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IN SLOVAK 172 (236)
Projective lexicon of the Russian language February 18, 2007

Congratulations to dear readers on the upcoming holiday of Honoring Borders - Terminalia Day (February 23)!
About the historical meaning of this holiday and why it calendar coincides with Defender of the Fatherland Day (formerly the Day of the Soviet Army and Navy),
see the article at the end of this issue (published three years ago in Novaya Gazeta , it marked the beginning of a rethinking of the symbolism of this day).

Word of the year (2006), century (20th), millennium (2nd)...

The results of the past year are summed up not only by politicians and historians, but also by philologists. For the 17th year in a row, the American Dialect Society holds its Word of the Year ceremony.

The word of 2006 was proclaimed by the verb “ to pluto ( and to be plutoed)”, from the name of the former planet Pluto, which in 2006 was recognized by the International Astronomical Union as unworthy of the proud title of “planet” demoted to "dwarf planets". “ To demote ” means to demote, dismiss, demote in rank, rank, position. " To be degraded " - to be demoted, fired, demoted.

Donald Rumsfeld could not grab any stars from the sky, and then he went crazy .

The American Dialect Society is a national, all-American society for the study of the English language. Founded in the century before last (1889), it unites linguists, lexicographers, editors, writers, and representatives of all “language” professions. Since January 1991, the society has annually held a meeting and vote on the lexical results of the past year in several categories. The main one is the Word of the Year. Other nominations: the most useful, the most creative, the most unnecessary, the most outrageous and offensive, the most euphemistic, the most successful (destined for a long life), the most unsuccessful word of the year. Phrases, idioms, and catchphrases can also act as words. It is not necessary for a word to appear in a given year; it is important that it acquires special popularity over the past year, finds itself in the center of public attention, and marks a significant shift in political, cultural, scientific and technical development.

Here are the main verbal milestones of the past years - since the Word of the Year began to be elected in America:
1990 - “bushlips”, “lips of Bush (senior)”, meaning “insincere political rhetoric”.
1991 - the expression “Mother of everything” (“Mother of all victories”, “Mother of all wars”, etc.), uttered by Saddam Hussein.
1992 - "No!" (expression of disagreement).
1993 - "information highway".
1994 - a tie between two Words: "cyber" (from "cybernetics") and "morph" (an altered form).
1995 - again a draw: the World Wide Web (a network for the whole world) and Newt (an aggressive newcomer, named after Republican Congressman Newt Gingrich).
1997 - “the millennium bug” (about the transition of computer chronology to the 21st century).
1998 - prefix “e” (from “electronic”, as in the words “email”, “e-commerce”).
1999 - "Y2K", an abbreviation for "year 2000" (K is "kilo", one thousand, three zeros).
2000 - "chad", a circle of paper squeezed out of a ballot during voting (about the Bush-Gore election battle).
2001 - “9/11” (terrorist attack in New York).
2002 - “weapons of mass destruction” (Iraq was accused of possessing them).
2003 - “metrosexual” (fashionist, heterosexual, big city resident).
2004 - “red and blue states” (those that voted for Republicans and Democrats, respectively).
2005 - “truthiness”, veracity (as opposed to truth), a claim to be truthful regardless of the facts (the word has an ironic meaning).

As we can see, in the selection of the Words of the Year there is a lot of politics and many miscalculations, which were partly compensated for by the words of the year from other categories. Let's take a look, for example, at the most outstanding year in terms of its roundness - 2000. The word of the year - "paper circle" - is purely local and seasonal. The most useful word is "civil union", in the sense of a legally formalized same-sex marriage. The most euphemistic is a “courtesy call,” an annoying advertising call on the phone. The most promising one, with the greatest chance of success, is the “muggle”; Harry Porter uses this word to describe a non-wizard, a dull person with little imagination. The most outrageous thing is “wall humping”: this is when you walk past the scanner, pressing your hip against it, so as not to take your ID out of your pocket again. The most creative word is dotbomb, literally “dot bomb”: this was the name of a bankrupt company that arose from the electronic technology bubble and quickly burst (from the address of such companies on the Internet .com, pronounced dotcom).

In 2000, the words epochal were also chosen.
The word of the decade (1990s) was the web - network, electronic web.
The word of the 20th century was recognized as “ jazz ” (the second in line was “DNA”).
The title "Word of the Millennium" was politically correct given the pronoun " she " in order to pay tribute to the growing role of women in society and in the destinies of humanity. By the way, in English this feminine pronoun (she) appeared only in the 12th century. The closest contender for the highest title of Word of the Millennium was "science", but it was defeated by "her" with a score of 35:27. Other contenders: the definite article the (16), OK (13), freedom (7), book (4), person (3).

The American Dialect Society is not the only organization that gives honorary titles to words. According to the World Language Monitor (Global Language Monitor, San Diego, California), the 2006 Word is “ sustainable ,” which can roughly be translated as “self-sufficient,” “self-sustaining,” “self-sustaining.” We are talking about environmentally friendly, balanced artificial systems (structures, enterprises, etc.), which are capable of supporting themselves energetically without destroying the environment. According to the same organization, the Phrase of the Year is “stay the course” (often used by Bush in connection with his Iraq policy). Finally, the Name of the Year is Darfur, the name of a province in Sudan where a humanitarian disaster is occurring.

It would be good to establish a similar observation post in Russia, which, through
the fate of words would track the processes taking place in the country and in the world and their impact on public consciousness. One can only guess what the choice of Russian linguists would have been.
I would venture to make a few assumptions:
1991 - putsch
1992 - voucher
1994 - MMM
1998 - default
The word of the 20th century would perhaps be recognized not as “jazz” but as “revolution.”

Well, a candidate for Word 2006 could be “polonium” and its derivatives: “ polonize ( sia )”, “ polonization ”. This term has existed for a long time (“polonization”), but now it has a completely new meaning - “contamination (poisoning, irradiation) with polonium” (this element was named by its discoverers Pierre and Marie Curie in honor of Mary’s historical homeland, Poland - lat. Polonia ). Once upon a time, 400 years ago, there was an attempt to Polonize Russia. And now someone from Russia tried to Polonize her “slanderer.” At the same time, planes, hotels, bars, hospitals, doctors, emigrants, waiters, passengers were polonized... After which some began to refrain from traveling to London - they were afraid of polonization... It seems that the rise of polonium among chemical elements had a greater public resonance than the overthrow of Pluto among astronomical objects (although from America, distant from European affairs, perhaps Pluto is more visible).

What will Slovo 2007 be like? Let's follow events, let's influence events, and in a year we'll sum it up.

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TERMINAL DAY

Historians find it difficult to explain exactly why February 23 was chosen by the communist leaders as the date of the military holiday - “Day of the Soviet Army and Navy.” Official explanation: “in commemoration of the massive entry of volunteers into the Red Army in 1918 and courageous resistance to the German invaders, in honor of the repulse to the Kaiser’s troops near Pskov and Narva.” In fact, if there were any battles on February 23, 1918, they had an unfavorable outcome for the Soviet side. Thus, Pskov was occupied on February 24 by a company of German scooter riders, and, according to a report from the Soviet command, the city could have been defended if at least some resistance had been offered.

The choice of February 23, when Leon Trotsky wrote the appeal “The Socialist Fatherland is in Danger!”, may be associated with a wider range of historical or even mythological patterns. Like the French revolutionary regime, the Bolshevik government loved to try on the costumes of ancient Rome - republican and imperial. It was February 23 that was celebrated in Rome as a holiday of sacred borders, inviolable boundaries - “terms”. The terms meant both state borders and boundaries of private property. In addition to a large number of field terms, there was a cult of one Term: the stone depicting it was placed in the Capitoline Temple, which symbolized the inviolability of the borders of Rome.

The lands of other peoples are limited by a fixed limit;
Rome's limit is the same as that given to the world.
Ovid, "Fasti" [1]

It was precisely this symbolism of state borders, potentially coinciding with the borders of the world, that was consciously or unconsciously adopted by the Soviet regime - while completely violating the original meaning of this holiday as the consecration of borders between private possessions.

For Russian society, in the initial period of the formation of private property institutions, the holiday of Terminalia should be especially close. We propose to restore the original meaning of this holiday Between and Borders and celebrate February 23 not only as Defender of the Fatherland Day, but also as the holiday of Terminalia .

Next, we will talk in more detail about this Roman custom and outline possible ways to revive its social and moral meanings in modern conditions.

The Terminalia is described in Ovid's epic poem "Fasti", which sets out the calendar of Roman festivities and related legends:

The night is over, and now we praise God, who
Indicates field boundaries with its sign.
The term, whether you are a stone or a tree trunk buried in a field,
You were deified long ago by our ancestors.

The establishment of the cult of Terminus in Ancient Rome was attributed to the second king, Numa Pompilius (8-7 centuries BC) and is associated with the idea of \u200b\u200bthe sanctity and inviolability of private ownership. Terminus - in Latin, boundary stone or pillar, boundary sign; border, limit (from the verb "terminare", to demarcate, separate, delimit, end). Hence “term” is a word with a precisely defined meaning, for example, denoting a special concept in science; “terminal” is an input and output device of a computer system; part of the port intended for loading and unloading; "termination" - completion, end. It is significant that February 23 was the last day of the old Roman year, thereby marking the most important boundary in time.

The Romans performed rites of veneration and sacrifice over boundary signs, terms . Anyone who moved the boundary stone was considered cursed and could be executed; the death sentence was subsequently commuted to a fine. From this veneration of boundary stones developed the worship of the god Terminus. The owners of the adjacent fields gathered at a common boundary marker, and each decorated his side of the stone or pillar with garlands. Sacrifices and libations were brought - honey, wine, milk, grain, pies; a sheep or pig was slaughtered. When marking the land and installing signs, sacrifices were also made to sanctify the border of the property.

The border is a place of co-division of living conditions and work. Terminalia are celebrated in order to consecrate borders as the basis of peace and commonwealth between neighbors, employees, co-workers, colleagues, compatriots, members of different parties, everyone who is separated by borders - and connected by them. A successfully drawn border is the key to good neighborliness. Without terms consecrating boundaries, civil strife and a war of all against all would begin. We have nothing more in common than the borders that separate us. Here's how Ovid refers to the term:

You are the edge of the people, and the edge of the cities and great powers,
And without you, fields everywhere would be controversial.
You are not partial at all, and you are incorruptible with gold,
And according to the law, you always keep rural boundaries....
If they move you either with a plow or with a hoe,
You cry out: “This is your field, and this is his!..”

Terms should be as revered in a society deprived of revolutions and civil wars as the Penates - the Roman deities of domestic life, guardians of the hearth. In essence, penates and terms together protect the peace of society, some consecrating the inside of the house , and others - the border of the site (yard, field, allotment).

How can we celebrate this holiday on February 23 - Terminalia Day - in modern conditions? On this day, try to invite not only loved ones, but also distant ones to your home, to your celebration, and pay tribute to the differences that unite you. One of the rules of this holiday: do not identify with anything, do not resist anything . Both identities and opposites are degenerate differences. We will term all relationships as consisting of differences and therefore calling for sympathy, co-participation, co-thinking, co-action. There is something for every " time " co- ". Let the physiologist honor the physicist, and the physicist the metaphysician. Let the radical honor the conservative, and the conservative the liberal. Let them together, from different sides, approach the terms that separate them, just as in Ancient Rome the owners of neighboring fields converged to a general term to honor the deity who bestows peace on them.The festival of Terminalia reminds us of the friendly meaning of the border , that without the division of possessions good neighborliness is impossible, without the division of tools comradeship is impossible, without the division of labor no common cause is possible.

On both sides you are crowned by two gentlemen,
Two pies for you, two wreaths for each...
Simply everyone celebrates, and the neighbors feast together,
And they glorify you with songs, Holy term!

Borders are not only in space. Terminate , i.e. to celebrate Terminalia, to act in the spirit of reverence for terms, means to limit your relationships with other people, with representatives of other ages, professions, religions, incomes, and political views. The art of termination is perhaps the most difficult of all the arts that Russia, more accustomed to the feats of overcoming borders, is now mastering. Termination has nothing to do with aggression, asceticism, military prowess, or humble asceticism - it is the art of drawing boundaries, isolating form from chaos.

To terminate means to establish the terms in which conversations are conducted and all interactions with other people are constructed. Termination is giving words a certain meaning, articulating linguistic meanings, since, as F. de Saussure noted, “there is nothing in language but differences.” There is a ubiquitous expression in English, "in terms of", which is considered a parasite - and yet it is rarely avoided, since it establishes "in terms of what" the conversation is being conducted, i.e. serves as a means of articulation of any topic. A person thinks and speaks, loves or hates, achieves or avoids something “in certain terms.” This kind of termination is the unconscious veneration of Term as the god of borders and boundaries - and on the day of Terminalia, let us honor him consciously and pour honey and wine on those borders that divide us.

It is no coincidence that the holiday between borders was celebrated so solemnly in the most grandiose of all the empires of the ancient world. Empires are sewn together piece by piece, and the consecration of the seams is a celebration of the imperial idea itself as the internal indivisibility and unity of its constituent regions and provinces. That is why for modern Russia, still remaining an empire, it is so important to consecrate not only external, but also internal borders, as signs of its complex integrity. In this regard, of all the Roman customs, it is Terminalia that can occupy a special place in the New Russian calendar.

Defender of the Fatherland Day and the Terminalia holiday are essentially a two-pronged holiday: the protection of external, state borders - and the veneration of internal borders, the boundaries of private property, material and intellectual possessions.

* * *

A holiday, or a secular sacrament, is the basis of the internal organization of any society. The holiday brings together the beginnings and ends of the process (history, evolution) in the middle of which we find ourselves. A holiday is a meeting of memory and imagination within those everyday life where simple habit works, the pathetic art of surviving and keeping up with the current day.

Despite all Russia’s sometimes excessive love for holidays, this does not yet apply to private property. Among the national holidays there should be one that celebrates the heterogeneity of this very people , the diversity of possessions, ways of life, internal boundaries and borders that make up such a huge land.

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1. Here and below, quotes are given from the book: Ovid, Metamorphoses, M.-Kharkov, Folio, 2000, pp. 395-396.

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