Dehtiarova L., Prikhodko N., Nazarenko O. Germanic Reception in the Thesaurus of the Ruthenian Language

Abstract

The article investigates Germanisms in the thesaurus of the Ruthenian language on the basis of etymological dictionaries of the Ruthenian, German, Ukrainian, Polish and Russian languages. The main attention is paid to the conditions of borrowing and reception of lexemes, taking into account the phonetic laws in the source language, the intermediate language and the language of borrowings, historical events and mentality. Moreover, the causes of changes in the phonetics, semantics, stylistics and connotation of the borrowed words have been identified. The analysis of the Ruthenian thesaurus has shown the activity of borrowings.

The historical links of Ruthenians with Austrians, Germans, Poles, Russians and Jews have been established and how they are connected with linguistic and cultural features. The cognitive research of historical linguistic and mental interrelations employs the comparative method based on synchrony and diachrony of the language development. The psycho-linguistic methods allow determining the principles of lexical units organization from the point of view of psychical, mental and emotional processes. They facilitate understanding how fragments of linguistic consciousness are organized in native speakers and objectively existing semantic connections are revealed in the psyche.

The analysis of semantics of borrowed Germanic words in the Ruthenian language, reflecting the subjects of mental and material culture of Ruthenians has helped obtain additional linguistic and ethnic information. The study of Germanic borrowings in the Ruthenian language has given an idea of the language contacts of Ruthenians with the representatives of other language groups. The development of society is always progressive and contains the peculiarities of national cultures and historical epochs.