I'm a make -up artist, you're a make -up artist

In an unpretentious joke that Bulgarian is a person, and a grinder is a tool, if you wish, you can dive linguistically as deeply as you want.

On the very surface-that here, in the Russian language there are pairs of homonyms “a resident of the country x”-“a thing that is somehow connected with the country x”. We recall, by the way, what other couples are mentioned there: “... and the knife , ... and the Spaniard - flu, ... and the Dutch - the stove, ... and the American is billiards, ... and the Vietnamese and Czechs are shoes, ... and the panama is a headdress, ... and the Polka is a dance, ... and the Hungarian is a plum, ... and the Moldovan is Odessa.”

In the end there is about a bucket with nuts, but we will not talk about sad. But if desired, the list of these pairs can be continued and continued. And Kubanka is a papaha, and the Circassian is a clothing, and the Italian is such a strike, and the Afghan is a military uniform, and the Volzhanka is a mushroom, and Kolomenka is an old vessel, and a lezginka and a gypsy - dancing, and an Imeretinka is an area of ​​Sochi, and the Bedouin is an ancient ladies' scarf, and the Japanese - the cutting of the dress, and the “ Warsaw ” - a song, a song, a song, a song. Eskimoska is a hat, and Leningrad and Yaroslavka are a highway, and Tunguska, Chuvashka, Ufimka - rivers ...

Then you can notice that, in principle, this type of homonymy does not bring problems. Well, how to confuse the area, strike or stove in real speech-and a resident of some place often distant from Russia. In general, even the majority of ethnonyms (these are the designations of representatives/-nits of peoples) in ordinary speech are used infrequently. And most of the katamokonims (these are the designations of residents/-nitsa of settlements), such as Ufimka or Yaroslavka , are generally regional vocabulary. Not all outside Nizhny Novgorod are aware that its inhabitants are not Novgorodians, not the Nizhnenovgorians and not Nizhny Novgorod residents.

Then you can think about the option of a joke, in which some more words of the feminine are mentioned: turkey , Turk , China , Korea . If desired, add Circassian and buckwheat . Of course, the joke is illiterate: we know that residents of China, Greece, Turkey are Chinese , not Chinese ; Greek women , not buckwheat ; Turkish , not Turks. And representatives of the Indian tribes, Korean and Circassian peoples - Indians , not turkey ; Koreans , not the Korean ; Circassians , not Circassians . But it turns out that in return for the usual model of the formation of female ethnonyms and katamikonims on -ka : the Vietnamese -Vietnamese , the Spaniard -the Spaniard , the Leningrad -Leningrad, Finn -Finnish , etc. Another, “wrong”, but excluding homonym was used.

There may be a desire to find out how it happened. To quench it, you will need the old dictionaries of the Russian language - published in the XIX and XVIII centuries, as well as modern dictionaries, but describing the Old Russian and Old Russian vocabulary. And then we will find that in the past, male ethnonyms had options: Cherkeshenin, Greek, Indian and Turkish (cf. the surname of Turchaninov ). These are the same formations on - Anin as a modern Volzhanin , for example. Cherkeshenka, Greek, Indian, Turkishka - these are their right couples on - ka . Male "long synonyms" went out of use, and their communicatively profitable female correspondences, on the contrary, were established. And they helped to avoid homonymia with the old inanimate nouns on - ka : buckwheat entered the Russian language in the 15th century, the turkey - in the XVII, Circassian (clothes) was definitely already in the XVIII.

And do not rummage in dictionaries to understand why the female ethnonym, different from the word Turk , was so vital. No, of course, not from a dishwasher in which Hipster cooks a tube espresso. And due to the name of the representative of the Turkish people common in the old days. “... stood up for the poor Turku and Nasil led his exhausted and bleeding to a bunch of his comrades” (A. S. Pushkin, “Journey to Arzrum during the campaign of 1829”, 1835). Turks = Turks .

But the most interesting is the story of the Chinese . For a modern Russian person, the Chinese is an apple tree with small apples and these apples themselves . But for a Russian, for example, the 16th century, Kitayka is not apples at all, it is an extremely important imported product - Chinese cotton (originally silk). Chinese was imported massively, and it was so popular that even the word Chinese , which meant sundress, arose.

Even when at the beginning of the 19th century, similar fabric began to be released in Russia, it continued to be called Chinese. And the factories themselves (mainly in the Kostroma province) were called China . That is, the Chinese for a long time meant almost cotton fabric as such, almost in the same way that in our time diapers mean disposable diapers of any manufacturer.

In the same beginning of the 19th century, diplomatic relations and trade contacts of Russia with China began to develop, and Russians with the Chinese. The ethnonym of the Chinese appears in the three -volume work “Journey to China through Mongolia, in 1820 and 1821”, written by E.F. Timkovsky, an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who accompanied the Russian Orthodox Mission published in 1824. That is, first the standard word -formation model worked. But, apparently, homonymy with a popularly favorite item of consumption made an ethnonym very funny. And already in the 1830s in the texts you can find the option of the Chinese woman, after which the first option is extremely rare and finally completely forgotten.

A tiny piece of word helped to distinguish a Chinese woman from Chinese : Yan. But where did he come from? After all, no Chinese , apparently, did not exist. It was just that the word was formed by analogy with the same turf , Greek ... Muslim , Galician and many more ethnonyms containing two suffixes: -an and -ka . This sequence was generalized by native speakers of the Russian language for, of course, a spontaneous, unconscious creation of a new more convenient word, and at the same time suffix - Anka. It turned out the "wrong pair": the Chinese and the Chinese woman .

At the end of the 19th century, the story repeated. By that time, for more than 70 years, a female ethnonym Korea existed (for the first time in the mentioned "journey" of Timkovsky). But a meat product with the same name appears. More precisely, the French Carré “square muscle”, “spinal part of the ram, cow” adapts. And - the right couple to the Korean does not stand: people begin to say "wrong" - a Korean , but already by analogy with the Chinese woman .

Needless to say, these inconspicuous deviations, modifications of the rules formed by themselves? No linguist, the greatest, no Academy of Sciences can replace the invisible work of the natural, every minute selection by talking linguistic units.

So, ethnonyms-katamikonims are a quiet backwater, unlike the names of professions. On this section of the tongue is now constantly storming. What to call women: the words "unisex", the same as men - or separate, in fact, as a Muscovite or an American, - notorious feminivists?

The story “About Finnish, Chinese and Chinese” demonstrates the complexity and self-regulatory of the word formation process and the endless naive of ideas that some working group of philologists will gather, everything, everything will think through and come up with the right feminities that every Russian-speaking person will have to use. Or, conversely, the author and plumber will decide to consider the words of a common kind.

Diving even deeper, we see that the meanings compete for forms - such is life in a linguistic ecosystem - and who did not have time, he was late; The form in which he could be embodied may be occupied by another, more demanded meaning. -Ka -the most loaded suffix of the Russian language. He forms not only feminity. With its help, diminutive-type of baby are born, verbal-such as a haircut or stop . But its especially important role is to turn various phrases into nouns: dairy products - milk , Khrushchev apartment - Khrushchevka , Rublevo highway - Rublevka, prohibited products - forbidden. Actually, in the 17th century, a turkey appeared - an Indian bird, and in the 19th century a Finnish - a Finnish knife , etc. Here - ka is almost indispensable!

And it is precisely this suffix that are now constantly engaged in the supporters of feminity, including across the prevailing system of Russian word formation and often ignoring the existing Russian formations with other suffixes. Just in imitation of "uprefects", polonisms in particular. Author-poetry-hairdresser-director .

Romonymy in this area, unlike the "national", is not so harmless: words-potential competitors can belong to one lexical and semantic group. It is just right to write new lists. Grimyrsha, elevator and shift are people, and the make -up artist , the lift, the watchman is the premises. Castelian is a man, and a castel woman is a medicine. A partner is a person, and a partner is an informal name for a particular collaboration in business. The biker is a man, and the biker is a jacket ...

Especially a lot of such vocabulary in professional jargons. From the discussion about feminitations: “ An engineer already exists inside some professions: an engineer room, an engineering board, the subject“ Engineering Graphics ””. The Russian Reporter magazine will not allow to lie: “But only an engineer for energy conservation will cost the same amount. That is, the circle will turn out 30-40 thousand rubles per square meter. This is if you count the house. Without a windmill ”[1].

Of the numerous comments on the article “ Pani of the author, or about an unaccounted experiment with Russian suffixes ” [ 2 ] I liked the most signed by the nickname Owl : “ Author ” is an author's work. The word is jargon, but it is. For example, “Puppet -production dolls are shown at the puppet exhibition in the left row, and in the right - author .” And of course, calling this word to me is completely unpleasant. ” The same was reminiscent of in one of the discussions: “ The director is a directorial version of the film, without abbreviations and bills. And the author is the author's work. This word is in use among crafts and those who buy craft. Therefore, if I suddenly fall “selling my author” - do not worry, we are not talking about the trading of Litnegers, but about dolls, interior trifles, jewelry, etc. ”

If anyone does not know, the word of the author has been living in Russian soon, and most of this time - as quite neutral ...

Conclusion? Unless the language: the language is more visible, and if the people stubbornly forms from certain foundations the feminity on- Sha ( blogurs-ruffer )-a very real communicative benefit can hide in this. (See about the invisible work of natural selection by talking linguistic units.)

It also happens that the potential feminitative can only be formed on -ka, but the form is already captured by more active meanings. Who should be called more often-an electrical woman or a suburban train? In both cases, different paths lead to one form. An electric train is an electric train, like an anatomical theater - anatomical , a cosmetic handbag is a cosmetic bag , etc.

Potential feminivist from an electrician in this case is also without options for an electric train , like a Catholic - a catholic or a physician - a medic . Naturally, in the struggle for the same form, the first meaning defeated a large margin! Moreover, of all possible posts and specialties in electrical engineering and power supply, the word electrician began to be called only working repair personnel, a person in “cats” on a pillar, an electrician. Although ... "At the Trinity GRES (was there on a business trip), 4 women work electricians, it happens even at an altitude. By the way, they are called “ trains ” there (from the modern forum).

The same situation with plaster , sailor , anonymous and, finally, the notorious pilot .

Of course, everything flows, everything changes. The old meaning of the word anonymous , perhaps, is already “vintage”. And so I see the question on one of the forums: " The anonymous does not bother Alfons in her house?" And here is the opposite situation: while the old feminist of the product is sitting in the dumbings of the time, the form captured a new meaning: “It so happened that in August I went minus in the product ” ...

So here everything rests on demand. Indeed, the right value one way or another will not be left without a form. Well, competition in the language is a completely routine phenomenon.

Irina Fufaeva,
scientific. sore. Institute of Linguistics of the RSUSU

1. Andreeva O. The right house for the right person // Russian reporter. No. 45 (173) dated 11/18/2010.
2. TRV-hobby. No. 259 dated 07/31/2018. TRV-SCIENCE.ru/o-NECHAYANNOM-EKSPEROMENTE-S-RUSSKIMI-SUFFIKSAMI/