The semantics of landscape vocabulary in the Lives of the Assumption Collection

Il'in Boris Borisovich ORCID: 0000-0002-9771-9374 Assistant, Department of History of Russian Language and General Linguistics, Moscow Region State University 105005, Russia, Moscow, Engels str., 21, p. 3 bilin85@mail.ru Other publications by this author

          In this article, of the possible nominations of natural objects, only those that name areas of the earth's surface, that is, landscape vocabulary, will be considered. The purpose of the study is the classification and description of landscape vocabulary, which is found in the lives of the Assumption collection. 

          When describing the category of locativity, a separate semantic area, a semantic subclass, is made up of a group of vocabulary that names sections of the earth's surface and water spaces. In the Russian semantic dictionary, this group refers to naming words, which indicates a grammatical seme of objectivity, and is included in the super-paradigm "Cosmos. Earth. Natural formations", which implements the semantics of spaces and places that exist regardless of human activity ^{[1, pp. 798-800]}.

          Russian Russian author L.N. Fedoseeva identifies "spatial concretizers of events" among the lexical means of expressing the category of locativity in modern Russian, in which a group of landscape vocabulary is singled out separately (in the work: Fedoseeva L.N. The category of locativity in modern Russian: dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philology. — Moscow, 2013, pp. 127-135). In this classification, the system of nominations of natural objects is also opposed to the system of nominations of man-made objects.

          According to the researcher, the group of landscape vocabulary includes: a) water spaces, b) flat areas, c) mountain surfaces, d) open spaces, e) spaces covered with vegetation, f) depressions and depressions, g) man-made movement routes, h) mineral deposits, and) parts of the earth's crust below the soil layer. It should be noted that the vocabulary of the last two groups is not marked in the hagiographic texts of the Assumption Collection. It is also worth paying attention to the possibility of assigning a word to different groups, which is due to the specifics of the semantics of the word, its ability to reflect different ideas about the subject. Thus, the word meadow is included both in the group "open spaces" and in the group "spaces covered with vegetation" (see the work of L.N. Fedoseeva, p. 133).

          Landscape vocabulary is characterized by the material of the Old Slavic language by T.I. Vendina, who identifies the group "Earth" within the semantic sphere of "Space". It is well represented by lexemes characterizing the landscape (elevations, flat spaces, cliffs and precipices), which actualize the opposition of top and bottom, and at the same time religious and ethical assessment ^{[2, pp. 168-172]}.

          The development of a classification for the linguistic material proposed by ancient Russian texts can be based on the proposed classifications, since, firstly, the division of space by man is universal, and secondly, the book material of ancient Russian literature and the modern Russian language are in a relationship of continuity.                                                      Based on the proposed schemes, for ancient Russian literature, we can single out the group "Nature as a non-man-made space", within which it is proposed to separately consider its subclass "Earth and Land", which can be described as follows: 1. Land plots: 1.1 Landscape/relief: a) elevations, b) flat places/spaces, c) depressions (cliffs, precipices); 1.2 Vegetation: a) overgrown areas, b) open areas; 2. Water spaces and land areas near them.

          Of the nominations found in the lives of the Assumption Collection, characterizing the terrain and denoting elevations, the following are noted.

          Mountain ‘mountain' ^[3]; ‘significant elevation rising above the surrounding area' ^{[4, p. 218]}. The meaning coincides with the Old Slavonic — ‘mountain’ ^{[5, p. 174]}. It occurs 14 times in seven different hagiographic texts, both in the original and translated ones (for example, in the Life of Theodosius of Pechersk: there is a small mountain lying above the manastyrm ^{[6, pp. 55g15-19]}; in the Torment of Christopher: n from the mountain you can look down and ^{[6, pp. 96b2-4]}. The word was noted in the nomination of a geographical object: the entrance to manastyr, which is near the city of Izh narichy and the holy mountain ^{[6, pp. 41b13-15]}. Its use is dictated in some cases by biblical contexts, for example, in the Legend of Boris and Gleb, a verse from the Gospel of Matthew is quoted ^[7]: it is impossible for a city to hide at the top of a mountain standing ^{[6, p. 16-19]}. In the lives, the word can also denote a place to which the saint withdraws from the mundane and in which he dedicates his life to God, for example, in the life of Methodius: and if you love the mountain, then do not cross the mountains for the sake of abandoning your teaching ^{[6, pp. 105-6]}.

          The word mountain becomes the designation of a sacred locus in the lives. The sanctity of such a place is also evidenced by the further possibility of the formation of the mountain lexeme from it in the meaning of ‘spiritual’. In the first part of the life of Methodius, the sacrifice of Isaac is associated with the locus of the mountain (Gen. 22:1-19), but it is important that it is implicitly compared with Golgotha as a place of voluntary sacrifice: Isaac in the image of the cross on the mountain was brought into existence ^{[6, pp. 103a28-30]}. Christ is the standard of the righteous, and therefore the chronology of events is broken: Isaac acts in the image of Christ, and not vice versa. The mountain turns into a place that is connected with God and with serving him. In the same way, a saint in life must be on the mountain to serve God.

          Khlm ‘hill, mountain’ ^[3]: and from there the packs settled on the in khlm Antonia ^{[6, p. 35-7]}, and like a mosquito, they ate their way to the drogyi khlm (in the life of Theodosius of Pechersk). The meaning coincides with the Old Slavonic — ‘hill, hillock’ ^{[5, p. 761]}. The word occurs three times and only in Slavic lives: The Lives of Theodosius of the Caves (2 times) and the Lives of Methodius (1 time). Compared to the word mountain, the word hlm is less frequent.

          In the Life of Methodius, the word is used in an inaccurate biblical quotation ^[8]: For the same reason, wisdom is more important to me ^{[6, pp. 102b25-26]}. Having the closest lexical meaning of 'an exalted place', it acquires in the text the meaning given by the biblical quotation used in the text, the words in which belong to Wisdom: "I was born before the mountains were erected, before the hills" (Proverbs of Solomon 8:25) ^{[9, p. 601]}. The word hlm acquires a symbolic meaning: it becomes a symbol of the created world.

          A few words refer to the nominations characterizing the indentations.

          Deep ‘moat (?)’ ^[3], ‘cliff, moat; mountain slope overgrown with dense forest’ [DRYA Vol. 3, p. 131]. The word is found only in the original life — the Life of Theodosius of the Caves: that's why he took off his holy mantle and entered the monastery ^{[6, p. 34b11]}. This meaning approaches the meaning noted in the Old Slavic language — ‘gorge' (in the group of meanings ‘valley, lowland, gorge') ^{[5, p. 202]}, however, they cannot be recognized as identical.

          The ditch ‘pit' ^[3] (in the Legend of Boris and Gleb: a horse entered the ditch on the field ^{[6, p. 13b9]}). The meaning of the word coincides with the Old Slavonic — ‘moat, pit’ [SSYA, 1994, p. 582]. It occurs 10 times in 4 different lives. The largest number of uses is noted in the Life of Irina (6 times). In the lives, the word denotes a place of torment or suffering, for example, in the Story of St. Abraham (may I not create someone to hide myself in the cave and enter the cave ^{[6, p. 301a5]}), in the Life of Irina (she also asked herself to enter the cave to the snakes ^{[6, p. 75g25]}).

          Yama ‘pit, moat' ^[3], the same meaning is noted in the Old Slavic language — ‘yama’ ^{[5, p. 797]}, which indicates the common meaning of the word for the Old Slavic and Old Russian languages. In the lives under consideration, it occurs only once — in the translated Life of Irina: Saint Irini speaks about the memory of Daniel the prophet in the pit of the Lion ^{[6, p. 75-3]}. We find a similar context in the Life of Erasmus: and Danilo, his slave from the monastery of Lviv ^{[6, p. 120g4]}. The use of the words pit and rov in these examples shows that they were used as synonyms.

          Cave (pechera) ‘cave'^{[3; 5, p. 445]}, ‘a hollow, hollow space in the earth's crust or in a mountain, formed naturally or created by man ^{[4, p. 830]}. It occurs 44 times in three lives in various spelling variants, the largest number of uses falls on the Life of Theodosius of Pechersk (41 times), whereas in the life of Epiphanius of Cyprus the word is used 1 time, in the life of Pachomius — 2 times. Usually the word is used in the texts to indicate the location in which you acquired the Holy one: and vyprosi Epiphanes strixino of korablino about VELIZY the Eminence of kyde lives and t Poveda as PAF unto Pechera (the Life of Epiphanius of Cyprus ^{[6, p. 153а23-28]}; sdasu unto the cave of emo (the Life of Pachomius) ^{[6, p. 115г23]}. It is only in the Life of Theodosius of the Caves that it is noted that the monks themselves created caves in the hills: and from there the packs settled on the hill of Anthony and fossilized the cave without leaving it ^{[6, pp. 35-6-9]}.

       The semantic subclass "Areas of undeveloped land" includes a group of words in which vegetation is present or absent. The group "Overgrown areas" includes a small group of names of forest areas, since mentions of the forest in the hagiographies are occasional and do not occur in a large number of hagiographies.

      Bor. The lexeme bor is found in the text of the Assumption Collection only once — in the Legend of Boris and Gleb. The Old Slavonic dictionary does not record this word. Referring to a specific vocabulary, it was not included in the circle of common words at the beginning of Russian literature. The dictionary of I.I. Sreznevsky fixes this word and homonymous to it in the meanings of ‘pine, pine forest', ‘barley’, ‘a kind of tribute', as well as the similar word bor ‘struggle' ^[3]. Being widespread in Slavic languages ^{[10, p. 193]}, it was not included in the corpus of religious vocabulary. Its use is motivated by a good knowledge of ancient Russian realities, as well as, perhaps, knowledge of the details of the events described in the life. The author of the Life was free to choose words, not restrained by the Greek, Latin or Slavic text.

        The only use of the lexeme is associated with the mention of inflicting a mortal wound in the heart of the martyr Boris, while he was being carried in a cart through the forest: and I would like to start worshiping my chapter ^{[6, p. 12g5]}. Dictionaries give this example with the meaning ‘pine forest’^[3], ‘forest, pine forest' ^{[11, T1, p. 298]}.

     Less. The word is used in the meaning of ‘forest’^[3], ‘a place overgrown with trees’: they are also very little in the forest and more verbally ^{[6, p. 46-31]}. It occurs 4 times in the texts of the lives: twice in the Life of Theodosius of Pechersk, once in the Life of Epiphanius of Cyprus. In the contexts of everyday life, the forest becomes a place of shelter (and little by little it enters the forest ^{[6, p. 46g4]}), a place for getting firewood (and carrying water and drinking from the forest to its own splash ^{[6, p. 36b13]}. In the life of Methodius notes homonymous word — forest ‘arable field’: Xie brother W Spra behov den brand Tagawa and al in the woods fall chancay your day and you lubisi Gor Velma ^{[6, p. 107в5-11]}.

          Squabble ‘forest' ^[3], ‘forest, grove' ^{[5, p. 199]}. The word is used only once, and it is used in the translated life — the Life of Epiphanius of Cyprus, in which it is synonymous with the word love and is associated with the episode about Epiphanius' victory over the lion: and search for the lion from the squabble against Epiphanus ^{[6, p. 148b24]}. The word came to ancient Russian literature thanks to Church Slavonic texts.

          Let's consider a group of landscape vocabulary that designates places that have low vegetation or do not have it. Such spaces can be called open, since human vision does not encounter obstacles in their perception. Of the words denoting an open space devoid of vegetation, the words deserts and fields are most often found in the lives under consideration.

          Field ‘open place, meadow, meadow, field’^[3], ‘field, plain’ ^{[5, p. 474]}. It occurs 6 times in hagiographic texts: twice - in the Legend of Boris and Gleb, three times - in the Life of Theodosius of Pechersk, once - in the Life of Epiphanius of Cyprus. The word is used in a direct sense, denoting a place of movement (a horse will ride into a ditch on the field ^{[6, p. 13b8]}), a place of battle (and covering the field with a multitude of warriors ^{[6, p. 15b32]}), a place for the construction of a church (showing them just in their own way to protect that one ^{[6, p. 160g17]}).

          Deserts ‘desert, uninhabited area' ^[3], ‘desert, deserted place' ^{[5, p. 557]}. The word occurs 10 times in the lives of various origins: in the Legend of Boris and Gleb, the Life of Theodosius of Pechersk and the Torment of Erasmus - once, in the Life of Methodius and the Life of Epiphanius of Cyprus - 2 times, in the Story of Polyvius - 3 times. In the meaning of ‘desert’, it is used when referring to the biblical story of the walking of Moses and the people who followed him through the desert: we hope for God, who enters the desert with people who are unconquered by the heavenly waters and sources of beauty (in the Life of Theodosius of Pechersk) ^{[6, p. 50b1-2]}; and in the desert there are waterless people drink the water and fill the angelic cup and drink (in the Life of Methodius) ^{[6, p. 103b18-24]}, and through the sea you will spend both the land and the desert (in the Life of Epiphanius of Cyprus) ^{[6, p. 151b2]}. The desert becomes a place of wanderings and residence of the saints themselves, then the meaning of ‘uninhabited area’ is actualized: kamo is coming to the child of the same Epiphan to Hilarion in Ascalon and Gaza and past into the desert (The Life of Epiphanius of Cyprus) ^{[6, p. 153b16]}, according to reason, three times into the land of the dead and ishshe into the byahu desert ... and the life of the good utensils (The Story of Polyvius) ^{[6, p. 168a30]}. The meaning of ‘a deserted place' is noted (and comes closer to the desert between the Czechs and the Lyakhs ^{[6, p. 15g26]}. A deserted place becomes both a place of solitude for the saint (having heard this blessed Erasmus in the wilderness, love and love (The Life of Erasmus) ^{[6, pp. 119a1-3]}) and a dangerous place (robbers enter the desert ^{[6, pp. 108b24-25]}).

          A separate group of landscape vocabulary consists of words characterizing water spaces and land areas located next to them. The following can be attributed to the water spaces.

         The source is a ‘water stream'. In this sense, the word is used in the life of Vitus. In the text, after the appearance of demons to the saint, when he settled down by the Silar River, there follows a story about how people came to him, and Vitus converted them to Christianity. This is followed by a reference to the psalm: and in another psalm speech like a well ADAT Elen on istochniki bodinya? ... Taco ADAT DSA mo KB true be ^{[6, p. 127а17-24]}. In this fragment, a verse from the Psalter is quoted: "As the deer desires the streams of water, so my soul desires You, O God!" (Ps 41:1) ^{[9, p. 552]}. The biblical context also suggests a metaphorical interpretation of the word source: a water source is associated with faith.

       Sea ‘sea, lake' ^[3], ‘sea' ^{[5, p. 332]}. The word is used 27 times in 8 hagiographic texts. It is used in the direct meaning both in narrative fragments (and above the sea ^{[6, p. 26b5]}) and in gospel quotations (and in the speech of the mountains, Sei preidi and in the sea and abie obeyed you ^{[6, p. 26b5]}). The sea in the lives becomes a place of wandering (and one enters the interior by sea (The Life of Methodius) ^{[6, p. 108b26]}, and goes to the sea by the side of the ship (the Life of Epiphanius of Cyprus) ^{[6, p. 153b32]}.

          River ‘water stream' ^[3], ‘river' ^{[5, p. 587]}. The word is used 16 times in seven different lives. It is used in the direct meaning: to get away from you and not to get away from you ^{[6, p. 52a15]}. The word reka is also used as a comparison, losing spatial semantics at the same time: see the flow of my life like a river (The Legend of Boris and Gleb) ^{[6, p.14b13]}. In connection with the events described, the mouth can be designated separately as the place of the confluence of the river: the holy ones are at the entrance of the ship and the mouth of the smyadina (The Legend of Boris and Gleb) ^{[6, p. 13g6]}, for the sake of the bishop, create a church at the mouth of the river (The Life of Christopher) ^{[6, p. 102a12]}.

          In some hagiographies, land plots located near water are designated.

         Brag ‘shore' ^{[3; 5, p. 102]}. In the hagiographic texts of the collection, it occurs only once in the Life of Pachomius: and he brought you to put you on the bread ^{[6, p. 117b4]}. In this life, the word country is contextually closer in meaning to the word brag: wives are talking about this country of the nile, and they are talking about this country ^{[6, pp. 117a29-b2]}. In another graphic design (bereg), the word is not marked in the lives.

          Ostrov ‘ostrov’ ^{[3; 5, p. 421]}. The word is used 12 times in three lives: in the Life of Theodosius of Pechersk - 5 times, in the Life of Epiphanius of Cyprus - 3 times, in the Story of Polyvius - 4 times. The word otok, synonymous with him, is not noted in the lives.

        In the life of Theodosius, two islands are mentioned, where monks go and on one of which a sacred place is subsequently created - a church and a monastery: the great Nikon went to the island of the Dark Sea and that area was purely near the city of the city on it and by God's grace the Holy Mother of God entered it and the manastyr was glorious ^{[6, pp. 35b20-28]}. Another island gets its name from the nickname of a monk called Bolyarin: the same island is called Bolyarov ^{[6, pp. 35b18-20]}. The use of figura etimologia in this case shows that the proper name fixes the spiritual feat of the monk in memory. In the Life of Epiphanius of Cyprus and the Story of Polyvius, which is adjacent to the previous text, the word island indicates a specific geographical object - the island of Cyprus: both go to the Cyprus island ^{[6, p. 150a1]}, and the Vedas of Epiphanius to the Cyprus island ^{[6, p. 153a6]}.

          Thus, in the lives of the Assumption collection there are words with their basic meanings that characterize the landscape: elevations: mountain, hill; flat spaces — coincide with open spaces; depressions: deep, ditch, pit, cave (pechera); overgrown areas: forest, forest, squabble; open areas: field, deserts; water spaces and land areas next to it: source, river, sea, mouth, river, island.

          It can be noted that the group of landscape vocabulary is few and infrequent in use. According to the occurrence in various hagiographic texts, the lexemes of the river and the sea stand out in particular. The high frequency of word usage of the word cave (pechera) falls on only one hagiographic text (the life of Theodosius of Pechersk).

         The origin of landscape vocabulary is also noteworthy: all the analyzed vocabulary is Slavic. We can talk about the graphic diversity of some words with identical semantics (cave/cave). However, the semantics of landscape naming in the lives under consideration includes elements of various linguistic Slavic systems: some words penetrated from the Old Russian language (dybr, bor), others from the dialects of the southern or Western Slavs (squabble).    

         The implementation of the basic semantics of words related to landscape vocabulary occurs to convey the places where the events described in the lives take place. This dictates the frequency of some lexemes in the lives (the cave in the life of Theodosius of the Caves). Along with this, the formation and realization of metaphorical meanings occurs due to biblical contexts. In some cases, landscape vocabulary acts as a localizer of the life and activity of the saint and becomes the basis for the emergence of the hagioanthroponym (Pechera — Theodosius of Pechersk, Cyprus — Epiphanius of Cyprus).