Zakharov Vladimir

The Russian language is the soul of Russia, its shrine. Our destiny is in the words we speak. That is why it is necessary to emphasize the historical processes taking place in it; based on the similarities between the Old Church Slavonic and Russian languages, using material from historical grammar to illustrate linguistic phenomena. The enrichment of the spiritual world of students is facilitated by both a comprehensive analysis of the text, which includes key concepts of Orthodox culture: home, temple, family, duty, honor, love, humility, beauty, and work on the etymology of a single word.

Download:

Preview:

Fascinating etymology or secrets of Russian words

Student's work

GBPOU RO PU No. 36 Zakharov Vladimir

Our orthography, being almost consistently etymological, provides the richest food for this. It forces you to decompose words into their component parts and look for related forms for them Sherba L.V.

Introduction

The Russian language is the soul of Russia, its shrine. Our destiny is in the words we speak. That is why it is necessary to emphasize the historical processes taking place in it; based on the similarities between the Old Church Slavonic and Russian languages, using material from historical grammar to illustrate linguistic phenomena. The enrichment of the spiritual world of students is facilitated by both a comprehensive analysis of the text, which includes key concepts of Orthodox culture: home, temple, family, duty, honor, love, humility, beauty, and work on the etymology of a single word.

1.Science etymology

Etymology - (Greek ἐ τ ῠ μολογ ί α "true meaning of the word")

The subject of etymology as a branch of linguistics is the study of the sources and process of formation of the vocabulary of a language andreconstruction vocabulary of the language of the most ancient period (usually preliterate).

Semantics, as a branch of linguistics, answers the question of how a person, knowing the words and grammatical rules of any natural language, is able to convey with their help a wide variety of information about the world (including his own inner world), even if he encounters them for the first time with such a task, and to understand what information about the world contains any statement addressed to him, even if he hears it for the first time.

IN vocabulary Each language has a significant fund of words, the connection of which form with meaning is incomprehensible to native speakers, since the structure of the word cannot be explained on the basis of the word formation models existing in the language. Historical changes in words obscure the original form and meaning of a word, andiconic the nature of the word determines the difficulty of reconstructing the primary motivation, i.e. connection between the primary form and meaning of a word. The purpose of the etymological analysis of a word is to determine when, in what language, in whatword-formation models on the basis of what linguistic material, in what form and with what meaning the word arose, as well as what historical changes in its primary form and meaning determined the form and meaning known to the researcher.

Semantics emerged as an independent linguistic discipline relatively recently, at the end of the 19th century; the term “semantics” itself to denote a branch of science was first introduced in 1883 by the French linguist M. Breal, who was interested in the historical development of linguistic meanings. Until the end of the 1950s, the term “semasiology” was also widely used along with it, now preserved only as a not very common name for one of the branches of semantics. However, questions related to the management of semantics were raised and, one way or another, resolved in the oldest linguistic traditions known to us. After all, one of the main reasons that forces us to pay attention to language is a lack of understanding of what the oral or written statement (text) addressed to us or some part of it means. Therefore, in the study of language, the interpretation of individual signs or entire texts - one of the most important activities in the field of semantics - has long had an important place. Thus, in China, even in ancient times, dictionaries were created that contained interpretations of hieroglyphs. In Europe, ancient and medieval philologists compiled glosses, i.e. interpretation of incomprehensible words in written monuments. The truly rapid development of linguistic semantics began in the 1960s; Currently, it is one of the central sections of the science of language.

In the European scientific tradition, the question of the relationship between words and “things”, the objects to which they referred, was first posed by ancient Greek philosophers, but to this day various aspects of this relationship continue to be clarified. Let us consider the relationship of the word to the “thing” more carefully.

2.Origin of words

Asphalt. I wonder what this Greek word meant before there were paved sidewalks and highways. Let's open the ancient Greek dictionary. First syllable A – denial. Noun sfalma - fall, misfortune, failure. So the underlying meaning is bad. The prefix A turns the word into its opposite, giving it a good quality. Asfaleya means: confidence, reliability, safety. Exactly with that word asphaltos was named in Ancient Greece by the resin of coniferous plants. The name comes from the resin asphalt - tarred road.

Birch. From the word white in ancient times the words “birch”, “linen”, “squirrel” originated. Birch is a tree with white bark; white squirrel - a type of squirrel of a very rare and expensive breed, named after the color of its fur; “linen from white” of the type “junk from old” originally meant undyed white linen, then linen made from this linen, then linen in general.

Nonsense. When the first shipbuilders arrived in Russia under Peter I, they spoke mainly in German, accompanying their words with intense gestures, they explained the structure of the masts, their installation, purpose, while saying hier und da, which in German means here and there . In Russian pronunciation and awareness this has turned into nonsense , which means something obscure and unnecessary.

Shabby dress.Everyday, homely, everyday. After a meal in the last century, cheap fabric was called - after the name of Zatrapeznov, in whose factory it was produced.

Clumsy . In some Russian writers you can find the word clumsy

Okay, neat: “Okay, clumsy words come by themselves” (A. Kuprin). Writers use it from popular vernacular. It comes from the ancient word man - order, beauty.

Hence the sticky and clumsy – handsome, stately; clumsy - awkward, ungraceful.

It is forbidden. What is not – it’s clear, it’s important to establish what it is lzya . It once sounded lz and was the dative case of a noun lie - Liberty. Traces of the word's existence lie we see in our modern benefit, benefit ; it no longer occurs separately.

Education. They believe that this word is a copy of the German - a picture, an image, and the whole word means enlightenment. Word education can be found in Russian church books already in the 17th century, and German influences could hardly have penetrated into them. More likely, a direct connection with Old Church Slavonicto form - to create,compose, from Slavicimage - likeness.

Forgive. The etymology of this word may seem surprising. Old Russian simple, corresponding to our simple, it meant straight, unbent. I'm sorry therefore, it mattered to straighten, and then to allow the guilty person, who had bent in an apologetic bow, to straighten up. The cry of “Forgive me!” therefore meant: “Let me raise my guilty head, get up from my knees...”. To forgive means to liberate, to make free.

Rainbow. Word rainbow recorded in Russian language dictionaries only starting from the 18th century. This word is East Slavic in origin, derived from the adjective glad meaning cheerful. First the word rainbow referred to something cheerful, and later to something shiny, sparkling. Word meaning connection rainbow meaning cheerful is also confirmed by the fact that in some regional dialects rainbow called veselka, veselukha.

River. One of the most archaic, ancient words of our language. It is related to the ancient Indian rayas - stream, current, with the Celtic renos - river, from which the geographical name Rhine arose. Probably in the mists of time river it meant a stormy stream, rapids.

Child. Such a good, sweet word, but in origin it is associated with a disgusting slave . In Old Russian timidly meant little slave, child of a slave. But a slave, or rob, then meant an orphan. Gradually, the robe acquired the meaning of just a child, and it turned into a child under the influence of assimilation.

Day. Once existed days – collision. This is precisely how this word was originally understood, as the meeting of day and night, their totality.

Drawing. This word refers to the number of native Russians. It is an old derivative of the verb draw, which in the Proto-Slavic language had the meaning of cutting, chopping something. That is, initially drawing - this is cutting through, slicing, notching, as well as a forest clearing.

In the familiar sense: “an image of some objects on paper, a plan of something” the word drawing has been used in Russian for a long time. At least since the 16th century.

Conclusion

Etymological analysis allows you to instill interest in the Russian language through entertaining exercises, developing your linguistic sense, expanding your horizons and vocabulary. Mechanical memorization of words and text without understanding and comprehension is the most difficult and uninteresting form of acquiring knowledge.

The formation of coherent speech begins with work on the word; etymological analysis has an impact on spelling literacy.

When we speak our own language, we rarely think about how the words we use originated and how their meanings may have changed over time. Etymology is the name given to the science of the history of vocabulary and the origin of words.

New words appear literally every day. Some do not linger in the language, while others remain. Words, like people, have their own history, their own destiny. They may have relatives, a rich pedigree, and, on the contrary, be orphans. A word can tell us about its nationality, its parents, its origin... So, another “portion” of words with a history of origin.

Money

If today, when we say the word “money,” we first of all think of Western currencies, then money in Rus' definitely had eastern roots. This word could have entered the Russian language in two different ways. From Iranian traders and travelers, who then used silver coins called “tenge” (Middle Persian dāng “coin”), or from the Tatar-Mongols, who a little later conquered the territory of present-day Russia for a long time.

Moreover, the source of this root in the Turkic languages, which includes the Mongol-Tatar dialect, could be three different things. Firstly, the supreme heavenly deity of the Turkic-Mongolian pantheon is Tengri. Secondly, the monetary collection from trade transactions is tamga (originally “stamp”, “seal”). By the way, our customs office also came from there. And thirdly, the Turkic coin tängä, the name of which, using a suffix, was formed from the word “tän”, meaning squirrel. In this case, we can draw an analogy with the Old Russian word “kuna” (marten), which was used to call 1/22 hryvnia. This reflects the functioning of furs as money in the early stages of social development.

Young woman

It would seem that everything is very simple: a girl is from a virgin. But if you dig deeper, it turns out that the Proto-Slavic *děva originates in the Proto-Indo-European word *dhē(i̯), which means “to suck, to feed with the help of the breast.” In this, by the way, she is close to children (children), who come from the same root. This is where the Old Russian verb “to reach” comes from - “to breastfeed.”

Boy

It's not so simple with guys either. This word most likely came from the Proto-Slavic *parę - a diminutive nickname from parobъkъ (here you can remember the Ukrainian lad), going back to “rob” (boy).

The original root here is *orbę, which also gave "child" and "slave", which developed from one of the meanings of the word "rob" - "orphan", since, according to some sources, it was originally orphans who did the most difficult housework.

Dinner

Russian words denoting meals have a fairly transparent logic of formation. Breakfast comes from the combination “for the morning,” denoting a period of time - “during the morning.”

Lunch was formed from the ancient prefix *ob- and the root *ed- and meant, in general... “to overeat.” And indeed, according to the rules of normal nutrition in our latitudes, lunch should be the largest meal.

It may seem that dinner is when all the things have ALREADY been done and you can start eating. Dahl hints to us about this in his dictionary, but still the word “dinner” comes from the Old Russian “ug”, that is, “south”. And all because they sat down to dinner when the sun moved from east to south.

Pillow

Scientists have been struggling with this word for several centuries. Dahl suggests that the pillow is something that is placed UNDER THE EAR. Vasmer, Shansky and Chernykh are sure that this is something that is filled with something (down, feathers, cotton wool and even holofiber, damn it). There are also less serious, but more emotional versions of the origin of this word: 1) what they cry into when they need to pour out their SOUL, and 2) what they STUFF with

Fool

They say that fools in their most common meaning today were born thanks to Archpriest Avvakum. So in the 17th century, in his writings, he called rhetoricians, philosophers, logicians and other “champions of demonic wisdom,” comparing them with buffoons.

However, the root from which this word comes was already ready to take on the corresponding meaning. Philologists believe that “fool” came from the Proto-Indo-European *dur (bite, sting) and at first meant “bitten”, “stung”, then transformed into “mad, crazy, sick” (from the bite) and only then turned into “bad, stupid." By the way, the ritual of initiation into buffoons also has something to do with this. According to one version, the candidate for jester had to survive a viper bite before starting his professional activity.

Bee

Who would have thought that a bee and a bull are relatives? And if from a biological point of view they are very far from each other, then philologically they are brother and sister.

The fact is that they come from the same Proto-Slavic root, which denoted a sound of a certain character. Hence, by the way, the outdated word “buchat” (buzz, buzz) and bug. The bee itself in Old Russian was written like this - bee, but after the fall of the reduced ones and the stunning of B before Ch, it acquired its current appearance.

New words appear literally every day. Some do not linger in the language, while others remain. Words, like people, have their own history, their own destiny. They may have relatives, a rich pedigree, and, on the contrary, be orphans. A word can tell us about its nationality, its parents, its origin...

Railway station

The word comes from the name of the place "Vauxhall" - a small park and entertainment center near London. The Russian Tsar, who visited this place, fell in love with it - especially the railway. Subsequently, he commissioned British engineers to build a small railway from St. Petersburg to his country residence. One of the stations on this section of the railway was called "Vokzal", and this name later became the Russian word for any railway station.

Hooligan

The word bully is of English origin. It is believed that the surname Houlihan was once borne by a famous London brawler who caused a lot of trouble for city residents and the police. The surname has become a common noun, and the word is international, characterizing a person who grossly violates public order.

Orange

Until the 16th century, Europeans had no idea about Oranges at all. Russians - even more so. Oranges don't grow here! And then Portuguese sailors brought these tasty orange balls from eastern countries. And they began to trade them with their neighbors. They, of course, asked: “Where do the apples come from?” - because we haven’t heard of oranges, but the shape of this fruit is similar to an apple. The traders answered honestly: “The apples are from China, Chinese!” The Dutch word for apple is appel, and the Chinese word for apple is sien.

Doctor

In the old days they treated with incantations, spells, and various whisperings. An ancient doctor or healer would say something like this to the patient: “Go away, disease, into the quicksand, into the dense forests...” And muttered various words over the sick person. Do you know what muttering or chatter was called until the beginning of the 19th century? Muttering and chatter were then called lies. To mumble meant to lie. He who trumpets is a trumpeter, who weaves is a weaver, and whoever lies is a doctor.

Scammer

In Rus', swindlers were not called deceivers or thieves. This was the name of the craftsmen who made the purse, i.e. wallets.

Insect

The origin of the word animal is quite obvious: from belly - “life”. But how to explain the strange name of the insect?

To answer this question, you do not need to be an entomologist, that is, a scientist who studies insects, or a linguist. It’s enough to remember what these same insects look like. Do you remember? Animals with “notches” on their bodies are insects. By the way, pure tracing paper from the French insect - from the Latin insectum “notched, with notches (animal).”

Here we will answer another simple question, why insects are called boogers. Yes, because the antennae of insects resemble goat horns. You can't call them goats - they are too small, but boogers - just right. Remember, from Chukovsky: “Little-legged goat-bug”...

Heaven

One theory is that the Russian word "heaven" comes from "ne, no" and "besa, demons" - literally a place free of evil/demons. However, another interpretation is probably closer to the truth. Most Slavic languages ​​have words similar to "sky", and they most likely originate from the Latin word for "cloud" (nebula).

Slates

In the Soviet Union, a famous manufacturer of rubber slippers was the Polymer plant in the city of Slantsy, Leningrad region. Many buyers believed that the word “Shales” embossed on the soles was the name of the shoes. Then the word entered the active vocabulary and became a synonym for the word “slippers.”

The other day

Now the word the other day is almost synonymous with the word just now and means “recently, one of these days, but I don’t remember which days.”

However, the other day comes from the Old Russian phrase onom dni (“on that day,” that is, “on that day”), which was used as a completely accurate indication of specific days that were already discussed. Something like this: on the second and third of February, someone met someone in a nearby forest, and on those same days, that is, the other day, that is, the other day, such and such happened in Paris...

In general, with the invention and spread of calendars and chronometers, all these beautiful words really became very outdated and lost their true meaning. And their use is hardly justified now. If only for a catchphrase.

Nonsense

At the end of the last century, the French doctor Gali Mathieu treated his patients with jokes. He gained such popularity that he did not have time for all the visits and sent his healing puns by mail. This is how the word “nonsense” arose, which at that time meant a healing joke, a pun.

The doctor immortalized his name, but nowadays this concept has a completely different meaning.

😉 Greetings to new and regular readers! Friends, the origin of words is a very interesting topic. We rarely think about the origin of the common words we use in conversation and writing. But they, like people, have their own history, their own destiny.

The Word can tell us about its parents, its nationality and its origin. This is what etymology deals with - the science of language.

The word (or root) whose etymology is to be determined is correlated with related words (or roots). A common producing root is revealed. As a result of removing the layers of later historical changes, the original form and its meaning are established. I present to you several stories of the origin of words in the Russian language.

The origin of some words in Russian

Aviation

From Latin avis (bird). Borrowed from French - aviation (aviation) and aviateur (aviator). These words were coined in 1863 by the photographer Nedar and the novelist Lalandelle. They flew in hot air balloons.

Emergency

A term common among seafarers and port workers. From Dutch overal (get up! everyone up!). Nowadays, emergency work is called urgent urgent work on a ship (ship), performed by its entire crew.

Scuba

It was borrowed from English. The first part is the Latin aqua - “water”, and the second is the English lung - “lung”. The modern meaning of the word scuba is “an apparatus for breathing under water. It consists of compressed air cylinders and a breathing apparatus.”

Scuba diving was invented in 1943 by the famous French navigator and explorer J.I. Cousteau and E. Gagnan.

Alley

In Russian, the word “alley” has been used since the beginning of the 18th century. From the French verb aller - “to go, to walk.” The word “alley” is used to mean “a road lined with trees and bushes on both sides.”

Pharmacy

The word was known in Russian already at the end of the 15th century. The Latin apotheka goes back to the Greek original - apotheka, derived from apotithemi - “I put aside, hide.” Greek - apotheka (warehouse, storehouse).

Asphalt

Greek - asphaltos (mountain tar, asphalt). In Russian, the word “asphalt” has been known since ancient Russian times as the name of a mineral. And from the beginning of the 16th century. the word “asphalt” already occurs with the meaning “building material”.

Bank

Italian - banco (bench, money changer's counter), later "office", which came from the Germanic languages ​​from bank ("bench").

Bankrupt

The original source is the old Italian combination bankca rotta, literally “broken, broken bench” (counter, office). This is due to the fact that initially the offices of ruined bankers declared bankrupt were destroyed.

Banquet

Italian - banketto (bench around a table). In Russian - since the 17th century. Now "banquet" means "a formal lunch or dinner party."

Wardrobe

It is borrowed from French, where garderob - from - “to store” and robe - “dress”. The word came to be used in two meanings:

1. Dress storage cabinet
2. Storage space for outerwear in public buildings

Nonsense

At the end of the last century, the French doctor Gali Mathieu treated his patients with jokes. He gained such popularity that he did not have time for all the visits. He sent his healing puns by mail. This is how the word “nonsense” arose, which at that time meant a healing joke, a pun.

Blinds

French - jalousie (envy, jealousy).

Conclusion

Origin of words: where did they come from, from what languages ​​of the world do words come into the Russian language? There are many such languages, but first of all, we need to name the languages ​​Greek and Latin.

A large number of terms and scientific and philosophical vocabulary were borrowed from them. All this is not accidental. Greek and Latin are ancient languages ​​of highly cultured peoples that have influenced the culture of the whole world.

Reports and messages on the Russian language

On topic: ETYMOLOGY

Words, like people, have their own history, their own destiny. They may have relatives, a rich pedigree, and, on the contrary, be orphans. A word can tell us about its nationality, its parents, its origin.

Etymology- a branch of the science of language that studies the origin of words. Etymology also studies all the changes that occur in the life of words. And changes in language occur constantly: new words appear, new meanings for long-familiar words, and sometimes it even happens that a word suddenly changes its sound. For example, the words “bee”, “bull” and “bug”, it turns out, come from the same word “buchat”. Now this word has left the language, forgotten by everyone, but once it was familiar to everyone and was used in the meaning of “buzz”, “buzz”. And today it would not occur to anyone to call a bull, a bee and a bug as relative words, although etymologically this is so.

Some words changed not their sound, but their meaning. For example, today we call a guest a person who came to visit us, but in ancient times this was the name given to a visiting merchant (it was Tsar Saltan who called such guests to him in A. Pushkin’s fairy tale).

Once upon a time the word dashing meant “bad”, “evil”, but today it is used in almost the opposite meaning - “daring”, “brave”.

One more example. Today, the word infection has 2 meanings: it means a curse word, and is also used to mean “the source of an infectious disease.” But at the end of the 18th century, the word infection was used to mean “charm”, “attractiveness”.

In a word, this science is very interesting - etymology! And it often happens that the story of the origin of a word turns out to be more fascinating than another detective story.

You will learn about the origin of some words, as well as stable phrases (they are called phraseological units) in our language by reading the following pages.

Palm

Our ancestors once sounded the word palm completely differently: dolon. And the meaning of the word was this: the side of the hand facing the valley (that is, down, towards the ground). Over time, a rearrangement of sounds occurred in the word dolon, and it began to sound differently: lodon. And then (under the influence of the dominant Akanya in the literary language) the unstressed vowel o in the word turned into a: palm. This is how the modern spelling and pronunciation of this familiar word came about.

However, related words still live in the language in their original form: dolina (lowland), podol (bottom of clothing), Podolsk (city in the lowland of the river).

Umbrella

Everyone knows and understands this word - it would seem that it is the most ordinary. But it also has an interesting story.

It came to us from Holland, having traveled across 2 seas, along with the umbrella itself, which in Dutch is called “zonnedek”, which means “tire” or “cover from the sun”. But the word “zonnedek” turned out to be extremely inconvenient and unusual for our pronunciation. Therefore, they began to remake it in the Russian way: they began to pronounce it according to the model of the words bow and kantik that already existed in the language.

So from the zonnedecks we got an umbrella. The resulting word even began to lead its own independent life. When they want to talk about a large umbrella, they change it again according to the model: bow - bow, edging - edging, umbrella - umbrella. The result was the word umbrella, as you can see, even less similar to the word zonnedek, borrowed from the Dutch.

Carousel

Of course, you have ridden on wooden horses or in carousel boats more than once, but you probably haven’t wondered why, in addition to ordinary seats, there are wooden horses and boats on the carousel? And it was not by chance that the boats and horses got on the carousel.

Several centuries ago, during the Middle Ages, there were magnificent knightly festivals - tournaments. Armed knights, clad in iron, riding on powerful horses, entered into single combat with each other. Often such knightly fights ended in death, but they did not see anything special in this, and did not even consider such an outcome a crime. The French king Henry II once also decided to take part in a knightly tournament and compete with the famous knight Montgomery in strength and dexterity. This tournament took place in 1559, and King Henry II was mortally wounded. Since then, knightly tournaments have been banned. Instead, they began to organize ceremonial races in a circle. Such races were called "carousel" (from the Italian words carola - round dance and sella - saddle), which literally means "round dance in the saddle."

The most brilliant carousels were staged in Paris during the reign of King Louis XIV. In front of the royal palace of the Tuileries, magnificently dressed horsemen rode with their luxurious ladies. They divided into parties, came together and left, forming beautiful figures.

During the French Revolution of 1789, carousels were invented that were more accessible to the common people - revolving structures with horses and boats. The carousel has survived in this form to this day.

Pull the gimp

When we do something very slowly, they say about us: “It’s a drag.” This expression comes from the recent past, when in Rus' metal thread was used for embroidery in needlework. It took a lot of work for the craftsmen to pull such a thread from a hot wire. This thread was called "gimp". Embroidering with it was also very difficult, slow and painstaking work. It was then that the expression “pull the gimp” was born. Now no one knows what the gimp looked like, and needlewomen have not embroidered this way for a long time, but the expression in the language has been preserved.

Easier than steamed turnips

Turnip- the most ancient vegetable in Rus'. Our ancestors loved raw, boiled and steamed turnips. The turnip dish was quick and very easy to prepare. Since then, the expression simpler than steamed turnips has come into being. This is what they say about something that is easy to do.

Register Izhitsa

Izhitsa- the ancient name of the last letter of the ancient Slavic alphabet.

How is this letter connected with the threat of punishment? After all, registering an Izhitsa means “to teach a lesson, to punish,” and also “to make a reprimand to someone.”

This expression arose in the old school environment, in Bursak everyday life. But the thing is that in the ancient Slavic alphabet there were 3 very insidious letters: fita, yat and izhitsa - they became symbols of the difficulty of writing. These letters were written in several words (or several dozen words), which had to be remembered, memorized, memorized. “Fita makes our stomachs ache,” said students in the old days who were mastering the intricacies of literacy. At that time, Fita was the name given to a school literate person, a nerd who through incredible efforts had mastered complex skills. And about lazy people they said this: “Fita and Izhitsa - the whip is approaching the lazy one.” To register Izhitsa literally meant “to flog with rods for not learning.”

It is curious that in its external image the Izhitsa resembled an inverted whip or a bunch of rods. This is, in all likelihood, where the humorous and ironic spelling of Izhitsa arose.

Over time, this expression went beyond school jargon and acquired a more general meaning: “to severely punish someone, to teach someone a lesson.” Now it is usually used as an expression of threat and is synonymous with phraseological units: show where crayfish spend the winter; show Kuzka's mother.

There is no truth in my feet

“Sit down, there is no truth at your feet,” this is what the Russian people have long said.

There are different versions of the origin of this expression. An expert in the folk language and an interpreter of Russian catchphrases, S. Maksimov connects the phrase truth in feet with the medieval Russian judicial custom, which was called pravezh. Pravezh is not even a trial, but rather a reprisal against the debtor, in which he was beaten on his bare feet and heels or forced to stand in the snow without boots or bast shoes. At that time, such sayings as looking for the truth in one’s feet appeared; the soul has sinned, but the feet are to blame; give time, don't knock me down and some others.

Over time, the truth became a thing of the past, but the memory of it remained in popular speech, in its living use, and the expression in the feet of no truth even became humorous. Indeed, in the old days, a man who came into the house and stood, shifting from foot to foot, did not know where to start, resembled a debtor on the right. That’s when a humorous saying came to the rescue, inviting the guest to sit down and start a leisurely conversation: sit down, there is no truth in your legs, that is, “there is no need to stand on ceremony, let’s sit side by side and talk smoothly.” Many expressions familiar to us are actually associated with ancient and long-forgotten customs, beliefs and rituals.

Cow and loaf

In ancient times, a word for people was not just a designation of objects and concepts - it was a symbol. People were sure that the word had magical powers, that they could prevent evil and summon good luck. Do you want to know why, for example, we don’t call cow meat by the word Korovina? Where did the word beef even come from? And what does the word beef have in common with the word loaf?

In the language of the ancient Indo-Europeans, there was one word to designate any livestock - beef. And the word cow had the meaning of “horned beef.” And in those ancient times, people raised cows not for meat and milk, but for sacrifices to their gods. And only when people began to consume cow's milk, they replaced the real animal in the rituals of sacrifice with a horned figure baked from dough - a cow. It was believed that such a sacrifice should bring happiness and prosperity, so they sentenced it like this:

Like on our name days
We baked a loaf!
That's how tall it is!
That's how tall it is!
Loaf, loaf,
Choose whoever you want!

Now it’s hard to believe that the words cow and loaf are somehow connected with each other. But in fact, the word loaf was formed from the word cow.

Mittens, gloves, mittens

It is believed that of all the words listed, the most ancient is mittens. The antiquity of this word is indicated by its distribution in all or almost all Slavic languages ​​- in Polish, Slovak, Czech, Bulgarian and Serbo-Croatian.

The word mitten is made up of 2 roots: the first root is easy to define - this is hand, the second is known in our verb vit. It turns out that a mitten means “wrapping the hand.” It is interesting that in many Slavic languages ​​there is a word nogavitsa - the name for special clothing on the leg, that is, “wrapping the leg.” In the Slovak language, nogavics are “trousers, trousers”, Poles and Czechs call nogavics “pants legs”, in the Slovenian language nogavits are “stockings or socks”. And in the monuments of ancient Russian writing, both words are often found - legs and mittens.

But with the word gloves the story is different. At first, the language used the phrase ring or finger mittens (this name can be found in the Smolensk charter of 1229). Over time, the phrase was replaced by the single word gloves, but the old root finger, that is, “finger,” is clearly visible everywhere. Gloves are mittens with fingers (with fingers).

But there is even more than one version regarding the origin of the word mittens. For example, M. Vasmer believed that the word mittens and the word varega, known in Russian dialects, were formed from the combination Varangian mittens. Another version (enshrined in the Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language edited by N. Shansky) says that the words varega and mittens are derived from the Old Russian verbs variti and varovati, used in the meaning of “guard, protect.” But there is also an even simpler explanation for the origin of these words. If we look at the wide range of names of mittens known in regional Russian dialects, then among these names, it turns out, there are many words associated with the processes of processing wool and making mittens. These are the names: faggots, braids, felted mittens, katanki (rolled mittens). This also includes varegs, mittens, formed by the name of the process - to cook (that is, to boil). The fact is that finished knitted wool products were brewed in boiling water to make them stronger and warmer. It turns out that mittens are “boiled mittens.” In Dahl's dictionary the following saying is given: “Need has made the mitten akin to the warga.” What does it mean? It turns out that special names for upper mittens and lower mittens were once widespread in the Russian language. Of course, most often such names are found in the North, the Urals and Siberia - where 2 pairs of mittens are often worn at once. There are such local names: tops, tops, bottoms. And in some areas, mittens are called upper leather or cloth mittens, and vargs, mittens, are lower, knitted ones. Hence, apparently, the expression recorded by Dahl.

Red

In the famous saying, the hut is not red in its corners, but red in its pies; the adjective red means “good, pleasant.” And such outdated expressions as red bird, red beast mean “the best bird” or “the best animal,” that is, “the best and most expensive bird or animal preferred by hunters.” Dahl wrote in his dictionary: “Red game, tall, all types of snipe, also roe deer, swan, capercaillie and others; red game is a bear, wolf, fox, lynx and others.”

In modern Russian, much evidence has been preserved about the ancient meaning of the word red. First of all, this is, of course, a constant epithet in folk poetic speech: the maiden is beautiful, the songs are red. Red here means "beautiful, lovely, pleasant." In N. Nekrasov's poem "Peasant Children" there are lines in which the word red is used in this meaning:

Play, children, grow up in freedom,
That's why you were given a wonderful childhood.

In the ancient names, red gate, red corner, the adjective red means “decorated” and “honorary, ceremonial.” The same meaning is contained in the proper names Krasnoye Selo and Red Square.

The meanings “best, pleasant”, “beautiful, decorated” were the very first meanings of the adjective red.

A completely different word was used to denote color - red. This was the case in Old Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian. And only from the 18th century a new, color meaning of the adjective red appeared in Russian dictionaries. It became its main meaning. The ancient, primary meaning is preserved only in stable expressions and phrases.

In the 19th century, the adjective red acquired another meaning - “revolutionary”. The name Red Banner spread into European languages ​​during the 1848 revolution. Soon the word became firmly established in this meaning in the Russian language.

Now, in modern Russian, the adjective red is not only a very expressive, but also a polysemantic word.

Pigalitsa

What does the word pigalitsa mean? This word has 2 meanings. Pigalitsa is the name given to a small bird, lapwing. But a person of small stature, inconspicuous, is also often called a pigalite. Scientists believe that this is an onomatopoeic word - that is, it arose in the language as an onomatopoeia to the cry of a lapwing. And the lapwing screams like this: pi-gi, ki-gi!

"Reports and messages on the Russian language" V.A. Krutetskaya. Additional materials, useful information, interesting facts. Elementary School.