero also Greek and means "saint"- no more, no less! But this is a dirty word nasty came to us from the Latin language and means just "rural"(inhabitant). The fact is that pagan cults held on especially tenaciously to rural areas, as a result, the word became synonymous with pagan. Words used to name representatives of the other world are also foreign in origin. Word daemon "deity", "spirit". It is known that Mikhail Vrubel did not want the demon depicted in his paintings to be confused with the devil or the devil: “Demon means “soul” and personifies the eternal struggle of the restless human spirit, seeking reconciliation of the passions overwhelming it, knowledge of life and not finding an answer to its doubts either on earth or in heaven,– this is how he explained his position.” What do the words devil and devil mean? Crap- this is not a name, but an epithet ( "horned"). Devil same – "seducer", "slanderer"(Greek). Other names for the devil are of Hebrew origin: Satan – "contradictory", "opponent", Belial- from the phrase "no use". Name Mephistopheles invented by Goethe, but it is composed of two Hebrew words - "liar" and "destroyer". And here's the name Woland, which M.A. Bulgakov used in his famous novel “The Master and Margarita”, is of Germanic origin: in medieval German dialects it meant "deceiver", "rogue". In Goethe's Faust, Mephistopheles is once mentioned under this name.

Word fairy is of Latin origin and means "fate". The Welsh believed that fairies came from pagan priestesses, while the Scots and Irish believed that they came from angels seduced by the devil. However, despite the centuries-old dominance of Christianity, Europeans still treat fairies and elves with sympathy, calling them “ good people" and "peaceful neighbors."

Word dwarf invented by Paracelsus. Translated from Greek it means "dweller of the earth". In Scandinavian mythology, such creatures were called "dark alves" or "ministruists". Brownie in Germany they call "kobold". Later this name was given to the metal, which had "harmful character", – made it difficult to smelt copper. Nickel name elf living by the water, a big fan of jokes. This name was given to a metal similar to silver.

Word the Dragon translated from Greek means "sharply seeing". Interestingly, in China this mythological creature traditionally depicted without eyes. Tradition tells that one artist of the Tang era (9th century) got carried away and painted the eyes of a dragon: the room was filled with fog, thunder was heard, the dragon came to life and flew away. And the word Hurricane comes from the name of the god of fear of the South American Indians - Huracana. The names of some precious and semi-precious stones also have their own meaning. Sometimes the name refers to the color of the stone. For example, ruby – "red"(lat.), chrysolite – "golden"(Greek), olevin – "green"(Greek), lapis lazuli– "sky blue"(Greek), etc. But sometimes their name is associated with certain properties, which were attributed to these stones in ancient times. So, amethyst translated from Greek as "not drunk": according to legends, this stone is capable of “curbing passions,” so Christian priests often use it to decorate vestments and insert it into crosses. For this reason, amethyst has another name - “bishop’s stone”. And the word agate translated from Greek means "good", which he was supposed to bring to his owner.

There have been cases when the same word came to our country from different languages ​​and in different time, resulting in different meanings. For example, words colossus, machination and machine- single-rooted. Two of them come to us directly from the Greek language. One of them means "something huge", other – "trick". But the third came through Western European languages ​​and is technical term.

Sometimes words are formed by combining roots belonging to different languages. For example: word abracadabra contains a Greek root with the meaning "deity" and Hebrew with the meaning "word". That is "word of God"- an expression or phrase that seems meaningless to the uninitiated.

And the word snob It is interesting in that, being Latin in origin, it appeared in England at the end of the 18th century. It came from Latin expression sine nobilitas ( "without nobility"), which was shortened to s. nob.: this is how passengers who did not have the right to dine with the captain began to be called on English ships. Later in English houses this word was placed on guest lists opposite persons who were to be announced without a title.

What about other languages? Did they contribute to Russian vocabulary? The answer to this question is clearly affirmative. There are many examples.

So, the Arabic phrase "lord of the sea" became a Russian word admiral.

Fabric name atlas translated from Arabic means "beautiful", "smooth". Cabal- This "receipt", "obligation",shackles – "fetters", "shackles" etc. They have long been perceived as Russian Turkic words scribble ("black or evil hand") And toddler ("like a watermelon"). About the antiquity of the word iron indicates its Sanskrit origin ( "metal", "ore"). Weight- This "heavy"(Persian), stage – "platform"(Spanish), coat of arms – "inheritance"(Polish). Words bank(from "lay the ship on its side") And yacht(from "drive") are of Dutch origin. Words emergency ("all the way up"– over all), bluff("deception"), velveteen("velvet") came to Russia from England. The last word interesting because it is the “false friend of the translator”: readers have probably been surprised more than once that at receptions and balls kings and court ladies flaunt in corduroy suits and dresses. The words came from the German language cabin boy("boy"), tie ("scarf"), vane ("wing"), flask ("bottle"), Workbench ("workshop"). There are a lot of borrowings from Italian and French. For example, trampoline("hit"),career("run"), feint ("pretense", "fiction"), stamp ("seal"), relay race ("stirrup") - Italian. Scam ("case"), gauze ("muslin"), balance ("scales"),compliment ("Hello"), negligee ("negligence") - French.

Italian and French gave birth to many musical and theatrical terms. Here are some of them. Italian word conservatory("shelter") recalls the decision of the Venetian authorities to turn 4 convents V music schools(XVIII century). Virtuoso means "valor", word cantata derived from Italian cantara – "sing", capriccio- from the word "goat"(a work with a galloping, “goat-like” change of themes and moods), opera –"composition", tutti – "performed by the whole cast".

Now it's France's turn: arrangement – "putting things in order", overture from the word "open", benefit – "profit", "benefit", repertoire– "scroll", decoration – "decoration", pointe shoes(hard socks ballet shoes) – "edge", "tip", divertissement– "entertainment", foyer – "hearth". And in modern pop music very popular word plywood, which comes from German "to impose"(voice to already recorded music).

Speaking about borrowing from the French language, one cannot ignore culinary theme. Yes, word garnish comes from French "to supply", "to equip". Glyase- Means "frozen", "icy". Cutlet – "rib". Consomme – "bouillon". Langet – "tongue". Marinade– "put in salt water". Roll- from the word "clotting". Word the vinaigrette– exception: being French in origin (from vinaigre – "vinegar"), it appeared in Russia. All over the world this dish is called "Russian salad".

It is interesting that many popular dog names in our country are of foreign origin. The fact is that peasants in Russian villages could not often afford to keep a dog. Landowners, on the contrary, often kept dozens and even hundreds of hunting dogs on their country estates (and even took bribes with “greyhound puppies”) and several lap dogs in city houses. Since French (and later English) language Russian nobles they knew better than their own, they gave foreign names to their dogs. Some of them have spread widely among the people. What familiar word could a peasant who does not know French hear in the nickname Сheri ("Cutie")? Of course, Ball! Trezor translated into Russian means "treasure"(French), nickname Barbos comes from the French word "bearded", A Rex- This "tsar"(lat.). A number of nicknames originated from foreign names. For example, Bobik and Tobik- these are variants of Russian adaptation English name Bobby,Zhuchka and Zhulka descended from Julia. And the nicknames Jim and Jack don’t even try to hide their foreign origin.

Well, what about the great and mighty Russian language? Did he make his contribution to the development of foreign languages? It turns out that it has entered many languages ​​of the world Russian word man. Word grandmother in English it is used in the meaning "women's headscarf", A pancakes in Britain they call small round sandwiches. Word vulgarity got into the English dictionary because V. Nabokov, who wrote in this language, despairing of finding its full-fledged analogue, decided to leave it without translation in one of his novels.

Words satellite And comrade known all over the world, and Kalashnikov for a foreigner it is not a surname, but the name of a Russian machine gun. Relatively recently, some now somewhat forgotten terms made a triumphal march around the world perestroika and glasnost. Words vodka, matryoshka and balalaika They are used so often and inappropriately by foreigners talking about Russia that they cause irritation. But for the word pogrom, which entered the dictionaries of many European languages ​​in 1903, is frankly shameful. Words intelligentsia(author – P. Boborykin) and disinformation are not Russian “by origin”, but they were invented precisely in Russia. From the Russian language that became their “native”, they moved into many foreign ones and became widespread throughout the world.

In conclusion, we will give several examples of the successful formation of new words that were invented by poets and writers and appeared in the Russian language relatively recently. So, the appearance of words acid, refraction, equilibrium we must M.V. Lomonosov.N.M. Karamzin enriched our language with words of influence, industry, public, generally useful, touching, entertaining, focused. Radishchev introduced the word into the Russian language citizen in its modern meaning. Ivan Panaev was the first to use the word asshole , A Igor Severyanin- word mediocrity . V. Khlebnikov and A. Kruchenykh claim to be the author of the word get crazy .

Of course, in a short article it is impossible to adequately and completely talk about the meaning of words borrowed from foreign languages. We hope that we managed to interest readers who themselves will be able to continue their fascinating journey through the vocabulary of the Russian language.