The letter A stolen by native linguists

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Philology asserts that there are no words in the Russian language beginning with "A". In other words, the most natural sound that a person utters was not reflected in any way in Russian words of the 9-16 centuries! However, such a loud statement is worth a lot! And who was the first herald of this bold thought?

In philology, there are three criteria by which a word can be considered obsolete:

1. If objects or phenomena that this word once described have disappeared.

2. If another word is used to denote concepts.

3. And if the given word is no longer used in colloquial speech.

Let's say right away: none of these definitions affect our 135 words "discovered". But at the same time they are considered obsolete. In this regard, one gets the impression that all these words did not become archaisms of their own free will. Judge for yourself:

1. Any of 135 words so far, and without any prejudice, can be used to denote objects or phenomena.

2. The next criterion - “if another word is used instead of the obsolete one” - reminds of the story about Malchish-Kibalchish. There must be either a very good boy or a very bad boy. Or or. No middle. But it doesn't work that way. The Russian language is multilayered by its nature; it can easily replace any word or concept with a synonym or an expression close in meaning. Therefore, to consider as archaisms, for example, such expressions as "ABOS", "LAMB" or "ALCHU" only because their place is supposedly taken by modern "MAY BE", "SHORT PERSON", "FAST", strictly speaking, is not serious.

3. The last, third criterion, and it cannot be called a criterion. What does it mean - "if the word is no longer used"? Who determines whether it is used or not? It is good if the language in its history has never been subjected to, so to speak, "violence" and desecration - emasculation; it is good if the powerful of this world did not try to crush the language under their own ideology. But does it really happen? Never before in history has it happened that the next new government did not try to influence the language in its favor, did not try not only to remake or prohibit certain words or concepts, but sometimes even completely reformat the structure and direction of the language!

Therefore, we ask ourselves the question: who and when decides that a certain word is no longer used and that the time has come to write it off? Moreover, this decision sometimes becomes so familiar with the conviction that even when you ask a Russian linguist to tell you about the past of this or that word, they only shake their head negatively in response, making it clear that there has never been such a phenomenon in the language!

Shouldn't such a resource in the Russian network as the "Encyclopedia of the Modern Language" (unless it serves the interests of "our partners") provide full information about the Russian language? Please tell me on what basis the section "Rare words with the letter A", specially laid out on the pages of this site, has anything, but not native Russian words?

Of the 96 words on the letter A given in our material, only 2 (two!) Words are related to the primordially Russian formations: ALAS (lawn in the forest) and ALCHBA (insatiable food)!

continued here -

By the way, since the publication of the article on the problem letter A, new original words have been found beginning with A. This will be discussed in due time and in a separate material. And also about why linguists are so amicably denying the Russian language its usefulness.