О происхождении русского народа и русского языка: Тредиаковский, Ломоносов, Сумароков

Abstract

The authors analyse the controversy of the origin of the Russian nation and the Russian language in 1757–1759. We look at the ideological parallels between the works that V.K. Trediakovsky, M.V. Lomonosov and A.P. Sumarokov wrote at that time: “Three Discourses on Three Most Important Russian Antiquities” (Trediakovsky, 1757), “The Ancient Russian History”, vol. 1 (Lomonosov, 1758), “On the Root Words of the Russian Language” (Sumarokov, 1759). Trediakovsky considered the Russian language to have originated from Japheth’s sons. The predecessor of the Russian language was the language of Scythians, who originally spoke Slavonian. This proto-name was linked both to the roots “word” and “fame”. The chronology Trediakovsky developed implied the preserved purity of the Russian language, as well as its antiquity and power — indeed, a good ancestry for the Russian nation. Lomonosov’s accent was on the political aspect of Russian science, language and literature. Also accepting the idea of Slavs’ glorious ancestry, Lomonosov nevertheless did not fit Scythians into the picture, citing Slavs’ victories over them as the reason. He considered Varangians the descendants of the Roxolani — the Slavonian people who lived in the interfluve of the Dnieper and the Don and spoke Slavonian. Lomonosov asserted that the majority of tribes had spoken Slavonian as early as before the Nativity. Lomonosov was convinced that the Slavonian language did not stem from either Greek or Latin, but stood as their equal. Like Trediakovsky, Sumarokov considered the language of Scythians to be the predecessor of the Russian language. The author admired the battle glory of the Scythian tribes. Sumarokov’s article contains a large number of etymological comparisons. His authorial instinct helped him choose the historical wordgroups which also lie in the focus of contemporary comparative historical studies. While disagreeing on matters of secondary importance, Trediakovsky, Lomonosov and Sumarokov stood united on the issue of unity between research and patriotic tasks of the Russian language. Russian research and criticism by the mid-18th century had formulated a response to the Petrine reforms, which led to the specific cultural ‘isolationism’ of the new Russian nation.