The correct choice of words in oral and written speech in different situations requires great caution and a lot of knowledge. Some words are absolutely neutral, and therefore they can be used in any life situation. Others, on the contrary, carry a certain emotional coloring, and can both emphasize the feelings that the speaker wants to express, and give out what he would like to hide from others.
There is also a separate category of words related to the so-called vocabulary of limited use. It may differ from common vocabulary, for example, by the territory of its distribution or the field of professional activity to which it belongs, or by the social group resorting to these expressions. Therefore, it is very important to understand what is common vocabulary, and which words belong to limited vocabulary (the diagram is given below). ATfirst of all, you should understand the division of the vocabulary of the Russian language.
General information
Starting up a conversation about the division of the lexical composition of the Russian language into groups, first of all they talk about the vocabulary of general and vocabulary of a limited scope of use. The latter, as already mentioned, is divided into dialectisms, professionalisms and jargon, which includes both words used by "declassed elements" and ordinary youth slang, and the first is more monolithic and is divided only into two groups: stylistically neutral vocabulary and emotionally colored. Guided by this classification, you can outline for yourself an approximate framework for the use of certain words.
General vocabulary
This category is the most extensive, including the main vocabulary of the Russian language, actually representing its lexical core. This part of the vocabulary fund is also called the national one, since the words of general use are used in their speech and understood by all native speakers of the Russian language or their vast majority. This is a kind of base of the literary language, the use of which is possible both in oral and written speech. Moreover, it is the vocabulary of general use that is the foundation on which elements of the vocabulary of limited use are then located - terms, slang, professionalism.
The following words can be used as examples:go, eat, work, read, book, food, water, fruit, animal, winter, spring, summer, word, girl, head and others.
Besides this? vocabulary of general use can be divided into two broad groups: stylistically neutral words and emotionally charged ones. The latter is more common in oral speech, journalistic or artistic text. It makes speech more lively, prevents it from becoming like the dry text of a dictionary or encyclopedia article, helps to express the feelings of the speaker or the attitude of the author of the article to what he writes about.
It should also be noted that there is a constant exchange between common and limited vocabulary. Sometimes neutral words move into the category of jargon or professionalism, and, for example, dialect words become common vocabulary.
Restricted vocabulary: species
This part of the lexical composition of the Russian language includes several groups, within which some division can also be made. The vocabulary of limited use, for example, includes words inherent in any dialects, special vocabulary, which includes terms and professionalism, any jargon (including slang). At the same time, the first and last types are not included in the literary norm of the Russian language and are often used only in oral communication.
Dialect vocabulary
The language in each region of the country has its own specific features: phonetic, grammatical and, of course, lexical. Often it is lexical featuresmake it very difficult for visitors to understand the speech of the local population. In general, dialect vocabulary can be divided into several groups:
- phonetic dialectisms;
- grammatical dialectisms;
- lexical dialectisms.
Phonetic dialectisms differ from the literary norm only in the pronunciation of words, and therefore do not complicate the understanding of what has been said too much. As an example, the replacement of the sound "c" with the sound "ch" and vice versa in some northwestern dialects: tselovek, nemchi. Or the softening of the syllable "ka" characteristic of southern dialects: bochkya, Vankya.
Grammatical dialectisms are words used differently than in the normalized version of the language. For example, South Russian dialects are characterized by the use in the feminine gender of those words that, according to the literary norm, are words of the middle gender: the whole field, whose meat.
Lexical dialectisms are the most specific, often it is by them that the dialect of one locality is distinguished from the dialect of another locality. In the dialect vocabulary, a special group is distinguished, called ethnographisms - words that denote objects and concepts that are characteristic of a particular area. Such words are often used in fiction, due to them a special expressiveness is given to the literary text, and the speech of the characters is given authenticity, "naturalness".
Special vocabulary
Professionals used exclusively in a certainfield of activity. Often such words are commonly used words that have acquired an additional meaning that is understandable to all representatives of any profession. At the same time, some professionalisms are the unofficial name of any subject or process, and the official name will already be a term.
For example, the term used to designate a metal frozen in a ladle is hardened, but the metallurgists themselves call it a "goat". In this case, it is the "goat" that will be the professionalism.
"Skin" - professionalism, used outside the environment of specialists. The corresponding official name would be "sandpaper".
It is worth noting that professionalisms are less "systemic" - they are born in oral speech, exist for a certain amount of time, and then disappear, being replaced by new words. But sometimes they are fixed, becoming full-fledged terms. There is an exchange between professional words and terms, similar to the exchange between general vocabulary and vocabulary of limited use - some words are constantly moving from one group to another.
Subspecies of special vocabulary - terms
Term - a word denoting a certain object or concept, and, as a rule, having no additional meaning, unambiguity is a mandatory feature for words in this category, and the terminological "base" of any sphere covers all objects, phenomena andprocesses that take place in it. Unlike other words and their meanings, terms are created on purpose. Careful work on them implies the elimination of the ambiguity of the word and the establishment of a clear framework for its use, its relationship with other terms from this field of activity.
Jargon
Argo, or, as it is also called, jargon, is that layer of the vocabulary of the Russian language, the use of which is typical for certain social groups, these are words that are understandable only to "their own". Over time, some of the slang words seep into the vocabulary of general use, becoming words that are used by all native speakers, regardless of social status and social circle. Examples are the words swindler, smart, linden (meaning "fake").
Slang words are also found in fiction, performing approximately the same role as dialect vocabulary. Due to them, the speech of fictional characters becomes more natural. In addition, with their help, the author can embody the stylistic idea and the general idea of the work, which fully justifies the use of "reduced" vocabulary.
For example, in the novel "After the Wedding" by Granin, in the speech of the main characters, you can find the expression "I'm in the order of chatter", that is, "I'm just talking about nothing".
Youth slang
Since young people are a fairly large social group, their slangit is worth making a separate paragraph, since it is very extensive, even without touching on the slang of various subcultures and movements. Here you can find many examples of "rethinking" common words, which is why "wheelbarrow" becomes synonymous with the word "car", parents become "ancestors", and they say "he faded away" about a person who has quietly passed away.
A separate group are the words of student slang. Therefore, the “tails” of failed exams trail behind a negligent student, in the test-book there is a nest of “boas” (grade “satisfactory”), and the “late Styopa” or “stipukha” turns out to be just a scholarship that fellow students can’t wait for.
Conclusion
Summing up, we can say that the lexical stock of the Russian language is incredibly extensive and is only enriched over time. Moreover, the division of words into any groups is very arbitrary, because the process of transition of words from one category to another is continuous and inevitable. It helps to avoid creating rigid frames and overly strict rules for the use of a particular word, leaving the speaker free to choose means that correspond to the purpose of a particular statement.
