ESSENCE

In the history of the lexical structure of the Russian literary language, various movements and changes in the systems of word forms are observed. Most often, there are semantic separations of individual forms from the structure of a particular word, generated by syntactic conditions and the uniqueness of the phraseological context, and then the transformation of these forms either into individual words or into components of fused phraseological unities. In individual words, on this basis, changes sometimes arise that entail an internal collapse of the entire system of these forms. The historical and semantic processes involved here are extremely complex and heterogeneous. However, not all of these changes are equally typical. What is most rarely observed is the separation of personal forms of the verb and their transition into names. Traces of verb forms are clearly visible in the adverb system (e.g. almost, a little etc.), modal expressions, function words and interjections. The last thing one can expect is, apparently, a switch of personal forms of the verb into the class of nouns.

Is it true, whole line nouns like scolding, pie, kiss(cf. compound words: Tumbleweed, rip your head off, keep your mouth, hoarder, fidgety and some others) is sometimes compared with the corresponding forms of the imperative mood or raised to them. At the same time, the role of expressive factors in these semantic shifts is emphasized 373 (cf. forget-me-not). But the substantivization of personal forms of a verb in the indicative mood is an exceptional phenomenon (cf. Suvorov’s word unknowable; Wed Kannitferstan).

All the more interesting are the observations on the formation of a noun essence(cf. 3rd person plural form present tense from be), especially due to the peculiar and varied fate that befell various forms verb be.

Word essence means “essence”, “the most important thing in something”, “the essence of something”. It is used in the styles of modern book and colloquial Russian (cf. in fact, what is the essence of the question, the point is, What... and so on.). Here are some illustrations from Russian literature of the 19th century V.

In P. A. Vyazemsky’s article “Antediluvian or pre-fire Moscow”: “In this last [common people], in their opinion, all strength, all life, all valor, in a word, all Russian essence"(Vyazemsky, 1882, 7, p. 114). From A. A. Fet in a letter to P. Pertsov (dated July 26, 1891): “My one sincere advice - do not rejoice at the abundance of incoming motives, but wait for the moment when your poetic essence, as if breaking all sorts of barriers, will break out and express itself in a completely new and personally characteristic form” (quoted from: Russian writers about literature, 1, p. 446).

Word essence was not included in any explanatory dictionary of the Russian language until V. I. Dahl’s dictionary. It is not found in the language of Karamzin, Zhukovsky, Batyushkov, Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol. Consequently, one can think that it received the rights of literary citizenship no earlier than the 30-40s of the 19th century, in other words, it merged into the Russian literary language along with the flow of other professional and folk expressions, picked up and expanded by the realistic fiction 374 .

It is necessary to remember that in Old Slavonic language, along with creature (ούσία ), the word was formed there is (φύσις ), and in the language of Constantine of Bulgaria the word essence as a synonym for the word there is 375. The truth about the word there is Academician A.I. Sobolevsky wrote: “Undoubtedly, this Slavic word is not a literal translation of a Greek word created by a translator, but a word that existed in the language of the ancient Bulgarians before their acquaintance with Christianity. If you produce it from a 3 liter mold. units There is(as Bernecker does), this name should be considered a one-of-a-kind phenomenon” 376. According to A.I. Sobolevsky, Church Slavonic words in -ststvo, derived from names, participles, pronouns, are closely related in meaning to the words from which they are derived. "But there is not related to the 3 liter form. units There is by value; it means, most often, φύσις . Consequently, it should not be produced from the participle that has come down to us (or from a verbal adjective) with the root *es - *is, formed identically with news, ѧтъ, bit, covered and so on." 377. But the etymology of A.I. Sobolevsky is fortune-telling, and one can doubt the connection of the word nature with form 3 l. There is no reason (cf. essence).

It is also necessary to note in Russian folk dialects the use of the form There is in the meaning of a noun. On the one side, There is opposed to substantivalized No. For example, by nature And no lives(Dahl's proverbs), you can’t find food from the net(ibid.). One cannot separate from these facts the ancient eat(plural) `lists or statements of available people': be in the food, the opposite of the expression: to be in the dark (There was so much in the food, there's so much in the net) (see the words of Grota - Shakhmatova, 1907, vol. 2, p. 154) 378. Another meaning of the word There is in relation to the national-regional everyday life And everyday life`property', `wealth', `belongings'.

In the academic “Dictionary of the Russian Language” we read: “ Eat, And. and. And Eat, i., m. (Third person of the verb in the sense of a noun). 1. Property, wealth, availability of something. Behind here(there is) Fine, Petrozav. (Sandpiper). According to food, the elder builds a cell. Ambassadors Dalia. (...) Eating doesn't make people cry(D.)" (ibid.).

From the word There is in this meaning a number of adjectives are formed, the morphological structure of which reflects the folk-regional peculiarities of word production: natural And natural (disgusting), natural And natural(meaning 'prosperous'). Compare also natural And natural(ibid., p. 145).

Word natural found in D.N. Mamin-Sibiryak’s story “In Bad Souls”: “People live here [in the Trans-Urals]” natural“, that is, wealthy (probably from the word: There is), “the people are getting rich”...".

Thus, the lexical history of the 3rd person present tense forms of the auxiliary verb be (There is, essence) is very complex and diverse. These forms served as the basis for the formation of new words that were included in different parts speech.

Noun essence could have been formed in that era when the functions of the corresponding form of the verb be, especially in book speech, became completely vague and empty, that is, not earlier than the XVII - early XVIII V.

Academician M.I. Sukhomlinov quotes such a remark from the famous grammarian late XVIII V. prof. A. A. Barsov, extracted from his handwritten grammar of the Russian language: “...plural essence is little used, and it seems kind of wild that some, for example. in the expression: essence of a nobleman or they are nobles, a noun, a name or something else, just not a verb, was taken, and not as a joke, but in truth - for argument and proof” (Sukhomlinov, issue 4, p. 293).

So, one can think that in the 17th - 18th centuries. the conditions were right for rethinking the form essence, for its substantivization in some social environment that used book language.

However, the word essence, having become a noun, became closely related to the lexical system of the all-Russian literary language and, as we have already noted, became its norm, an active literary dictionary 30-40s of the XIX century. Where and how did it get in? Some indications of this can be derived from historical and grammatical considerations. The essence is as a form of 3rd person plural. present date from be - after loss complete system The conjugation of the present tense of the auxiliary verb, moving along the path of substantivization, could initially be used only in a strictly defined syntactic circle: in judgments of identity and in logical definitions of concepts. For example, poets are the pride of the nation and so on.

Here are some typical usage examples essence in the function of the copula in the literary language of the XVIII and first half of the 19th century c: “A simple bridle, animal skin in place of the saddle, held in place by a girth, essence the whole horse harness” (Radishchev, “Letter to a Friend”); “They will not be Italians, unless their descendants, and they are no longer Russians.” essence» (Vyazemsky, Old Notebook, 1884, 9, p. 291).

On the form essence there was an archaic patina of obsolete bookishness. Of course, it was most common in such styles as official, clerical and business, or in the styles of academic and educational speech.

Thus, the transformation of the archaic form of the verb essence a noun could only appear in a bookish, written language and, as one might guess, in its educational, school and clerical styles (cf. doesn't matter).

V.I. Dal, obviously, based on personal observations and research, derived the noun essence from the clerical dialect. There he found its historical and semantic roots. In “The Adventures of Christian Khristianovich Violdamur and his Arshet,” V. I. Dal portrayed a virtuous intercessor in the affairs of Ivan Ivanovich: “Ivan Ivanovich gets to the very essence or, in his own expression, to the very essence. ”The essence“, this was generally Ivan Ivanovich’s favorite and auxiliary type of auxiliary verb, a word that he inserted wherever he did not know what to say or write; so, he said for example: you don’t essence still a master; we are not essence great people - replacing with this the uncommon if you And we are, and was sure that he expressed himself very skillfully” (Dal, 1898, 10, p. 47); “He will sort out every case for you, bone by bone, by joint, and, despite the command language that he set out essence, certificates, legalization And conclusion, he gave you a true, direct and clear view of the matter, and no hooks, tricks or confusions could lead him astray from the straight path. Nothing distracted his attention during such work, nothing could make him lose sight of the most essence; in a word, clear and correct concept, stated in the wildest, commanding language, was the inevitable consequence of any such work of Ivan Ivanovich” (ibid., p. 49); “If they wanted to appease him in advance, if they offered him money for a wrong deed, then he, shaking his head and taking a drink of tobacco with a special grimace, said calmly: “Wait, my goodness, we haven’t gotten there yet.” to the very essence“... If the matter came to an end and was not resolved to the satisfaction of the annoying petitioner, then Ivan Ivanovich explained to him frankly: “Please don’t bother us in vain,” he said: “this is not such a matter; We, for our part, have finished, processed the very essence and they didn’t leave you a single loophole below...” (ibid., pp. 49-50); “If the matter was decided, in the opinion of Ivan Ivanovich, incorrectly, and especially without observing even the outward legality, then Ivan Ivanovich, sagging his shoulder blades and putting his neck back in the collar, shook his snuff-box and used to say: “Those, just think, are brave in the world.” People essence - It’s not even that they fear God, but they don’t fear anyone!’ And if such a decision was the result of a skillful forgery and was surrounded properly references and arguments, then Ivan Ivanovich admired this matter, smiled, analyzed it carefully, mentally paved for himself a direct path to the very essence and concluded: “Here is the science for you, our brother...” (ibid., p. 50); “On the one hand, it will approach nepotism; on the other hand, he will creep up with zealous requests and chatter; from the third, he will turn up through third hands with an appropriate gift and, thus ascending to his Excellency himself, essence“, without skipping a single degree or stage, he completed the work and, having feasted on the victory, went to bed”; "...He was gifted in highest degree the ability to go into all the details of other people's needs and concerns, to grasp by touch, at the first reception, the most essence things..." (ibid., p. 53); “Here, for example, is how he began to explain himself to his godfather, Akulina, after talking a lot with Khristinka: “Akulina Petrovna! We had a case, mother, that’s how it is essence: I’m walking, that is, from the transport, so, under the fence: I wanted to check on some business: and it was getting a little dark, I must admit; suddenly, mother, a dog snorts from under your feet; after all, there’s a dog, and that’s it. I look; what a parable! where does she come from here - the dog is not essence importance, but it has nowhere to come from...” (ibid., p. 54); “Without realizing it, mother, Akulina Petrovna, the very essence you can't figure it out; First we’ll figure it out and try it on, and then it won’t take long to cut it off”; “Residence is revealed to him: let him be on my bread until the very essence will remain..." (ibid., p. 55).

Thus, in the form essence it was as if the foundation of predicability was laid, the foundation of a statement about something, the core of the logical determination of the essence of something. Exactly behind the word essence followed by an indication of the essential features included in the concept being defined. It is curious that in V. I. Dal’s story the word essence is used sometimes in the masculine form, sometimes in the feminine form, although feminine clearly prevails. It is necessary to remember that in substantiated use There is The same fluctuations are still observed in regional Russian dialects.

Noun essence, having taken shape in a certain social environment or in a strictly limited range of styles of written and book speech, gradually enters the active vocabulary of the Russian literary language of the first three decades of the 19th century.

Wed. in the “Diary” of A. V. Nikitenko (February 10, 1826); “In general, we don’t like to dwell on objects and go deeper into them. essence"(Russian antiquity, 1889, February, p. 304). In the same “Diary” (August 8, 1834): “There [in St. Petersburg] we have a lot of fuss, but they only care about clearing papers, about their rapid circulation, to the point but no one gets to the things” (Russian antiquity, 1889, August, pp. 296-297). In N. Kukolnik’s “Diary” (September 10, 1841) about the libretto of Glinka’s opera “Ruslan and Lyudmila”: “The whole essence V literary respect- a common connection... If the music were good, who cares about poetry” (Glinka, p. 488). From F. M. Dostoevsky in the novel “Humiliated and Insulted”: “... finally, among various exclamations, circumlocutions and allegories, the real essence...". In F. M. Dostoevsky’s article “The Whistle” and “Russian Messenger” (1861): “Impressions accumulate little by little, penetrate the cardiac cortex with development, penetrate into the very heart, into the very essence and shape man." In M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin’s review of “New Poems by A. Maikov” (1864): “Life claims to become an exceptional subject for art, and, moreover, not festive, serenely idyllic and sweet, but also everyday, bitter, hurting the eyes parties. Moreover, she claims that in these last aspects lies the most “ essence“human poetry...” In I. S. Turgenev in “Literary and Everyday Memoirs” (1868): “I believe, on the contrary, that we are at least in seven waters of mine, - our, Russian essentially can’t be taken out of us”; “Friends and mentors of Belinsky, who passed on to him all essence and all the juice of Western science, often they themselves understood it poorly and superficially”; “To him [Kraevsky. - IN. IN.], for example, someone from Belinsky’s circle would bring a new poem and begin to read, without prefacing his sacrifice with a single word, what it consisted of essence poem and why it was read”; “Yes, he [Belinsky] felt Russian essence like no one else."

In Turgenev’s story “Enough” (1865): “The scary thing is that there is nothing scary, that the most essence life is petty and uninteresting - and beggarly flat.” In the novel “Smoke”: “I’m probably ready to agree that by investing foreign essence“Into our own body, we cannot possibly know in advance what we are putting into our body: a piece of bread or a piece of poison?” (chapter 5).

In “The Diary of an Old Doctor” by N. I. Pirogov: “But what would happen to all of us if our mind constantly delved into and pondered the very essence ourselves and everything around us?”; “In the present, I cannot guarantee that I will be able to grab main feature, main essence my real worldview” (Pirogov N., 2, p. 56, 5).

Wed. from A.I. Levitov in the essays “Moscow’s “rooms sneb Ilya””: “... the punitive old man knocked Zakhar off his feet, grabbing him, as they say, in the food, or in the very essence"(Levitov, 4, p. 43).

But even in the 60s the word essence It didn't seem quite normal yet. Thus, V.V. Krestovsky in “Petersburg Slums” emphasizes it in italics: “No matter how much you [the reader] strain your attention and your powers of observation, wanting to penetrate into essence prison life, prison morals - you will hardly be able to notice any truly characteristic, essential feature. (...) Internal essence, that is, everything that is jealously hidden from the official gaze of the authorities will remain unknown to you, reverse side You won’t see the medal...” (Part 4, Chapter 11).

WITH mid-19th V. noun essence is included in the norm of the lexical system of Russian literary speech.

Published together with sketches about words writing And feature article, under the general title “From the history of Russian literary vocabulary” in the book. “Reports and communications of the Institute of Linguistics of the USSR Academy of Sciences” (1959, No. 12). The archive preserves the manuscript (20 pages of different formats).

It is printed according to the text of the publication with the addition of one example (from Turgenev’s novel “Smoke”), written out by the author later on a separate card, with a number of necessary amendments and clarifications.

About the word essence V.V. Vinogradov also mentions in his “Essays...”: “The norms of stylistic divisions are unsteady and unstable. Many of those words that in the literary language of the previous era were classified as colloquial become “book”, for example: everyday life, domestic, exist, initiative(meaning `initiative'), essence, strife, build, distinct, verbatim, root, ritual, counterweight, petty tyrant..." (Vinogradov, Essays, 1982, p. 428).

About the word essence see also the commentary to the article “Impression”. - IN. L.

373 See E. Dickenmann. Untersuchungen über die Nominalkomposition im Russischen, 1934. Wed. also Frenkel's review of this book in Zeitschrift für slaviche Phililogie, 1936, Bd. 12, N. 3-4.

374 Ushakov’s dictionary (4, p. 599) provides examples of the use of this word from the works of Turgenev (“He understood better than anyone what the whole essence"") and from F. M. Dostoevsky’s speech about Pushkin (Pushkin “at once, in the most apt, most insightful way, noted the very depths of our essentially») .

375 See: V. A. Pogorelov. Slovenian Psalter // Izv. ORYAS AN, 1908, vol. 13, book. 1, p. 457.

376 Slavia, 1927, Ročn. 5, seš 3. pp. 453-454.

377 Ibid., p. 454.

378 Wed. also article: E. A. Vasilevskaya. From the history of Russian word formation // Uch. zap. State ped. Institute named after Lenin, vol. LХХХIX, Department of Russian. lang., vol. 6, M., 1956, p. 35-47.

V. V. Vinogradov. History of Words, 2010

See what “ESSENCE” is in other dictionaries:

essence- 1, and... Russian spelling dictionary

essence- The essence: є... Explanatory Ukrainian dictionary

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Asked 2012-10-12 12:57:36 +0400 in the topic "Other questions" from Moscow

What is the essence of the term “essence of the state”:.

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Answers (1)

We ask: “What is the point of this joke?” What is the “essence”? What is the origin of the word, how was it used before and how is it used now?

How is it used in literature?

There is a wonderful poem that begins with the lines: “In everything I want to get to the very essence.” Its meaning is that a person wants to live life to the fullest, and not half-heartedly. Understand the order of things and your place in it, consciously make decisions, and not according to someone else’s will. To bear not collective, but personal responsibility for them - this is the “essence” of Boris Pasternak.

This word is widely used in the fable genre; this form runs as a refrain throughout many works. After the allegorical text, the moral, the meaning of what was said, is deduced in a stable phrase:

And the essence of this fable, apparently, is that a mouse does not cry over a cat.

And the essence of this fable, apparently, is that the lie grows like a snowball.

How is it used in modern life?

This old word finds application in modern life. In the room where the trial is taking place. In the HR department. At a lecture at the university. In economic and legal practice. Examples of established clerical expressions will help you understand what the “essence” is:

Prosecution witness, stand up. What can you actually add?

The essence of the statement of Ivanov I.A. is that he refuses to go to work after hours.

The essence of the new law on indexation of pensions is that the funded part is calculated using new methods.

Essentially, you are right, but we have to disagree with you.

The outdated form is firmly entrenched in scientific, religious and philosophical definitions:

• Painting is the essence of a way of reflecting existing reality.
• Such stories are the embodiment of the aspirations, imagination and deepest aspirations of the universal soul.
• In the modern Pantheon these three are Brahma.

In such sentences, you can replace the word “essence” with the words “it is”, “in fact”, “means”.

The meaning of the word “essence” in the explanatory dictionary

It is interesting to compare the meaning of the word in different explanatory dictionaries. They all agree in defining it as “essence, being.” But the nuances of dictionaries are different.

• Dahl's dictionary gives the synonym “self,” but this does not really clarify the picture. But “grain, core, gut” reminds us of the expression “rational grain”.
• Ozhegov's dictionary adds: « Usually this word is used as a connective.”

• Abramov's dictionary reveals another interesting side : « nature, soul." For example, “justice is the soul of the law.”
• Ushakov's dictionary interprets the meaning of the word as obsolete, used in enumerations.
• The lexical meaning of the word “essence,” taking into account the above, comes down to the following interpretation: “essence, the most important thing.” Synonyms for it are “alpha and omega”, “core”, “core”.

Origin of the word

In the Bulgarian language, there is a word “essence”. It is no longer used, but its meaning is “selfhood,” as V.I. Dal notes. The meaning of the word “essence” is also explained as “spirit, soul, nature.” Why these comparisons are made will help to understand the etymology of the word.

Its origin comes from the Old Russian “sout”, recorded in the Bible of Cyril and Methodius in Old Slavic as sѫtъ (in Ancient Greek - εἰσίν). This is the verb form of the word "is" in the third person plural.

To understand what “essence” is, let’s turn to the declension of the verb “to be” and see its changes in the Old Church Slavonic language:

• First person: I, we - “is”, in Old Church Slavonic, respectively - “am”, “esma”.
• Second person: You, you - “is”, in Old Church Slavonic, respectively, “you”, “est”.
• Third person: He, she, it, they - “is”, in Old Slavonic - “essence”.

It is worth noting that the noun “essence” did not exist before. It cannot be found in explanatory dictionaries of the Russian language published before the dictionary V. I. Dalya. Moreover, it is not in the language of writers of that time. Even Pushkin, having 20 thousand words in his vocabulary, does not use the word.

The conclusion is simple: it came from the language of the people who began to use it. Dahl himself takes it out of professional office slang. It was not for nothing that he compiled a “dictionary of the living Russian language” - the word already lived its own life.

Being a friend of Pushkin, Vladimir Ivanovich had conversations with him about words. The poet later used some himself. Dahl writes about one official who masterfully used the word. Apparently, knowing what “essence” is. True, sometimes in the female, sometimes in masculine, but the use of the word is generally similar to modern.

This is how it comes out of common parlance new form words that do not exist before. This is further proof that language is a developing living organism.