THE NAMES OF PRODUCTS MADE OF GRAIN CROPS AND THE WORK-RELATED NAMES OF DOERS: HISTORICAL WORD-FORMATION ASPECT

Abstract

This article considers paradigmatic and syntagmatic relations of words included in the lexico-semantic field ‘ Grain Crops and Products Made of Them ’ as exemplified in the business- and work-related written records which date back to the 16- the early 18 centuries. It describes a number of derivative words that are associated with the word khleb [bread] and examines word-formative chains with the initial names of bread grains ( rozh’ [rye], pshenitsa [wheat], oves [oats], yachmen’ [barley], grechikha [buckwheat], proso [millet]) and food products made of them ( muka [flour], krupa [cereal], kasha [porridge], tolokno [oat flour], kisel’ [kisel], etc.). This article analyzes the work-related names of doers ( khlebnik [a baker/ a grain merchant], ovsyanik [an oat seller], etc.) and the proper names derived from them ( Khlebnik, Khlebnikov, Ovsyanik, Ovsyanikov , etc.) within the structure of each word-formation paradigm. Relations between nouns (names of grain types and products made of them) and adjectives or verbs in the context have been reviewed in respect of the syntagmatic aspect. We have revealed the word-formation rows with the initial verbs molotit’ [to thresh] and molot’ [to grind] which components reflect different stages of grain processing ( obmolotit’ [to shell], umolotit’ [to thresh/to beat], peremolotit’ [to thresh all], vymolotit’ [to thresh out], smolotit’ [to thresh/to flail]; smolot’ [to mill], peremolot’ [to grind again], namolot’ [to grind a quantity of]). Due to the fact that grain crops were also used in the beverage industry, we have examined the nominative units connected with brewing and distillation technologies, too. They are the names of the raw materials ( solod [malt], suslo [wort], etc.), the names of the production processes ( varit’ [to brew], kurit’ [to distill over], sidet’ [obsolete: to distil], gnat’ [to distil]), the work-related names of doers ( solodovnik [a maltster], pivovar [a brewer], vinokur [a distiller], etc.) and the proper names formed on their basis ( Solodovnik , Solodovnikov , Pivovar, Pivovarov , etc.). Having applied the linguistic analysis to the derived lexical units found in the Russian written records, we have discovered stable semantic transitions from the sphere of ‘Priroda’ (rasteniya) [nature (plants)] to the sphere of ‘Chelovek’ (lichnoye imya) [a man (a personal name) through the sphere of ‘ Obshchestvo’ (professiya) [a society (a profession)].