History of words sosulya and sosul’ka

The article offers an overview of reference and encyclopedic in for mation on words sosulya and sosul’ka (icicle) that have been widely discussed in public between 2010 and 2016. Analysis of data from various sources allowed us to better defi ne functional, semantic and stylistic features of the two words. First written occurrences of these words known to us date back to the end of the 16th, beginning of the 17th century. Offi cial handwritten household and boundary records and diplomatic documents of the Moscow state list them as anthroponyms — people’s nicknames and surnames. Descrip tions in vocabulary and historiographic sources on everyday traditions in Russia testify that sosulya and other derivatives from sosat’ (to suck) served to refer to small babies and to items that helped in nursing them. Words sosulya and sosul’ka were also used to denote some kinds of gingerbread pastries and sweets. In dialects they sometimes refer to smoking utensils. First written confi rmation of using the ice-related meaning in everyday speech date to 18th century. Soon both words made their way into book language with applied focus, which helped to formally establish their functions. Sources from later centuries demonstrate semantic and stylistic variation of both words even though their lexicographic descriptions are discrete and incomplete. Comparative data from other Slavic languages and from northern Russian dialects, as well as comprehensive functional analysis, allow us to raise the standalone question of etymology of ice-related lexemes. New data, especially about the language of the 15th–17th centuries, could help us shed light on obscure pages of history of the two words and the productive verbal nomination *sъpsati.

Keywords

historical lexicology, lexicography, dictionaries, Russian dialects, ety mology, semantics, norms of speech

Received

24.09.2019

Publication date

25.09.2019

Number of characters

20349

Cite

GOST	Gekkina E. History of words sosulya and sosul’ka // Russkaya Rech’ – 2019. – Issue 5 C. 22-33 [Electronic resource]. URL: http://ras.jes.su/rusrech/s013161170005689-6-1-en (circulation date: 25.04.2024). DOI: 10.31857/S013161170005689-6
MLA	Gekkina, Elena N "History of words sosulya and sosul’ka." Russkaya Rech’ 5 (2019):22-33. DOI: 10.31857/S013161170005689-6
APA	Gekkina E. (2019). History of words sosulya and sosul’ka. Russkaya Rech’ (5), pp.22-33 DOI: 10.31857/S013161170005689-6

100 rub.

When subscribing to an article or issue, the user can download PDF, evaluate the publication or contact the author. Need to register.

Number of purchasers: 2, views: 3554

Readers community rating: votes 0

1. Berdinskih V. A. Krest’yanskaya civilizaciya v Rossii [Peasant civilization in Russia]. Moscow, Agraf Publ., 2001. 427 р.

2. Chernykh P. Ya. Istoriko-etimologicheskii slovar’ sovremennogo russkogo yazyka. V 2-kh tomakh. [Historical-etymological dictionary of the modern Russian language in 2 vols.]. Moscow, Russkii yazyk Publ., 1993.

3. Fasmer M. Etimologicheskii slovar’ russkogo yazyka. Tom 3 [Etymological dictionary of the Russian language. Vol. 3]. Moscow, Progress Publ., 1971. 827 p.

4. Gerd A. S. (ed). Slovar’ russkih govorov Karelii i sopredel’nyh oblastej [Dictionary of Russian dialects of Karelia and adjacent regions], iss. 6, St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg’s university Publ., 2005. 992 p.

5. Hohlova N. V. Leksicheskoe znachenie i vnutrennyaya forma slova kak sposoby konceptualizacii mira prirody (na materiale govorov Arhangel’skoj oblasti) [Lexical meaning and internal form of the word as ways of conceptualization of the world of nature (by the material of the dialects of the Arkhangelsk region)]. Ph. D. thesis. Arhangel’sk, 2004. 380 p.

6. Lichutin V. V. Raskol. Voznesenie [Split. Historical novel in 3 books. Book 3. Ascension]. Moscow, Informpechat’ Publ., 2000. 799 p.

7. Panikarovskaya T. G. (ed.). Slovar’ vologodskih govorov [Dictionary of Vologda dialects], iss. 10, Vologodskii state pedagogical institute, Vologda, Legiya Publ., 2005. 181 p.

8. Slovar’ russkih narodnyh govorov [Dictionary of the Russian folk dialects]. AN SSSR, Russian Language Institute. Moscow–Leningrad, Nauka Publ., 1965–, iss. 40. 2006.

9. Slovar’ sovremennogo russkogo literaturnogo yazyka [Dictionary of modern Russian literary language]. AN SSSR, Russian Language Institute. Moscow–Leningrad, 1950–1965. Vol. 14. 1963.

10. Ushakov D. N. (ed.). Tolkovyi slovar’ russkogo yazyka. V 4-kh tomakh. [Explanatory dictionary of Russian language in 4 vols.]. Moscow, Gosudarstvennyi Institut “Sovetskaya Entsiklopediya” Publ., 1935–1940.