Semantic Reconstruction of the Borrowed Word Park in the Russian Language

The article introduces a new methodology of semasiological analysis. The method traces lexical-semantic groups for changes in their nuclear semes by exploiting the dynamics of semantic changes at the level of elementary semantic components, which further affects the conceptual profile of the word. Semantic reconstruction is the first step to understanding the semantic route that a linguistic borrowing follows from its first records through all its adaptations. The authors constructed a methodological frame for a comprehensive semasiological analysis of English-language borrowings using the word park that entered the Russian language during the reign of Peter the Great. The method took into account such parameters as frequency and prevalence; it proved effective in explicating the adaptation processes through the external semantic reconstruction of the word and its typology. The word park entered the Russian language system in the first half of the 18th century. Its reconstruction was described in this article stage by stage. First, the authors compared the meanings of the original word park with the semantic composition of the borrowed word park to determine its semantic volume and function range during the early adaptation. The nuclear semes of the lexical-semantic group of the borrowed word and its English language etymon demonstrated a certain discrepancy between the original and borrowed meanings. Second, the authors traced the semantic development in dynamics. As the semantic emphasis shifted from the nuclear component of the original lexical-semantic group to the clarifying component in the borrowed word, it triggered a change in the conceptual basis of the borrowed word. The component analysis of the borrowing was supplemented with contextual examples from the Petrine era in order to prevent distorted perception and asynchrony.

1. Agapkina T. A., Berezovich E. L., Surikova O. D. Toponyms in the charms of the Russian North. II: Lands. Mountains. Islands. Cities. Voprosy Onomastiki, 2018, 15(2): 28–69. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.15826/vopr_onom.2018.15.2.014

2. Baranov A. N. Magical discursive practices in Russian public discourse. Vestnik Volgogradskogo Gosudarstvennogo Universiteta. Seriya 2. Yazykoznanie, 2024, 23(3): 17–28. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.15688/jvolsu2.2024.3.2

3. Berezovich E. L., Malkova Ya. V. "Tense" sounds in ritualism and magic (based on materials of cultural and linguistic tradition of Kostroma region). Ural'skij Istoriceskij Vestnik, 2024, (2): 24–33. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.30759/1728-9718-2024-2(83)-24-33

4. Glukhova N. N. Common and distinctive features of Russian and Mari Charms. Ryabinin Readings 2015: Proc. VII Conf. on Cultural Heritage of Russian North, Petrozavodsk, 7–11 Sep 2015. Petrozavodsk: Kizhi State Open Air Museum, 2015, 274–276. (In Russ.)

5. Goncharova E. S. Magic discourse as suggestive type of communication. Vestnik Volgogradskogo Gosudarstvennogo Universiteta. Seriya 2. Yazykoznanie, 2012, (2): 167–170. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/puapvx

6. Zavyalova M. V. Balto-Slavic charm text: Linguistic analysis and world model. Moscow: Nauka, 2006, 562. (In Russ.)

7. Charms from the archival sources (the 18th – the first third of the 20th centuries). Vol. 1. European Russia, comp. Agapkina T. A. Moscow: Indrik, 2023, 512. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.31168/91674-721-8

8. Charms from the archival sources (the 18th – the first third of the 20th centuries). Vol. 2. Siberia. The Urals. European North, comps. Ippolitova A. B., Toporkov A. L. Moscow: Indrik, 2024, 536. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.31168/91674-722-5

9. Kulikovskaya E. N. Semi-performative verbs in Russian charms: Criteria and argumentation for selection. Art Logos, 2021, (2): 160–167. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.35231/25419803_2021_2_160

10. Moskvina V. A. The semantic field of wood ritual objects in the Russian spell rite. Ethnic Culture, 2024, 6(1): 25–30. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.31483/r-109022

11. Skorik K. V. Semiotic status of objects and their functioning in the anglo-saxon and Russian charms. Litera, 2021, (4): 204–210. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.25136/2409-8698.2021.4.35272

12. Russian charms in manuscripts of 17th – First Half of 19th Century, comp. Toporkov A. L. Moscow: Indrik, 2010, 832. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/qponsn

13. Toporkov A. L. Problems of publishing and commenting on Russian magical folklore. Fol'klor: Struktura, Tipologiia, Semiotika, 2024, 7(2): 81–108. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.28995/2658-5294-2024-7-2-81-108

14. Austin J. L. How to do things with words. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1962, 167.

15. Conrad J. L. Russian ritual incantations: Tradition, diversity, and continuity. The Slavic and East European Journal, 1989, 33(3): 422–444. https://doi.org/10.2307/308729

16. Ezzy D. New age witchcraft? Popular spell books and the re-enchantment of everyday life. Culture and Religion, 2003, 4(1): 47–65. https://doi.org/10.1080/01438300302813

17. Forrester S. Russian village magic in the late Soviet period: One woman’s repertoire of Zagovory. Russian History, 2013, 40(3-4): 540–558. https://doi.org/10.1163/18763316-04004017

18. Fujiwara J. Rediscovery of the ‘reality’ of magic: The revival of magic in post-socialist Russia. Inner Asia, 2010, 12(1): 143–156. https://doi.org/10.1163/146481710792710273

19. Ioffe D. East-European critical thought myth, religion, and magic versus literature, sign and narrative. Religions, 2021, 12(9). https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12090717

20. Ippolitova A. B. Sacred and profane: Tabooing in Russian magical manuscripts of the 17th–18th centuries (incantations and herbal manuals). Religions, 2021, 12(7). https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12070482

21. Khristoforova O. B. "We live in the country of the Victorious Kafka": Witchcraft and magic in present-day Russia. Martor. The Museum of the Romanian Peasant Anthropology Review, 2023, (28): 31–55.

22. Krasheninnikova Iu. Charms and incantational magic of the Northern Russians (in records of the early twenty-first century). FOLKLORICA – Journal of the Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Folklore Association, 2009, 14: 31–48. https://doi.org/10.17161/folklorica.v14i0.3816

23. Krivenko E. Performativity in French, English and Russian voice and silent charms. The European Proceedings of Social & Behavioural Sciences (EpSBS), Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, 1–3 Apr 2021, vol. 118, 360–367. https://doi.org/10.15405/epsbs(2357-1330).2021.12.1

24. Kulikovskaya E. N. Intentionality and addressness of performative verbs in Russian charm texts. Incantatio, 2022, (10): 71–83. https://doi.org/10.7592/Incantatio2022_10_Kulikovskaya

25. Language, Culture, and Society: Key topics in linguistic anthropology, eds. Jourdan C., Tuite K. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006, 364.

26. Tavárez D. E. Ritual language. The Cambridge Handbook of Linguistic Anthropology, eds. Enfield N. J., Kockelman P., Sidnell J. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014, 516–536. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139342872.024

27. Yudin A. V. Christian saints in Russian incantations: Onomasticon and functions. Religions, 2021, 12(8). https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12080556