All
 
|
 
 


Diabetichka vs. Idiotka. Feminitives Formed from the Names of Illnesses: Features of Semantics and Pragmatics
 
PIIS013161170015451-5-1
DOI10.31857/S013161170015451-5
Publication type Article
Status Published
Authors
Anna V. Zanadvorova 
Affiliation: Vinogradov Russian Language Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences
Address: Russian Federation, Moscow
Journal nameRusskaya Rech’
EditionIssue 3
Pages31-46
Abstract

The article discusses the words denoting a person by diseases (alergik — allergy sufferer, yazvennik — ulcer suferer), as well as feminitives formed from them (astmatik — asthmatichka, epileptik — epileptichka). Similar names can be formed based on the diseased organ: serdtse (heart) — serdechnik, and from the name of the disease: gypertonia — gypertonik (gypertonichka). In some cases, such designations are formed from the corresponding adjective, compare: gripp — gripposniy — gripposnik; koma — komatosniy — komatosnik. Unlike the designations of professions, not all such masculine nominations belong to the literary language. Many of them are absent from the dictiona ries, others are labeled as colloquial or substandard in dictionaries. If the dictionaries fi x both male and female versions, their stylistic statuses, as a rule, coincide, but often there is a masculine form in the dictionary, whereas a feminitive is abscent from the dictionary. However, such feminitives are actively used in casual written and oral speech, as well as in fiction.

Nevertheless, the speaker / writer often uses the male nomination speaking about a woman, usually in cases where they consider a feminitive unusual (this is signaled by contexts when in one expression the speaker uses both male and female nominations for the same person: Ya serdechnitsa (fem.) i allergic (masc.) — I am a heart disease sufferer and an allergy sufferer.

Another reason to choose a masculine form may be the speaker’s wish to use the word in an offi cial or scientific contest. A series of words denoting a person with an intellectual disability (idiot, kretin — cretin, marasmatik — a senile person), as well as a person with some kind of addiction (alkogolik — alcoholic, narkoman — drug addict) have a transferable pejorative meaning. In such cases, the corresponding feminitives (idiotka, kretinka, marasmatichka) are widely used and are not replaced with male nominations. There is only one example where a feminitive is used to characterise a male person, which is the word isterichka — a hysterical person.

Keywordsfeminitives, lexicography, colloquial speech, everyday speech, vernacular, stylistic marks
Received26.06.2021
Publication date26.06.2021
Number of characters25488
Cite  
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: 0, views: 1053

Readers community rating: votes 0 

1. Berkutova V. V. [Feminitives in Russian: a linguistic aspect]. Filologicheskii aspekt. 2019. ¹ 1 (45). Pp. 7–26. (In Russ.)
2. Chelak E. A. [Feminitives in the discourse of Internet communication]. Filologicheskie nauki. ¹ 12 (78) December 2018. Available at: https://research-journal.org/languages/feminitivy-v-diskurse-internet-kommunikacii/  (accessed 05.04.2021). (In Russ.)
3. Evgen'eva A. P. (ed.) Slovar' russkogo yazyka. [Dictionary of the Russian language]. Moscow, Russkii Yazyk Publ., 1981–1984, 2th edition.
4. Epshtein M. [Feminitives – or general words? Does the language need the words “authorka” and “filosofiniya”?]. Snob. 30.01.1918. Available at: https://snob.ru/profile/27356/blog/133860  (accessed 05.10.2018). (In Russ.)
5. Fufaeva I. V. Kak nazyvayutsya zhenshchiny. Feminitivy: istoriya, ustroistvo, konkurentsiya. [What are the women called. Feminitives: history, structure, competition]. Moscow, Corpus, 2020. 304 p.
6. Graudina L. K., Itskovich V. A., Katlinskaya L. P. Grammaticheskaya pravil'nost' russkoi rechi: stilisticheskii slovar' variantov. [The grammatical correctness of Russian speech: stylistic vocabulary of options]. Moscow, Nauka Publ., 2001. 555 p.
7. Kirilina A. V. Gender: lingvisticheskie aspekty [Gender: linguistic aspects]. Moscow, Institut Sotsiologii RAN, 1999. 189 p.
8. Kolesnikov N. P. Tolkovyi slovar' nazvanii zhenshchin: Bolee 7000 edinits. [Explanatory dictionary of names of women: More than 7000 units]. Moscow, Astrel: AST Publ., 2002. 608 p.
9. Krongauz M. A. [“Authorka”, “nyan’” and other feminitives]. Available at: https://tass.ru/lyudi-i-veschi/6820376  (accessed 30.04.2021). (In Russ.)
10. Krysin L. P. (ed.). Tolkovyi slovar' russkoi razgovornoi rechi. [Explanatory dictionary of Russian everyday speech]. Issues 1, 2, 3, 4. Moscow, Yazyki Slavyanskoi Kul'tury Publ., 2014; 2017; 2019; (in print).
11. Kuznetsov S. A. (ed.). Bol'shoi tolkovyi slovar' russkogo yazyka [Great Dictionary of Russian language]. St. Petrsburg, Norint Publ., 1998. 1534 p.
12. Piperski A. Ch. [Insidious suffixes. How modern feminitives are changing the Russian language]. N+1 (28.11.2019). Available at: https://nplus1.ru/material/2019/11/28/russian-feminitives  (accessed 05.05.2021). (In Russ.)
13. Prokhorova A. S. [Denominations of female persons by professional affiliation at the turn of the XX–XXI centuries]. Prepodavatel' XXI veka. ¹ 3, t. 2, 2012, pp. 292–295. (In Russ.)
14. Vasil'eva A. S. [Trends in the use of female names by their profession]. Problemy rossiiskogo obrazovaniya. 2013, ¹ 1, pp. 46–53. Available at: http://pmedu.ru/res/2013_1_6.pdf  (accessed 25.03.2019).
15. Zemskaya E. A. (ed). Russkaya razgovornaya rech'. Obshchie voprosy [Russian colloquial speech. General issues]. Moscow, Nauka Publ., 1973. 485 p.
16. Zemskaya E. A. (ed). Russkaya razgovornaya rech' [Russian colloquial speech. Phonetics. Morphology. Vocabulary. Gesture]. Moscow, Nauka Publ., 1983. 283 p.

Система Orphus

Loading...
Up