Russian social and political vocabulary of the 1980-90s
The work may be of any help for students, teachers of English and all those who are interested in the linguistic contacts between the Russian and English languages.
Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………
Chapter 1. Historisms and neologisms ………………………………………………….
Chapter 2. Realias and loan words …………………………………….………………...
Chapter 3. The ways of translation ……………………………………………………....
Chapter 4. Assimilation of loan words …………………………………………………..
Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………….
INTRODUCTION
The 1980-90s, the times, when our country was grappling with a mounting economic, social and political crisis. Realizing the old system’s inability to meet modern-day challenges we had to radically shake up the social and political system of Russia. Those years became worldwide known as “perestroika”. Another sign of the times is to be seen in the fact that Perestroika has caused some changes in the language, especially in its lexicology. Meeting society’s demand of nominating new objects and notions, Russian vocabulary has been producing new words and at the same time getting rid of obsolete ones or at least pushing them to the periphery of the word stock.
The present research work deals with the Russian social and political vocabulary of the 1980-90s. The goal of our work is to make a comparative research of two lexical groups of words – the Russian native lexicon and borrowings from English – and to examine:
the period during which the words have been used and their frequency;
ways of their translation into another language;
the assimilation in the receiving language.
As sources of the Russian social and political word stock (and their English equivalents) have been used “MOSCOW NEWS”, “ENGLISH”, “FINANCIAL TIMES”, “DAILY TELEGRAPH”, “USA TODAY”, ”THE NEW YORK TIMES” newspapers (1985-1998).
The work may be of any help for students, teachers of English and all those who are interested in the linguistic contacts between the Russian and English languages. Our research work is closely connected with history of Russia, so it should be considered the historical period of 1985-1994:
1985 – Mikhail Gorbachev’s rise to power became the biggest highlight of the year. Then the youngest member of country’s ruling Politburo, Gorbachev made attempts to reform the political and economical life of the Soviet Union and a household word “perestroika” became worldwide.
1990 – In July the Soviet Communist party held its last (28th) congress. The Young Communist and Young Pioneer Leagues had virtually ceased to exist as spin – offs of the fact – declining CPSU. During the Congress of People’s Deputies, Mikhail Gorbachev was elected President of the Soviet Union.
1991- On August 19 state radio and television made an announcement saying that full power was reverting to the State Emergency Committee. The leader of the largest Soviet republic, the Russian Federation , Boris Yeltsin, spearheaded public resistance. The plotters were all arrested. The further unravelling of once – united country prompted the leaders of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus to meet at the Viskuli State Residence near Brest, and establish the Commonwealth of Independent States. On December 25 Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as the first and last Soviet president.
1993 – The Congress of People’s Deputies and the Supreme Soviet were blocking everything that was coming from the President and the government. On October 3 and 4 the conflicting political side made an attempt to storm the Ostankino TV center, forcing the President to declare a citywide state of emergency. After the tragic events of Moscow, President Yeltsin virtually shut down the Soviets of People’s Deputies.
1994 – the first days of the new parliament.
CHAPTER 1. HISTORISMS AND NEOLOGISMS.
In the last decades of the 20th century Russia is a country of contrasts and deep-cutting reforms. Historical events of that time have been reflected with Russian vocabulary, especially with social and political word stock: it has been growing and changing rapidly, old words have been replaced by new ones.
In this connection lexicon of the 80-90s may be divided into obsolete words and neologisms. Among obsolete words we can find historisms – disappeared word units, because the things named are no longer used. Their names become for social relations, institutions and objects of material culture of the past.
According to the period of word’s disappearance Russian vocabulary of the 80-90s may be subdivided into historisms of the Soviet era: комсомол, колхоз, чекист, советы, Съезд народных депутатов, Верховный совет, большевик, Чека, НКВД, КГБ, ГТО, Политбюро, РСФСР, СССР, пятилетка, пионер and historisms of Perestroika – time: гласность, перестройка, демократизация, хозрасчет, президент СССР, президент РСФСР, путчист, гекачепист, постсоветское пространство and others. The social and political word stock of that time is rich in neologisms: Дума, Совет Федерации, Федеральное собрание, ФСБ, Белый дом, «новые русские», боевики, спикер, импичмент, истеблишмент, ect. сan offer many examples. The number of words in a language is not constant, the increase, as a rule more that makes up for the leak-out. This way among social and political lexicon of the 80-90s we find mainly neologisms. There are also a huge number of historisms.
CHAPTER 2. REALIAS AND LOAN WORDS.
According to the origin the social and political wordstock may be subdivided into two main sets. The elements of one denote some specific realias – objects and notions peculiar to our country and alien to other nations. The elements of the other are borrowed. It should be mentioned that a much bigger part of realias is formed by Soviet words: комсомол, пионер, большевик, совхоз, колхоз, чекист, советы, Верховный совет, советский, Съезд народных депутатов, Съезд советов, пятилетка, райсовет, облсовет, горком, облком. We can find some realias among
words of the perestroika- time : гласность, перестройка, хозрасчет, гекачепист. And there are very few realias in the modern Social and political vocabulary : Дума, Совет Федерации. In contrast to native elements modern social and political lexicon has a huge number of loan words taken from another language: парламент, спикер, импичмент, спонсор, инногурация, истеблишмент, киднепинг, саммит, менеджер, ноу-хау ect. Among historisms a number of borrowings is much limited: президент СССР, президент РСФСР. As a result the social and political words- from the Soviet period up to modern history – lose gradually specific features of national coloring and become more and more alien. Different languages, mainly European, are sources of newcomers in the Russian vocabulary. The present work deals exceptionally with borrowings from English.
The term “ source of borrowing” should be distinguished from the term “origin of borrowing”. The first should be applied to the language from which the loan word was taken into Russian. The second, on the other hand, refers to the language to which the word may be traced. The word инновация < Eng innovation < Lat innovatio has English as its source of borrowing and Latin as its origin.
CHAPTER 3. THE WAYS OF TRANSLATION.
We distinguish some ways in the process of translation:
1) transcribing – word’s copying according to its pronunciation
2) transliteration is letter-for-letter word’s copying
3) Translation loans are words and expressions formed by way of literal morphem-for-morphem or word-for-word translation.
4) Descriptive translation is not based on the material of translating word.
I. Transliteration and transcribing are often used by translation of Russian realias.
Examples of transliteration are: перестройка – perestroika
гласность - glasnost
Дума - Duma
комсомол – Komsomol
ФСБ -- FSB
КГБ – KGB
НКВД -- NKVD
ГТО – GTO
спутник - sputnik
Examples of transcribing are: большевик - bolshevik
Чека - Cheka
чекист - chekist
совхоз - sovkhoz
колхоз – kolkhoz
хозрасчет -- khozraschot
Политбюро -- Politburo
боевики -- boyeviki
демократизация -- demokratizatsiya
Translation loans are formed from the material already existing in the English language but according to patterns taken from Russian. They can be subdivided into subgroups:
a) word formative loan translation is literal morpheme-for-morpheme translation of Russian words:“ пятилетка”(пятилетний план) - Five-Year-Plan
колхоз - collective farm
совхоз - state farm
райком – district committee
Политбюро – Politbureau
b) phraseological loan translation is word-for-word translation of Russian expressions:
Съезд Советов – Congress of Soviet
Совет Федерации – Federation Council
Федеральное Собрание – Federal Assembly
СНГ (Содружество Независимых Государств) – CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States)
КГБ – the State Security Committee
ФСБ – the Federal Security Service
Белый дом – the White House
«новые русские» -- “new Russians”
Loan translation is facilitated by the existence of formally related words, even though in other contexts and with a different meaning: Supreme Council as a synonym for Верховный Совет.
c) Semantic loan is used to denote the development in an English word of a new meaning due to the influence of a related word in the Russian language. The English word pioneer meant
‘explorer’ and ‘ one who is among the first in new fields of activity’; now under the influence of the Russian world пионер it has come to mean ‘ a member of the Young Pioneers’ Organization’.
The following examples can illustrate descriptive translation: путчист – member of the State Emergency Committee, боевик – Chechen fighter (rebel fighter)
II. As for borrowings from English most of them were taken into Russian by way of transcribing:
impeachment - импичмент
know – how – ноу - хау
establishment - истеблишмент
speaker - спикер
Another way of translation is transliteration:
killer – киллер
sponsor – спонсор
There are also some translation loans:
Euro + parliament – европарламент
press-secretary – пресс-секретарь
So English words are usually borrowed into Russian by way of transcribing. As for modern social and political vocabulary of Russia it is traced into English by way of loan translation. Transcribing and transliteration are more often used by translation of Russian realias.
CHAPTER 4. ASSIMILATION OF LOAN WORDS.
Part of the borrowed words may be assimilated in receiving language. The term assimilation of a loan word is used to denote a partial or total conformation to the phonetical, graphical and morphological standards of receiving language and its semantic system. The degree of assimilation depends upon the length of period during which the word has been used in the receiving language, upon its importance for communication purpose and its frequency. Oral borrowings due to personal contacts are assimilated more completely and more rapidly then literary borrowings, i.e. borrowings through written speech.
According to the degree of assimilation social and political words can be divided into the following groups:
1) completely assimilated:
Russian realias which become international not limited to one language (bolshevik, soviet, sputnik) and English international words (president, speaker). These words are known for readers, so they need no explanation in context.
…Vladimir Lenin, the former Bolshevik leader, …
FINANCIAL TIMES April 27, 1998
…”He looked like Chernenko,” said L. Radzikhovsky referring to the Soviet leader…
THE NEW YORK TIMES August 29, 1998
2) partially assimilated loan words can be subdivided into subgroups:
a) borrowing into English not assimilated semantically, because they denote objects and notions pecular to the country from which they come (the Kremlin, KGB). These words also need no explanation in context.
…The Kremlin says it will present his candidacy again…
DAILY TELEGRAGH April 8, 1998
… secret KGB archives makes a number of shocking cold war – era claims…
USA TODAY September 13 , 1999
b) Gorbachev’s reforms have so swiftly captured the Western imagination that two key Russian terms in this area have already developed wider metaphorical meanings in English and grown English adjectival endings (glasnostian and perestroikan).
…Many Poliish-Americans were left wondering what glasnostian brainstorm within the top Polish leadership resulted in Pietrzak’s being permitted to travel abroad. …
DAILY TELEGRAPH April 5, 1988
…But behind these raids is a story that might make Mr Gorbachev reach for his perestroikan sword. …
DAILY TELEGRAPH August 12, 1988
Glasnost and perestroika have been the Russian buzzwords of the 1980s, and have well and truly colonized English. These words may be used in context without relation to political events in Russia by analogy for any sort of organizational restructuring.
…Stockbrokers, merchant banks and Euro market firms are hiring management consultants as fast as they lay off idle traders… This perestroika should be good for the city’s long- term health and reputation.
ECONOMIST June 25, 1988
… Proposals put forward at the gathering have now been transmitted to newsrooms and
programme staff throughout the BBC, who have now dubbed them “John Birt’s Glasnost”.
DAILY TELEGRAPH July 8, 1987
3) The so-called barbarisms, i.e. words from other languages used in conversation or in writing but not assimilated in any way, and for which there are corresponding equivalents (Russian word модерновый «современный» taken from English word “ modern”).
CONCLUSION
The present work has dealt with the Russian social and political vocabulary of the 80-90s. As a result have been considered two lexical groups of words – the Russian native lexicon and the borrowings from English.
In the work we’ve tried to make a comparative research of these groups and to examine:
the period during which the words have been used and their frequency;
ways to their translation into another language;
the assimilation in the receiving language.
The social and political wordstock of Russia consists mainly of neologisms. There are also a number of historisms which belong to different historical periods: the Soviet era and the perestroika- time. According to the origin the social and political vocabulary has been divided into words which denote some specific realias and loan words. We’ve come to a conclusion that the Russian the social and political words lose gradually – from the Soviet period up to modern history - specific features of national coloring and become more and more alien. Political events in Russia have also caused some changes in English lexicology and appearance of new English words.
As a result of the research work have been described the ways of translation into another language. So English words are usually borrowed into Russian by way of transcribing. As for modern social and political word stock of Russia it is traced into English by way of loan translation. Transcribing and transliteration are more often used by translation Russian realias.
In conclusion of the work has been studied assimilation of loan words to the morphological standards and its semantic system. In the research work have also been described international words and barbarisms.
The work may be of any help for students, teachers of English and all those who are interested in linguistic contacts between the Russian and English languages.
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