Grammar is perhaps one of the first sciences of language, its origins lie in the works of ancient Indian philologists. This term was also used in ancient Greece in the sense of a discipline that studies the rules of writing and reading. It is from these two traditions that both European and Russian grammar originate.
Grammar - a section of linguistics
Historical grammar of the Russian language is a subsection of general grammar, the subject of which is text and word formation, i.e. the formal side of the language. As the name suggests, this is the branch of linguistics responsible for the correct use of language in speech and writing. Hence such derived words as “literate” and “gramota”, which are semantically related to the letter, the correct word.
Grammar establishes connections between words and segments of speech, and also regulates the formation of words and language constructions. She studies the formal side of the language - its grammatical structure. At the same time, the object of her research varies from morpheme (the smallest significantunits of language) to text (the largest independent part of the language system).
Usually, grammar includes two sections of linguistics: morphology and syntax. The first one studies the word in its grammatical meaning, the second - constructions from words. In addition, orthoepy, vocabulary, phonetics, graphics, spelling of the Russian language are closely related to grammar, including historical grammar.
Unity of grammatical and lexical
You should also not forget about the inseparable connection between grammar and vocabulary, the form and content of the statement. Sometimes the lexical meaning of a word determines its grammatical features, sometimes the opposite.
For historical grammar, the relationship between vocabulary and grammar will be important. For example, phraseological units are formed through the process of lexicalization: the grammatical form is fixed in the language as an unchangeable and separately significant lexical unit. Grammarization, on the contrary, affirms the word as a grammatical indicator, translating it into the category of affixes and auxiliary words.
Examples of polysemantic words in Russian are also a consequence of the interaction of historical grammar and vocabulary. New words in a language are not always formed by incrementing units: with the development of society, the meaning of a word may become obsolete and acquire a new or additional meaning.
With the course of history, the language is transformed, ordering the structure of its elements - the system becomes clearer and simpler. However, in order to understand this, it is necessary to have an understanding of those historicalprocesses that have taken place and are taking place in the language.
The origins of historical grammar
The historical grammar of the Russian language, like all Russian grammar in general, originates in the works of Mikhail Vasilievich Lomonosov, who de alt with the issues of the relationship of the Russian language with other Slavic and European languages. The works of the scientist approved grammar as a scientific discipline. Its heyday falls on the 19th century and is associated with such names as Alexander Khristoforovich Vostokov, Izmail Ivanovich Sreznevsky and Fyodor Ivanovich Buslaev.
"Historical Grammar of the Russian Language" by Valery Vasilyevich Ivanov is already a modern stage in the development of linguistic science. His book was published in the 80s of the last century and is still considered an authoritative guide for students of philological faculties.
Subject of study
Today, historical grammar is one of the branches of linguistics that describes the patterns of historical changes in the structure of the language both at the level of sounds and words, and at the level of complex syntactic constructions. Moreover, the interest of science is both written and spoken (dialect) speech. The latter even more contributed to the construction of the language system.
VV Ivanov, mentioned above, focuses on the fact that historical grammar reflects the dynamic process of transformation of the language system in time. The language develops according to its own laws and internal rules of its individual sections (phonetics, syntax, morphology, and others).
Grammar of the Russian language by F. I. Buslaev
Since historical grammar is a discipline studied in higher education, it is worth mentioning the main works and textbooks on this topic.
“Historical Grammar of the Russian Language” by Fyodor Ivanovich Buslaev was a significant contribution to the works on this topic. By and large, he is a pioneer of the method of comparative linguistics. The novelty of the approach lies in the fact that the author explains the transformations taking place in the modern language based on related languages. It was from the merger of Old Russian, Old Church Slavonic and other Slavic languages that the modern literary equivalent was formed.
The author does not just build patterns in the grammatical structure of the language, but looks for their causes in the origin of words. For Buslaev, the history of language serves as an aid in an attempt to comprehend those phenomena that are recognized as exceptions by modern linguistics.
Ivanov. Historical grammar of the Russian language
Buslaev's work is concluded in two parts: the first is devoted to sounds and words, that is, morphology, the second - to syntax. Thus, the number of parts of the book corresponds to the number of grammar sections.
The manual of the Soviet linguist V. V. Ivanov, intended for students of philology, has a different structure. The author separately considers the issue of the origin of the Russian language and the features of its interaction with related Slavic languages. The textbook traces the history of the development of language elements of various sizes - starting with sounds andending with syntactic constructions. The history of the origin and development of each of the parts of speech is given separately.
Historical grammar of the Russian language for schoolchildren
The school's Russian language course does not provide hours for studying historical grammar: the program is aimed at mastering the modern literary language, and not at deepening into its history. However, the Russian language with this approach turns into a boring subject, the main purpose of which is to cramming the rules and various paradigms. How much simpler and more understandable language will be if its past is revealed a little! It is necessary to understand that language is not a frozen block, but a constantly changing system: like a living organism, it lives and develops.
There are several ways to include historical grammar in school Russian. Firstly, this is the conduct of separate lessons on the topic. Secondly, the principle of historicism can accompany the course of a regular lesson as additional material to the program. Examples of polysemantic words in Russian, features of phonetics and alternating vowels - these and many other topics will become much clearer if they are explained using the conclusions and observations of historical grammar.
You should also not forget that the course of literature is not complete without the help of the history of the language, especially when getting acquainted with the monuments of ancient Russian writing. For example, "The Tale of Igor's Campaign" not onlyreplete with obsolete and incomprehensible words in the text, but the name itself requires a separate historical commentary.
Merit of historical grammar
Knowing the facts of historical grammar allows you to more meaningfully approach the study of the language. Moreover, it becomes clearer even when reading the schemes and paradigms that represent it. To write and speak correctly, it is not necessary to memorize a lot of rules and exceptions by heart - the historical grammar of the Russian language will help to understand the processes logically occurring in it.
