Abstract
All European languages have a word for God, and this word means exactly the same in all of them. However, speakers of different European languages tend to relate to God in different ways. Each group has its own characteristic ways of addressing God, encoded in certain words, phrases and grammatical forms, which both reflect and shape the speakers’ habitual ways of thinking about God and relating to God. Often, they also reflect some other aspects of their cultural memory and historical experience. In this paper I will compare the meanings of the vocative expressions used for addressing God in several European languages, including “Gospodi” in Russian, “O God” in English, “Mon Dieu” in French, “Herr” in German, and “Boże” in Polish. But to compare those meanings, we need a common measure. I believe such a common measure is available in the “NSM” framework, from Natural Semantic Metalanguage (see e.g. Goddard and Wierzbicka, 2014; Wierzbicka 2014a and 2018a; Gladkova and Larina 2018a, b). The data is taken mainly from well-known works of literature, such as Lev Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina and Boris Pasternak’s poem “V bol’nice” (“In Hospital”) for Russian, Charles Peguy’s Le mystère de la charité de Jeanne d’Arc and its English translation by Julien Green for French and English, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s prison poems and Heinrich Böll’s novel Billard um halbzehn for German. The results have shown that each European language offers its users a range of options for addressing God. Some of these options are shared, others appear to be unique to the language. All are underpinned by broader historical phenomena. The exact nature of all these links remains to be investigated.
Highlights
Comparing meanings requires a common measureAll European languages have a word for God, and this word means exactly the same in all of them
Nor will I be able to discuss the use of exclamatory phrases such as “Oh my God” or “Good Lord!”, I believe they provide some support for the analysis developed in the present paper
The most obvious difference is the exclamatory character of “Gospodi!”, reflected in the exclamation mark, and accounted for in the first line of the explication, which sounds like an emotional outburst and at the same time, an irresistible urge to turn to God: “I feel something at this moment, because of this I can’t not say something to you at this moment”
Summary
All European languages have a word for God, and this word means exactly the same in all of them. Each group has its own characteristic ways of addressing God, encoded in certain words, phrases and grammatical forms. 259—293 and grammatical forms both reflect and shape the speakers’ habitual way of thinking about God and relating to God. Russian Journal of Linguistics 24 (2). If we can decode the meanings embedded in different words and phrases which are habitually used in different European countries for addressing God, we can find out something significant about different cultural traditions. To compare those meanings, we need a common measure.
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