Language of the 90s: Myths and reality

Freedom of speech, given to us with the fall of the Soviet government, is associated primarily with the freedom of the media language, with the abolition of censorship. However, you can look at this term wider: is it true that in the 90s the word has become freer and more unbridled than in a totalitarian society? Is it true that the new reality demanded many new words? Is it true that the quick and serious changes that shocked the whole country affected the language?

Linguists Elena and Alexei Shmeleva-about why almost all of these sensations are not entirely true, about the myths about the language of the 90s and what was really.

-The 90s is the experience of such freedom that Russia did not experience before or after. There is a profane feeling that this experience should have been manifested at all levels, including at the level of the language. Did it work with the language?

Alexey Shmelev: If we keep in mind the language processes that took place in the 90s, we can talk about two things: about myths and reality. The myths were as follows: the myth of the appearance of foreign -language borrowings, the myth of the invasion of criminal jargon and badly -humor, the myth of serious changes in the newspaper language, and the myth of a change in speech etiquette. It is clear where they come from. Now - why these are myths. It is significant to understand here: we have the case with changes in language or speech itself? In general, if something that was considered wrong begins to meet often in speech, then this is a sign of what? Changes in the way to speak, changes in the language itself, falling the level of language proficiency, or something else?

Foreigned borrowings really began to catch the eye, but this is a change in life, and not in the language, because new phenomena appear that require the name. Some foreign borrowings immediately became familiar - but here it all depends on the personal circumstances of the speaker. I think the “blockbuster” for those who do a lot of cinema has become familiar faster than for me. And for me, already in the mid-90s, it was necessary to remember that the words “grant” did not exist in the 80s. The language also changed at all times: football included in Russia at the beginning of the twentieth century - there were many words such as “Beck”, “Havbek”, “Strokiper”.

The voucher-in the 90s-a privatization check, which was subject to exchange for certain assets. Now, for the most part, it is used in the tourism business: a voucher is a document, upon presentation of which a tourist receives a set of services (transfer, hotel, food).

- Can we go through specific examples and debunk the myths that you mentioned?

A.Sh.: Improving the level of rudeness in the speech of statesmen. It is clear that reading speeches on a piece of paper and a lively, spontaneous speech of the authorities in the 90s are just different genres. There is every reason to think that those of the Soviet leaders who became new bosses also rudely spoke in an informal situation and in the 80s, it was simply not broadcast. Thus, this is a change in life, not a linguistic phenomenon. This is approximately how to say that the language of the poster has changed, on the grounds that instead of the “Glory of the CPSU”, the poster “We can buy everything can be bought”.

- The myth of criminal jargon?

A.Sh.: Criminal jargon began to come into speech in the 50s of the XX century, from the beginning of rehabilitation and returns from the camps.

Elena Shmeleva: Yes-but in the 90s a new process begins. In the early 90s, words such as “arrow” , “disassembly” , “roof” are already massively used in different styles of speech, but they were pronounced as if in quotes. Over these ten years, they turned into almost non -immarful words. The same thing is “loot” , “grandmas” . It was still a semi-criminal jargon of brothers. The word “brother” is now pronounced without any kind of healing - this is simply the name of a certain social group. That is, the conditions of the functioning of the language affect the language - and under their influence it begins to change.

A.Sh.: They influence - but also contribute to the spread of myths.

GUMPA is a reduction from "humanitarian aid".

- But the myth here is no less important than reality - in any case, it makes sense to fix it. So let's further about myths and imaginary changes.

A.Sh.: The imagination of changes is especially visible when we are talking about speech etiquette. Another characteristic myth: that the name of statesmen by name and surname has entered into use, without a middle name, and in a radical form this myth sounds so that the use of a name and surname without a middle name was generally in use. The name and surname is the tradition of the 19th century, and in the 20th century the name and surname have always been the traditional name of athletes and writers. (For the writer, this changed at the moment when he was included in the school curriculum: then he received a middle name.) Moreover, statesmen were called exactly so, by name and surname. In the necrologues, Stalin was written: "The greatest figure in mankind Joseph Stalin died." Khrushchev was called "Nikita Khrushchev." And since the mid-60s, a middle name began to be used in newspapers. And for a short period of time, from the mid-60s, one can think, a new norm of officialdom arose-and now in the 90s it was shaken, because the Soviet official has ceased to exist. But this is again not quite a change. There is a legend about the word "comrade". For the 19th century, this is quite normal treatment, but in an unofficial setting or in an atmosphere that a person wants to make unofficial. Say, the military leader turns to the soldier so, as if comparing himself with him. Then this was the appeal of the socialists to each other, then, when they took power, it became official and was quite quickly learned by many people. Around the 60s, it began to be perceived as Sovietism, repulsion began from it, and this was fixed in the 90s. But it is wrong that this is a change in the 90s: the coloring of it as Sovietism appeared in the 60s.

Credills are dense woolen tights with a bright pattern. Now on the network you can find examples of the use of this word, but they remember it very little.

E.Sh.: Changing the conditions of functioning gradually affects the language, but this affects later. This process is deep, not the most noticeable, gradual - but these are changes in the picture of the world.

A.Sh.: The only real change is when the assessment of a number of words began to change, and systematically. It began to happen what could be called a return to pre -revolutionary norms, but in the form in which they seemed to the new native speakers.

E.Sh.: For example, words that were marked in dictionaries as obsolete or as phenomena that are not existing in Soviet society begin to be used. Say, “charity is in a bourgeois society: the provision of material assistance to the poor” (the dictionary of the Russian language of 1981 of the publication).

A.Sh.: In the late 30s, the word “Russia” was also marked as historicism, in the Russian-French dictionary of 1939 of the publication: “Russia-East”.

E.Sh.: And on the other hand, on the contrary, some historicisms returned- “Gymnasium” , “Duma” , “Lyceum” , “Governor” .

A.Sh.: At the same time, it would be incorrect to say that the language of the XIX - early twentieth centuries has recovered. Changes began to occur in accordance with the ideas of people about how the language of the 19th century was arranged.

Kapor is a headdress, but looking differently than the hoods of the 19th century. Not a hat of a certain shape, but a knitted pipe.

E.Sh.: In addition, an important shift: all words related to business were colored until the 90s, with some exceptions, negatively: “business man”, “businessman”, “businessman”. Now these are neutral words.

- Or derivatives from the word “career” - “careerist”, “career growth”, which were also negatively painted.

E.Sh.: And the adjective “career” in this meaning was not in the dictionaries at all, there was only a “career step of the horse” and “career sand”. This is an indicator of changes in the picture of the world. In addition, the language of advertising brought us the thesis “you worthy of this” -that is, the idea was established that it is good to do something for yourself. Thus, the word "egoist" has lost a negative coloring - the Egoist store, the magazine "Egoist" , cologne "Egoist" appeared.

A.Sh.: We can say that this happens under the influence of Western values, but it would be more accurate to say - under the influence of the ideas of native speakers of the Russian language about Western values.

E.Sh.: At the same time, borrowed words often receive the same meaning in the Russian language as in English. Say, any big car has become called a jeep.

Secondary borrowings appeared: these are words that have already existed in the Russian language, borrowed in the past or the century before last from French, from English, now mastered in a different meaning. The “delicate” for Russians is a characteristic of a tactful person, but began to write: “delicate washing” or “delicate pink nail polish” .

Cabbage (bucks, green, greens) - dollars designation.

A.Sh.: This is part of a large process - from the beginning of the 19th century and almost until the end of the twentieth century - a shift towards attention to the nuances of human relations, which manifests itself even in a financial environment: a delicate person, a scrupulous person - and all this in relation to monetary relations. And then it began to erode - the words began to either leave the tongue, or change the meaning.

Style

-Can we talk about a stylistic shift in the 90s?

E.Sh.: The high style is clearly associated with Soviet pathos, and it causes severe rejection. And until the 90s he was ridiculed in jokes, the Marxist dogmas were a constant subject for jokes: "The tops cannot, and the lower classes do not want." But in the 90s, ridicule became a widespread phenomenon.

A lump is a commercial store (cf. with a commission that existed long before the 90s, but also did not survive the 90s).

A.Sh.: Many stamps, I must say, were already perceived in Soviet times ironically-some “sharks of imperialism” ...

E.Sh.: But nevertheless, in the 90s, this stem became a reflected reaction, a response to the Soviet language. That's what is interesting: jokes began to tell less, but much more to quote - in separate phrases and on occasion. Politicians began to do this in their speeches, scientists in reports. And this is actually a change. Informal appeals to the audience or jargon words began to be used much more often. Previously, maybe someone could afford something similar (there was a bike about Rosenthal, who said in two in a row of lectures: “Well, you won’t get out without a half-liter”), but this is still an exception.

A cooperative is a word that has existed and used since the 19th century, but at the end of perestroika, revived in the same meaning as during the NEP in the 20s, which became the sign of the 90s.

A.Sh.: The stylistic characteristic of the word is a linguistic phenomenon. There are two options: either the word or expression has changed the stylistic coloring, or preserved. The fact that the statesman can say “chewing snot” does not mean that the expression “chew the snot” has changed the stylistic coloring, but speaks only about this state figure. And it happens that the expression changes the stylistic coloring, then this is a language change. Right before our eyes, the word "party" loses the jargon coloring, now in many dictionaries this word no longer has a stylistic instrument.

Loss of literacy

- There is a widespread opinion - maybe this is another myth, or maybe not - about the loss of literacy compared to Soviet times. Is it true that this process is happening-and does it have to do with the 90th?

E.Sh.: Loss of literacy gradually occurs because they read less.

A.Sh.: This is already in the 21st century. What we can note in the 90s-a socio-behavioral shift: people have become, as it seems, not ashamed to make mistakes.

A piece - in the meaning of "STO". (As well as “thing”-“thousand” and “lemon”-“million”-before denomination. “Lemon” was used in this meaning in the 20s.)

-It seemed to me that this was still directly related to network communication, where the ease and speed of communication erode the idea of ​​the norm.

E.Sh.: This manifested itself in the 2000s, but probably gradually brewed. Until some time, it seemed that if you have been corrected in the article in the article, it is somehow unpleasant for you.

Slaxes - free cut pants made of light fabric.

A.Sh.: And in the 90s we were surprised to see how a young colleague makes a presentation, there is a mistake, someone, embarrassed, indicates it, and after some time he makes a report with the same presentation and with the same mistake. We also noticed that at the sight of this mistake, people of our age bounce. In the Soviet Union there was an idea of ​​the standard: there was a single spelling regime ...

E.Sh.: And quite tough.

-By the way, books published in the 90s, with the then deficiency of proofreaders, came out with a monstrous number of typos ...

E.Sh.: This could also change the situation, of course. The fact that the book can be written incorrectly in Soviet times cannot be imagined. Well, in other areas - erosion of the norm related to the circumstances: the radio and TV are not announcements, but a variety of people from different regions and different social layers. In Soviet times, there was an idea of ​​a single pronunciation rate. In a sense, this almost led to the destruction of dialects. Teachers at school corrected the students: do not say like your village grandmother. All the announcers spoke the same. And in the 90s, an idea gradually appeared that there may be regional options.

Shaping is a type of rhythmic gymnastics, especially popular in the 90s.

- Alyosha, in your work with Irina Levontina and with Anna Zaliznyak about the Russian language picture of the world, this picture, which you and your colleagues describe, seems static. The 90s are quite often called crazy or dashing. There is a profane feeling that this image-or rather, this speech structure “dashing 90s”-fits much better into the Russian language picture of the world than the notorious “stability”.

A.Sh.: Here you need to draw an important border. There is a linguistic picture of the world as such, and in this language picture of the world there are still replacements about how Russians are arranged. This is not a majority of the language picture of the world, but such a car storage: how the Germans are arranged, the Americans are so businesslike, and the French are gallant, but lightweight, and the Germans are neat, and the Russians are characterized by love of extremes, the breadth of the soul, laziness, a calculation of maybe. But this is the Russians Auto -Stereotype, and I'm not sure that in reality the Russian language picture of the world encourages dashing, not stability.

Our last book is called “Constants and variables of the Russian language picture of the world”, and it says a lot about variables and changes that constantly occur in the language picture of the world. It is more correct, so to speak: what happened in the 90s has greatly changed the Russian language picture of the world compared to the previous period. And these changes are the most noticeable, most significant, because they all go in the same direction.