Archaic and obsolete words

Archaic –are old and no longer used words; obsolete –no longer used because something new was invented. Obsolete words have completely gone out of use.

Archaic and obsolete words stand close to the “learned” words, particularly to the modes of poetic diction. Learned words and archaisms are both associated with the printed page. Yet, many learned words may also be used in conversational situations. This cannot happen with archaisms, which are restricted to the printed page. These words are moribund, already partly or fully out of circulation. Their last refuge is in historical novels and in poetry which is rather conservative in its choice of words.

Thou [θаu] – (ты) and thy [ðai] – (твой), aye [ai] – (‘yes’) and nay [nei] – (‘no’) are certainly archaic and long since rejected by common usage, yet poets use them even today.

Numerous archaisms can be found in Shakespeare, but it should be taken in consideration that what appear to us today as archaisms in the works of Shakespeare, are in fact examples of everyday language of Shakespeare`s time.

Further examples of archaisms are: morn (for morning), eve (for evening), errant (for wandering, e.g. errant knights),etc.

Sometimes an archaic word may undergo a sudden revival. So, the formerly archaic kin (for relatives; one`s family)is now current in American usage.

Professional terminology

Hundredsof thousands of words belong to special scientific, professional or trade terminological systems and are not used or even understood by people outside the particular speciality. Every field of modern activity has its specialized vocabulary, and similarly special terminologies for psychology, music, management, finance, economics, jurisprudence, linguistics and many others.

Term, as traditionally understood, is a word or a word-group which is specifically employed by a particular branch of science, technology, trade or the arts to convey a concept peculiar to his particular activity.

So, share, bank, balance sheet are finance terms; court, lawyer, civil law are legal terms; and top manager, creative team, motivation areused in management.

Thereare several controversialproblems in the field of terminology. The firstis the question whether a term loses its terminological status when it comes into common usage. Today this is a frequent occurrence, as various elements of the media of communication (TV, radio, magazines, etc.) ply people with scraps of knowledge from different scientific fields, technology and the arts. It is quite natural that under circumstances numerous terms pass into general usage without losing connection with their specific fields.

There are linguists in whose opinion terms are only those words which have retained their exclusiveness and are not known or recognized outside their specific sphere. From this point of view, words associated with the medical sphere, such as unit (доза лекарственного препарата), theatre (операционная), contact (носитель инфекции) are no longer medical terms as they are in more or less common usage.

There is yet another point of view, acording to which any terminological system is supposed to include all the words and word-groups conveying concept peculiar to a particular branch of knowledge, regardless of their exclusiveness. Modern research of various terminological systems has shown that there is no impenetrable wall between terminology and the general language system. To the contrary, terminologies seem to obey the same rules as other vocabulary strata. Therefore, exchange between terminological systems and the “common” vocabulary is quite normal, and it would be wrong to regard a term as something “special” and standing apart.

Two other controversial problems deal with polysemyandsynonymy.According to some linguists, an “ideal” term should be monosemantic(i.e. it should have only one meaning). Polysemantictermsmay lead to misunderstanding, and that is a serious shortcoming in professional communication. This requirement seems quite reasonable, yet facts of the language do not meet it. There are numerous polysemantic terms. In the terminology of painting, the term colour may denote hue (цвет) and, atthe same time, stuff used for colouring (краска).

The same is true about synonymy in terminological systems. There are scholars who insist that terms should not have synonyms because, consequently, scientists and other specialists would name the same objects and phenomena in their field by different terms and would not be able to come to any agreement. This may be true. But, in fact, terms do possess synonyms.

Basic vocabulary

These words are stylistically neutral, and, in this respect, opposed to formal and informal words. Their stylistic neutrality makes it possible to use them in all kinds of situations, both formal and informal, in verbal and written communication. Certain of the stylistically marked vocabulary strata are exclusive: professional terminology is used mostly by representatives of the professions; dialects are regional; slang is favoured mostly by the young and the uneducated. Not so basic vocabulary. These words are used every day, everywhere and by everybody, regardless of profession, occupation, educational level, age group or geographical location. These are words without which no human communication would be possible as they denote objects and phenomena of everyday importance (e.g. house, bread, summer, child, mother, difficult, to go, etc.).

The basic vocabulary is the central group of the vocabulary, its historical foundation and living core. That is why words of this stratum show a considerably greater stability in comparison with words of the other strata, especially informal.

Basic vocabulary words can be recognized not only by their stylistic neutrality but, also, by lack of other connotations (i.e. attendant meanings). Their meanings are broad, general and directly convey the concept, without supplying any additional information.

For instance, the verb to walk means merely ‘to move from place to place on foot’ whereas in the meanings of its synonyms to stride (шагать), to stroll (прогуливаться), to trot (семенить, бежать вприпрыжку), to stagger – to sway while walking (идти шатаясь) and others, some additional information is encoded as they each describe a different manner of walking, a different gait, tempo, purpose or lack of purpose. Thus, to walk, with its direct broad meaning, is a typical basic vocabulary word, and its synonyms, with their additional information encoded in their meanings, belong to the periphery of the vocabulary.

The basic vocabulary and the stylistically marked strata of the vocabulary do not exist independently but are closely interrelated. Most stylistically marked words have their neutral counterparts in the basic vocabulary.

The table gives some examples of such synonyms belonging to different stylistic strata.

Basic vocabulary	Informal	Formal
begin	start, get started	commence
continue	go on, get on	proceed
end	finish, be through, be over	terminate
child, baby	kid, brat, bearn (dial.)	infant, babe (poet.)

The basic vocabulary words comprise the first and essential part of the students’ functional and recognition vocabulary. They constitute the beginner’s vocabulary. Yet, to restrict to the basic vocabulary would mean to deprive the speech of colour, expressive force and emotive shades, for, if basic words are absolutely necessary, they also decidedly lack something: they are not at all the kind of words to tempt a writer or a poet. Actually, if the language had none other but basic vocabulary words, fiction would be hardly readable, and poetry simply non-existent.

Answer these questions

1. Where are formal words used?

2. Are learned words used only in books? Which type of learned words, do you think, is especially suitable for verbal communication? Which is least suitable and even undesirable?

3. What are the principal characteristics of archaic words?

4. What are the controversial problems connected with professional terminology?

5.Do you think that students of English should learn terms? If so, for which branch or branches of knowledge?

6.What is understood by the basic vocabulary?

7.Which classes of stylistically marked words should be included in the students’ functional vocabulary?

Vocabulary

absurdнелепость

archaicархаичный

basic vocabularyобщеупотребительный, общенародный язык;основной

словарный фонд

bookishкнижный

colouringкрасочный