Lexical and semantic features of the verbalization of the Russian concept of «Fate–Promysel» in diachrony

Dmitrieva Natalya Mikhailovna ORCID: 0000-0002-5860-5374 Doctor of Philology Associate Professor; Department of Russian Philology and Methods of Teaching the Russian Language; Orenburg State University 460018, Russia, Orenburg region, Orenburg, Pobedy str., 13, office 4504 dmitrieva1977@yandex.ru Korobeynikova Anna Aleksandrovna ORCID: 0009-0002-9683-2962 PhD in Philology Associate Professor; Department of Russian Philology and Methods of Teaching the Russian Language; Orenburg State University 460050, Russia, Orenburg region, Orenburg, Pobedy str., 13, sq. 4504 SSSR2004@yandex.ru

Malahova Ol'ga Mikhailovna ORCID: 0000-0002-0193-1646 Teacher; Department of Russian Language; Orenburg State Medical University 460018, Russia, Orenburg region, Orenburg, Pobedy str., 13, office 4504 o1gamalahova@mail.ru

Introduction

Ideas about fate have occupied mankind since ancient times. It is natural that modern researchers assign a significant place to this concept. Russian russians analyzed the concept in various aspects by A. Vezhbitskaya, who noted fate as a key concept for the Russian mentality along with longing and soul; A. A. Zaliznyak, I. B. Levontina, A. D. Shmelev, who characterized the connection of the Russian "maybe" with ideas about fate; V. V. Kolesov, who analyzed the connection of fate and happiness as a successful fate; K. M. Baranova, M. G. Merkulova, O. G. Chuprina, who studied the formation of the concept in different communities in diachrony. The purpose of our study is to show changes in the semantics of the main verbalizers of the concept from the origin of the Russian mentality to the present day and highlight constant meanings.  The research material was the dictionary definitions and definitions of students obtained during a semantic experiment.

Research methodology

The main methods in our work are lexical and semantic analysis of data from dictionaries of different periods, etymological commentary, a comparative historical approach to the interpretation of the semantic content of the concept "Fate-Craft" in different periods, which allowed us to determine the constant shares in the semantic field of the concept, a semantic experiment, thanks to which the semantic shares of the concept in the minds of modern speakers are established language.

The primordial semantic shares of the concept of "Fate–Craft"

Russian Russian key concepts have their origins in the Old Slavonic and Church Slavonic languages, on the one hand, which formed all the basic ethical concepts, on the other, captured the "first meanings" of Russian culture. We refer the concept of "Fate-Providence" to the ethical conceptual sphere of the Russian linguistic picture of the world along with such as "Life", "Hope", "Joy", "Happiness", which conclude the principles of life, thanks to which holiness is achieved as the main ethical goal.

So, the concept of "fate" as the most relevant for a medieval person in the Old Slavic language is represented by a significant number of synonyms: cob (meaning "fate"), rd, zhrbiy (fate, lot), chast (understood as fate, part, lot), cup (meaning "fate, share, fate)", rock as a set time, oroch (appointed, predetermined), polouchai (happy fate), prich? (primarily as fate, fate), ouch? (in the meaning of "share"), stroi (predestination) ^{[1, p. 259]}.

As T. I. points out. Vendina, the main seme of the word "fate" in the Old Slavic language was "judgment, decision, justice". This SEMA, as well as derivational relationship of words sdba and stiti, sdy (strashnyi bdii sdj), sdetail (judge) (God stitely provedeny and kroky I tryple) ^{[1, p. 259]} detects the connection of verbalization "destiny" and its derivatives with the concept of "Fishing" ("Providence") in the old Church Slavonic language.

Fate and providence in the Middle Ages were presented as a manifestation of the supreme will of God, that is, the fate of each person was thought to be predetermined by God, his thought, providence. Let's compare the Old Slavonic providence as providence and providence in the meaning of "providence, providence". According to T. I. Wendina, God as the Creator and Almighty of the world is the providence of all visible and invisible on earth. By his providence about man, he builds up the animal (order, predestination) ^{[1, p. 260]}.

At the same time, in Providence (in the Old Slavonic "providence"), first of all, the seme "care, care" of God for human life is concluded. This seme in the Old Slavic language is also contained in the verbalizers synonymous with the name of the concept: lookout (care, care, providence), ousmoschr?ni (providence). The same seme is contained in the Old Slavonic lexeme polouchai, that is, "a happy fate" that a person receives from God according to the order established by God ^{[1, p. 260]}.

Church Slavonic Wedding means, firstly, the Almighty, and secondly, the decree, the law. Derivatives of this word are concentrated only around the seme of "litigation", such as the verb Unity, meaning "to resolve disputes", Sud? – - "judge", Sudishche – "court, court case" ^[2].

It is interesting that the Judgment of God (written in the dictionary with a capital letter) designates the Old Slavic way of determining the culprit through testing with water and iron, with a detailed explanation of which disputes and how exactly the definition of the culprit occurs and is in no way connected with the coming of the second advent of the Last Judgment, which is one of the central ideas of Christianity. Just like the expression the Last Judgment, recorded in the dictionary, is associated primarily with the earthly "application" of the Christian idea: "on Sunday before the maslenitsa at the altar of the Assumption Cathedral on the site after Matins, the action of the Last Judgment took place: a solemn prayer before the icon of the coming of the Lord" ^[2].

According to the results of the study of the vocabulary of the Old Slavic language, T. I. Vendina draws a conclusion relevant to the picture of the world of ancient Rusich: in the ideas of a medieval man, his fate is just a part, a share of the World Good that is distributed by God, i.e. each person in his fate is involved in this World Good (belonging, fate, fate) ^{[1, p. 261]}. This statement emphasizes the connection between the concepts of "Fate–Providence" and "communion".

In the Old Russian language, the court and derivatives are associated, as in Church Slavonic, with the resolution of controversial issues: Guild (judge, decider, pronouncing sentence), Court (place of trial), fate book (book of laws, assembly, resolution), etc. ^{[3, p. 608]}. The word-formation nest of this root is extensive, which indicates the relevance of this verbalizer concept. In addition, among the examples cited by I. I. Sreznevsky, many are related to biblical texts, where the judge is primarily Christ, which refers us to the Old Slavonic idea of judgment as the will of God.

I. I. Sreznevsky fixes such a meaning of the word as "reasoning", which clearly demonstrates the connection between the concepts of "court", "fate" and "word". Let's compare the gospel: "You will be justified by your words, you will be condemned by your words" (Matthew 12:37).

The lexeme Fate is defined in the dictionary as: sentence, decision, predestination, justice, judgment, which brings together the concepts of God's judgment and human judgment ^{[3, p. 608]}.

The high ethical meaning of the concept of "fate-providence" is revealed in the Gospel text of the Prayer for the Chalice, when Christ, knowing everything that will happen to him, accepts what is predetermined to him. Here is the intersection point of the most important Russian concepts of the ethical sphere: holiness, meekness, humility, love, faith, hope, etc. This is the archetype of the ethical position of the Russian person.

Lexical and semantic features of the verbalization of the concept of "Fate–Craft" in the XIX century

The 19th century retains its original ethical significance. Fate in the first edition of V. I. Dahl's dictionary is defined, firstly, as "judgment, judgment, trial and punishment: "Whatever fate says, even justice, even a crooked trial, and so be it." Secondly, as "fate, lot, share, fate, part, happiness, as a precondition, inevitable in earthly life, the way of providence." In addition, the author of the dictionary clarifies: "what is destined, what is destined to come true or to be. The alignment of fate with human freedom is inaccessible to the mind. Every fate will come true." The second meaning is "providence, divine determination, the laws and order of the universe, with inevitable, inevitable consequences for everyone. The fates of God are inscrutable. The will of the fates. By God's fates and your prayers, hello" – makes the connection between fate and God's providence more obvious ^{[4, part 4, p. 325]}.

The verbalizer "court" and its derivatives in this century correlate primarily with the meaning noted by I. I. Sreznevsky: the whole train of thought, the sequence of conclusions; conclusion or conclusion, opinion, expressed assessment of something. And a separate article deals with the trial of disputed issues: "the trial and verdict in a disputed case, or for misconduct and crime, the consideration and resolution of cases where there is a plaintiff and a defendant; a meeting, a meeting of judges" ^{[4, part 4, p. 324]}.

The predestination of human life is revealed in the understanding of the marriage union as predetermined from above. In the dictionary "the betrothed, the betrothed" – "the groom, the bride, the future spouse ^{[4, part 4, p. 325]}. Hence the sanctity of the wedding, and the idea of unshakable loyalty to his companion and his fate, reflected in Russian folklore and literature (see "Dubrovsky", "Captain's Daughter", etc.).

The semantics of the name of the concept "Fate–Craft" in the twentieth century and at the turn of the century

In D. N. Ushakov's dictionary, a new, secularized meaning of "coincidence of circumstances" is fixed, but with the comment: "initially, in mythology and mystical representations, an otherworldly force or the will of a deity that determines everything that happens in life." Secondly, fate is understood as "fate, share, life path" ^{[5, p. 584]}. In the future, dictionaries repeat a new understanding of fate outside the Christian-religious context, except for T. F.'s dictionary. Ephraim, where the meaning of "the confluence of life circumstances, the course of events independent of the will of man" is again accompanied by a comment far from the original understanding, but containing an indication of the connection of fate with Divine providence: "according to superstitious beliefs, the will of God determines everything that happens in life" ^[6]. In addition, among the meanings of the verbalizer "fate", in addition to those indicated, during this period, the following are noted: the history of the existence of someone or something ^{[7, 8]}; the future, what will happen, will happen (book); fate-turkey (razg. joke) about an unlucky fate, a difficult fate ^[7].

D. N. Shmelev in the book "Key ideas of the Russian language picture of the world" points to two different synonymous series headed by the word "fate": (1) fate, fate, fortune and (2) share, fate, lot, lot. At the same time, the author notes that in both rows the common idea is that "one of the many possible lines of development of events is chosen at some point (fate is decided)" ^{[9, pp. 30-31]}. Of course, the ideas of fate play an important role in the Russian language picture of the world, this is primarily evidenced by the frequency of use of the word, which is also noted by the authors of the book. According to the researchers, this frequency significantly exceeds the frequency of use of word analogues in Western European languages ^{[9, pp. 30-31]}. Russian Russian Russian Russian" is rightly associated with the fate of D. N. Shmelev, noting the negative attitude of native speakers to such an attitude. A. Vezhbitskaya, highlighting Russian maybe among the key concepts of the Russian mentality, also emphasizes its negative characteristics, correlating with such negative ideas about Russians as laziness, apathy, unwillingness to change something, etc. However, the analysis of dictionary definitions allowed us to establish that the "notorious" maybe, which is actively found in folklore with both negative and positive connotations, is so popular in the Russian communicative space because it is understood primarily as hope, faith in God's providence, hope. Maybe it is practically unrelated to the idea of something bad, fatal, unpredictable. Confirmation of this idea is found, among other things, in the dictionary of V. I. Dahl (maybe it will come true with the expression of hope; hope is a particle of chance expressed by a verb), in Russian folklore (as a rule, maybe – hope for help in a good deed) and in the works of linguists ^[10]. However, both maybe and the similar concept of "hopefulness" mentioned by V. I. Dahl as "carefree hope for maybe" have an unambiguously negative connotation, which is associated with the idea of excess, with the abuse of God's mercy. Note that excess in Russian culture is always interpreted as evil and carries a negative connotation even for "positive" meanings (cf. miracle and monster, generosity and extravagance, etc.).

The verbalizer "fishing" in the XIX–XX century is recorded in dictionaries only in the narrowly material sense of "diligence, care, care", so that its connection with the concept of "fate" is practically erased: fishing (to live, to get bread and everything necessary), fishing (the action of fishing for something), fishing (related to crafts, crafts, occupations, daily work), etc. ^{[4, part 3, p. 455]}; craft (occupation, craft, production as a source for obtaining means of subsistence ^[5]; craft (extraction, extraction, hunting for someone) ^[7] craft – craft or some kind ofor another occupation as a source of livelihood; extraction (of animals, birds, fish) by hunting, fishing; an industrial enterprise of a mining type ^[8].

In the dictionary of T. F. According to Efremova, the ethical meaning of the verbalizer "providence" is partially returned – the same as providence ^[6], although other derivatives are also associated with a narrowly material sphere, as indicated above.

V. V. Kolesov, in his work on the Russian mentality, speaks about the conceptual connection between fate and happiness, since, according to the author's not unfounded opinion, "Happiness is a successful fate." He also emphasizes the connecting threads of fate and truth, fate and spirit, soul, fate and law, fate and grace: "A man lives in the force field between Law and Grace, and his Fate is judged" ^{[11, p. 537]}.

Summing up the above, we can conclude that the concept of fate is inherently connected with God's providence for man. The idea is confirmed by many dictionaries, where the connection between the derivatives "fate", "judgment" (the Last Judgment) is traced. The key ethical meaning of the concept is revealed in the meaning of "following the will of God, fulfilling what is ordained for the good part in the Kingdom of Heaven," however, in the 20th century, the verbalizer "providence" loses the ethical meaning of "God's providence, caring for man." We have noted the direct connection of the concept of "fate" with such fundamental ethical concepts as "truth", "truth", "word", "communion", "happiness", from which we can conclude that there are implicit links with other concepts of the ethical conceptual sphere: "good", "good", "joy" and others. The main point of suppression of all ethical concepts in Christian ideas about fate is the Evangelical symbol "Prayer for the Chalice" as the archetype of the ethical position of the Russian person.

The semantic field of the concept of "Fate–Providence" in the minds of modern native speakers

A semantic experiment was conducted among students of different specialties of Orenburg State University (111 people). The students were asked to determine how they understand what "Fate-Craft" is. Under experimental conditions, it was indicated that it is possible to determine the meaning of either each concept name, if they distinguish them, or as one concept.

The interpretation of the experimental results showed the following. In the semantic field of the concept, four semantic lobes are distinguished in the minds of modern students:

- predestination from above;

- a combination of circumstances beyond human control;

- events prepared by the will of the person himself;

- it's a coincidence.

  The largest group of responses is represented by values that have a common purpose. However, the exact mention that this predestination is providential by God's care for man is almost not found: what is ordained for us from above, what is ordained by God; what is ordained above; a set of life situations that were sent from above and which we have no right to change; the true path of each of us. Most of the answers are simply about predestination. We believe that such an understanding is an echo of a centuries–old tradition, when the very concept of predestination, as we saw earlier, is connected precisely with the action of a higher, divine force (what is predestined (11); life purpose; what is predestined for everyone from birth; an event that cannot be avoided; a pre-laid path).

The group of meanings is "a combination of circumstances beyond human control." For example, a combination of circumstances; a combination of circumstances that inevitably leads to one result; a series of coincidences; a series of coincidences leading to a certain positive or negative result; a set of random actions in a person's life that are considered predetermined; a combination of circumstances; that a person cannot foresee and stop; things that happen unplanned when a person does not expects; a person's belief that all the accidents in life were predetermined and would have happened anyway; something from which there is no escape; a series of accidents leading to a certain positive or negative result, etc."

It should be noted that the ideas of fate as controlled or predicted by man are of great importance in comparison with previous centuries, where lack of control was key. Let's turn to examples of the group of meanings of "events achieved by the will of the person himself": something achieved by a person; what a person creates and builds throughout life; what we build ourselves; a person's life, which he builds himself; defines a person; a concept that is defined by a person, how it should be further; the path of a person in life, which is determined by the person himself; the future, which is determined by the person; the life that the person creates himself, his future; the concept that is determined by the person, how it should be further; the path of a person in life, which is determined by the person himself; the assumed chain of events; the future, which determines the person; life, which a person creates himself, his future; the course of events that does not depend on a person, etc.

We have allocated answers to a special group, in which it is not possible to accurately determine the semantic share (the belief that everything is predetermined; life events; prepared by life; a number of events and phenomena that can be called a combination of circumstances; a book about life; the predestination of events; someone is destined; a cycle of events that happen to you from birth to death; a program for the path of life; circumstances affecting life: events that lead to a certain outcome; what happens in life; what a person creates and builds throughout life) and those that combine several parts, which can be attributed, for example, and to understand fate as a random combination of circumstances and as something predetermined, independent of a person: things that happen unplanned when a person does not expect them; the prescribed future of a person; an unchangeable fact that should happen, but we do not know about it; circumstances that have developed according to the will of someone /something, but not by the will of the person himself; the philosophy that everyone is needed for something, etc. Such answers, from our point of view, indicate the lack of a clear understanding of fate, and therefore various semantic shades are mixed in the formulations.

There were also semes widely represented in the dictionary of V. I. Dahl among the answers: fate, share. As well as more ancient ideas, such as fishing, a set of events that affect life. It is interesting to note the frequency of ideas about fate as a road, a path widely spread in folklore and literature (the paved road of life, the program for the path of life; the true path of each of us). In addition, it is indicative, as we think, of the fact that the word "rock" was encountered only once when defining the name of the concept "Fate–Craft".

Several people indicated in their responses that "fate does not exist", without defining the concept itself.

Conclusions

1) the main semantic shares of the concept in Old Slavic / Church Slavonic languages are identified as native to the Russian mentality,

2) the changes of verbalizers and their meanings in the XIX and XX centuries are traced: the predominance of verbalizers with the semes "accidental", "share", "fate" in the XIX century, the disappearance of the verbalizer "providence" and the rarity of fixation in the semantic field of dictionary definitions of the meaning "God's care for man" in the 20th century,

3) the semantic experiment allowed us to determine that the verbalizer "fate" is fixed by the participants mainly in the meaning of "predestination", while the idea of the randomness of events, their independence from the will of a person, is inferior in modern native speakers to the understanding of fate as a set of causal relationships, personal choices and the impact of external circumstances that can be predicted and influenced by a human being. Thus, within the framework of the study, there is a significant semantic shift in the lexical and semantic field of the concept of "Fate-Providence" from the main seme "Divine care for a person" to the seme "confluence of circumstances" (controlled or not by a person).