The modern Russian language differs in many ways from how our ancestors used it a hundred or more years ago. Alive and mobile, it changes with society. By studying, for example, the lexical composition of speech, one can trace what innovations in the field of science, technology, politics and other areas have been introduced, and what has irrevocably become a thing of the past. After all, neologisms, historicisms, obsolete words - all this is our history, embodied in the word.
To know - not to know, to know - not to know
Current native speakers often find it difficult to explain: who is the ignoramus? They confuse it with another word close in meaning and meaning - ignoramus. Let's try to shed light on an entertaining riddle. To do this, look in the dictionary. For example, Vladimir Dal interprets the lexeme as follows: “Ignorance is a word formed from the verbs not to know, not to know, not to be able. Ignorant, uncivil, unable to behave, to stay in public. For example: you put an ignoramus on a horse, so he will climb under the image.”
In passing, Dahl points out that although the word "ignoramus" goes back to the same roots, its meaning is different: an uneducated person, not burdened with book knowledge, is dark. AsAs an example, Vladimir Ivanovich cites sayings: “a scribe - his own, an ignoramus - his own”, “do not demand knowledge from an ignoramus”. At the same time, he emphasizes that "ignorance is equal to ignorance." Thus, according to Dahl, an ignoramus is a person with gaps in upbringing, behavior, and an ignoramus is in education, knowledge, and academic subjects.
Ushakov's Dictionary
Continuing our linguistic research, let's turn to another authoritative source - the Explanatory Dictionary edited by Ushakov. Here it is indicated that the word refers to both the masculine and the feminine gender. The author identifies two meanings for the lexeme. First: an ignoramus is a rude person, impolite. The second is a synonym for the colloquial "ignoramus". He gives such examples as synonyms: vahlak, peasant, collective farmer, redneck, rude, etc. That is, Ushakov combines both concepts into one. How competent such a position is, we will figure it out a little later.
Ozhegov-Shvedova Dictionary
In the Explanatory Dictionary of the Modern Russian Language, edited by Ozhegov, we read: "An ignoramus is a rude, impolite, ill-mannered person." That is, between “being literate” and “being educated” a clear boundary has already been drawn here. It turns out that Ozhegov more accurately than Ushakov takes into account the semantics of the word, the shades of its meaning and possible situations of use. This interpretation fits more into the model of modern society. For example, such a phenomenon as a barbaric, disregard for works of art, architectural monuments, picturesque corners of nature justtestifies not to the absence or lack of education, knowledge, but to gaps in education, spiritual, moral savagery and lack of culture. It is in this sense that the word "ignorant" is used in the address of modern savages. And the synonym "Sharikov" cited in the dictionary fits him perfectly.
Grammatical aspect
Let's now dwell on the grammatical categories that determine the morphological and syntactic nature of the word. They will also help clarify its lexical meaning. Ignorance is a noun, animated, of a general gender (that is, it can be used for representatives of both male and female), of the first declension. It can be both singular and plural. In the word-formation analysis, the prefix “not”, the root “vezh”, the ending “a” are singled out. By origin, it goes back to the Church Slavonic "ignoramus" (with yat) from "know". See the detailed evidence below.
On the question of etymology
The lexemes "ignorant", "know", "polite" are included in the nest of related, but not cognate words. “Vedat” is a verb that goes back to the old Russian “lead”, i.e. “know”. “Polite” comes from the word “vezha” - “expert”, which has long been out of use. Thus, initially lexemes were differentiated in origin, meaning, stylistic use. Namely: "ignoramus" has ancient Russian roots. It was formed with the help of the prefix "non-" precisely from the Old Russian word "vezha", that is, "expert", as indicated by a characteristic sign: disagreement. At the word "ignoramus"the origin is completely different, Old Slavonic. The combination "zhd" indicates this absolutely obviously, as well as in such words: clothes, give birth, between. At the end of the 18th and in the 19th century, both words were synonymous, denoting the same concept: they pointed to an uneducated person, little versed in anything, a real ignoramus. Then in the language practice there was a transformation of meanings. Rude people are more and more often called ignoramuses.
The shade of the meaning "poorly educated" is gradually being replaced, leaving the category of obsolete. But modern native speakers often confuse both words, using them with one instead of the other. Such a phenomenon, when words sound almost the same, but are spelled differently and denote different concepts, is called paronymy, and the lexemes themselves are called paronyms.
There are such interesting words-brothers in our language!
