Russian mat: the history and meaning of obscene words. Russian mat from ancient years to the present

Russian obscenities called a system of words that have a negative color (cursing, name-calling), which are not accepted by the norms of public morality. In other words, swearing is profanity. Where did the Russian mat come from?

Origin of the word "mate"

There is a version that the very word "mate" has the meaning of "voice". But more researchers are sure that "mat" comes from "mother" and is an abbreviated expression "swear", "send to mother".

The origin of the Russian mat

Where did the mat in Russian come from?

• First, some of the swear words were borrowed from other languages ​​(for example, Latin). There were versions that the mat also came to the Russian language from the Tatar (during the invasion of the Mongol-Tatars). But these assumptions have been refuted.
• Secondly, most of the swear words and swear words came from the Proto-Indo-European language, as well as Old Slavonic. Thus, the mat in the Russian language is still “one’s own”, from the ancestors.

There are also certain versions of the origin, where did the swear words come from in the Russian language. Here is some of them:

• Earth related.
• Associated with parents.
• Associated with the sinking of the earth, earthquakes.

There is an opinion that many swear words were used by pagan Slavs in their rites and rituals to protect themselves from evil forces. This point of view is quite viable. Also, the pagans used the mat in wedding ceremonies, agricultural. But no big semantic load, especially swearing, they did not have a checkmate.

The lexical composition of Russian obscenities

The researchers noticed that the number of swear words is high. But, if you are more careful, you can see: the root of the words is often common, only the ending changes or prefixes and suffixes are added. Most of the words in Russian mate are connected in one way or another with the sexual sphere, the genitals. It is important that these words have no neutral analogues in the literature. More often they are simply replaced with words with the same meaning, but in Latin. The peculiarity of the Russian mat is its richness and diversity. This can be said about the Russian language as a whole.

Russian mat in a historical aspect

Since the adoption of Christianity in Russia, there have been decrees regulating the use of obscenities. This, of course, was an initiative on the part of the church. In general, in Christianity, swearing is a sin. But the swearing managed to penetrate so much into all segments of the population that Taken measures were completely ineffective.

Letters of the twelfth century contain obscene words in the form of rhymes. Mat was used in various notes, ditties, letters. Of course, many words that have now become obscene, used to have a milder meaning. According to sources of the fifteenth century, then there was a large number of swear words that even called rivers and villages.

After a couple of centuries, swearing became very widespread. Swearing finally became "obscene" in the eighteenth century. This is due to the fact that during this period there was a separation literary language from colloquial. In the Soviet Union, the fight against swearing was very stubborn. This was expressed in penalties for foul language in public places. However, this has rarely been done in practice.

Today in Russia there is also a fight against swearing, especially on television and in the media.

Sidorov G.A. about the origin of the Russian mat.

The origin of the Russian mat. Magazine Life is Interesting.

At the end of June in State Duma supported a bill that would increase the punishment for using obscenities in the family and public places. More than once, attempts were made to toughen responsibility for obscene language, both under tsarism and after the revolution. About how unprintable words penetrated into public life here and in the West, Lidia Malygina, Associate Professor of the Department of Stylistics of the Russian Language at the Faculty of Journalism of Moscow State University, the scientific supervisor of the system, spoke about the history and meaning of the “KP” mat distance learning

If there were no problem, there would be no law. The question arises: who initially taught the Russian people to swear?

- One of the most common versions is the Tatar-Mongols. But in fact, this vocabulary has nothing to do with them. Russian obscenities Slavic origin. Four roots known to every Russian person can be found in Macedonian, Slovenian, and other Slavic languages.

Most likely, the mat was an element of pagan cults associated with fertility, for example, with a conspiracy of cattle or a call for rain. The literature describes in detail such a custom: a Serbian peasant throws an ax up and utters obscene words, trying to make it rain.

Why have such words become taboo?

- When Christianity came to Russia, the church began an active struggle against pagan cults, including swear words as one of the manifestations of the cult. Hence such a strong taboo of these forms. This is what distinguishes Russian obscenity from obscene vocabulary in other languages. Of course, since then the Russian language has been actively developing and changing, and with it the Russian language. New swear words have appeared, but they are based on the same four standard roots. Some harmless words that existed before became obscene. For example, the word "dick". “Dick” is a letter of the pre-revolutionary alphabet, and the verb “fuck” was used in the meaning of “cross out”. Now this word is not yet included in the category of swear words, but it is already actively approaching it.

– There is a myth about the uniqueness of Russian obscene language. Is it so?

- An interesting comparison with English language. Obscene words have always puzzled British philologists with their nature. As early as 1938, the linguist Chase emphasized: "If someone mentions sexual intercourse, then this does not shock anyone. But if someone pronounces an old Anglo-Saxon four-letter word, most people will freeze in horror."

The premiere of Bernard Shaw's play "Pygmalion" in 1914 was awaited with great impatience. A rumor was started up that, according to the author's intention, the actress playing the main female role should utter an obscene word from the stage. When asked by Freddie if she was going to walk home, Eliza Doolittle had to say very emotionally: "Not bloody likely!". The intrigue persisted to the last. During the premiere, the actress nevertheless uttered an obscene word. The effect was indescribable: noise, laughter, whistling, clatter. Bernard Shaw even decided to leave the hall, deciding that the play was doomed. Now the British are complaining that they have actually lost this favorite curse of theirs, which has already lost its former strength, because the word has become too common.

Lidia MALYGINA - Associate Professor, Department of Russian Language Stylistics, Faculty of Journalism, Moscow State University A photo: Archive "KP"

- Probably, after the sexual revolution of the 1960s, the situation changed a lot, and obscene words literally poured onto the pages of the press?

- Of course. Think back to Great Britain in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Then even the legs of the piano were dressed in covers so that they would not cause random erotic associations! In the second half of the twentieth century, contraceptives are rapidly developing, the pornography industry is growing. Marriage for life, fidelity of spouses began to look like old-fashioned prejudices. Yes, and heterosexuality in marriage has ceased to be prerequisite. It is noteworthy that at that time the attitude towards obscene words also changed. There are two linguistic collections devoted to obscene language. The first one was published in the USA in 1980. The second one was published in the United Kingdom and the USA in 1990. Several articles about vulgarisms appear in these directories at once. Examples of the use of obscene language were given in clear text.

- And yet they punished for the mat. A well-known case when, in the midst of anti-war protests in the United States in 1968 young man, who did not want to serve on the draft, was prosecuted for wearing a jacket with the inscription: “F ... the draft!”.

- Yes. Another famous case- 12-minute radio program "Obscene words". Satirist George Carlin listed seven words that should not be spoken on the radio, and then began to discuss this problem. One of the listeners was driving in a car with a child and accidentally heard the program. He immediately called the editor of the program and complained.

Another well-known scandal was caused by the fact that newspapers in the late 1970s. published an obscene statement that a player said to the referee during a sports competition: “f ... cheating cunt”. Yes and in works of art without any disguise, the rudest words began to appear. In a guide to St. Petersburg, Western authors do not hesitate to explain Russian vulgarisms, for example, b... (whore) – which is usually rendered as simply b... (short version of the word - Ed.) – and plays an equivalent role to 'f ...' in English for those who use it as a verbal stutter.

- Russian journalists also like to use obscene words and expressions, disguising them a little so as not to formally violate the law banning swearing in the media ...

- Yes, softer expressions instead of rude ones often cover in the text easily guessed obscene expressions, swear words and curses: “Dick Advocaat: UEFA for yourself!”; "Hugh Hefner and Dasha Astafieva: Hugh knows her ..."; “And he stole deposits worth 2 billion ... But he himself ended up in a complete “hopra””; or "Russia in CHOP" - the title of a special report on private security companies or the title of a film about losing weight "I'm losing weight, dear editors!".

– Are there other languages ​​besides Russian, in which obscene vocabulary is divided into ordinary swear words and into strictly taboo ones, the use of which is prohibited in any situation and in any context?

– In this sense, the Russian language is unique. Although, for example, obscene language Spanish is also associated with the sexual sphere, in contrast to German (in German this is the area of ​​excrement). But in Spanish there is no such taboo, so the first academic dictionaries of the Spanish language contained such vocabulary, but the dictionaries of the Russian language did not. In general, the first dictionary fixation of swearing dates back to the beginning of the 20th century. It's about about the third edition of Dahl's dictionary, edited by Baudouin de Courtenay. But such activities of dictionary compilers quickly ended, since the Soviet authorities banned the use of obscenities, and the third edition of Dahl's dictionary was sharply criticized.

And what Russian does not express itself with a strong word? Moreover, many swear words have been translated into foreign languages, but it is interesting that full-fledged analogues of Russian curses in foreign languages no, and probably never will. Linguists have long calculated that there is no such number of curse words as in Russian in any other language on the planet!

In oral form

How and why did the obscene language appear in Russian? Why do other languages ​​do without it? Perhaps someone will say that with the development of civilization, with the improvement in the well-being of citizens in the vast majority of countries on our planet, the need for mat naturally disappeared? Russia is unique in that these improvements did not occur in it, and the obscenity in it remained in its virgin, primitive form ... It is no coincidence that not a single great Russian writer and poet has bypassed this phenomenon!

Where did he come from anyway?

Previously, there was a version that the checkmate appeared in dark times. Tatar-Mongol yoke, and before the arrival of the Tatars to Russia, the Russians did not swear at all, but cursing, they called each other only dogs, goats and rams. However, this opinion is erroneous and is denied by the majority of research scientists. Of course, the invasion of nomads influenced the life, culture and speech of the Russian people. Perhaps such a Turkic word as “baba-yagat” (knight, knight) changed social status and the floor, turning into our Baba Yaga. The word "karpuz" (watermelon) has turned into a well-fed little boy. But the term "fool" (stop, halt) began to be called a stupid person.

Math has nothing to do with the Turkic language, because it was not customary for nomads to use foul language, and swear words were completely absent from the dictionary. From Russian chronicle sources (the oldest known samples in birch bark letters of the 12th century from Novgorod and Staraya Russa. See “Obscene vocabulary in birch bark letters.” The specifics of the use of some expressions are commented on in the “Russian-English Diary Dictionary” by Richard James (1618−1619) .) it is known that swear words appeared in Russia long before Tatar-Mongol invasion. Linguists see the roots of these words in most Indo-European languages, but they only received such distribution on Russian soil.

Here to stay

So why, after all, of the many Indo-European peoples, mat stuck only to the Russian language? Researchers explain this fact also by religious prohibitions that other peoples had earlier due to the earlier adoption of Christianity. In Christianity, as in Islam, profanity is considered a great sin. Russia adopted Christianity later, and by that time, along with pagan customs, mat was firmly rooted among the Russian people. After the adoption of Christianity in Russia, war was declared against foul language.

The etymology of the word "mat" may seem quite transparent: supposedly it goes back to the Indo-European word "mater" in the meaning of "mother", which has been preserved in various Indo-European languages. However, in special studies other reconstructions are proposed.

So, for example, L. I. Skvortsov writes: “The literal meaning of the word “mat” is “ loud voice, cry“. It is based on onomatopoeia, that is, involuntary cries of “ma!”, “me!” - lowing, meowing, roaring of animals during estrus, mating calls, etc. Such an etymology might seem naive if it did not go back to the concept of the authoritative Etymological Dictionary of Slavic Languages: “... Russian mat, - derived from the verb “matati” - “shout”, “loud voice”, “shout”, is related to the word “matoga” - “swear”, i.e., grimace, break, (about animals) shake your head, “swear” - disturb, disturb. But "matoga" in many Slavic languages ​​​​means "ghost, ghost, monster, monster, sorceress" ...

What does it mean?

There are three main swear words and they denote sexual intercourse, male and female genitalia, all the rest are derivatives of these three words. But in other languages, these organs and actions also have their own names, which for some reason did not become abusive words? To understand the reason for the appearance of swear words on Russian soil, the researchers looked into the depths of centuries and offered their own answer.

They believe that in the vast territory between the Himalayas and Mesopotamia, in the vast expanses, there lived a few tribes of the ancestors of the Indo-Europeans, who had to breed in order to expand their habitat, so childbearing was of great importance. And the words associated with reproductive organs and functions were considered magical. They were forbidden to pronounce "in vain", so as not to jinx it, not to cause damage. Taboos were broken by sorcerers, followed by untouchables and slaves, to whom the law was not written.

Gradually, a habit appeared to express obscenities from the fullness of feelings or simply for a bunch of words. The main words began to acquire many derivatives. Not so long ago, just a thousand years ago, a word denoting a woman of easy virtue "f*ck" was included in the number of abusive words. It comes from the word “vomit”, that is, “spew out an abomination”.

But the most important swear word is considered to be the very word of three letters that is found on the walls and on the fences of the entire civilized world. Let's take it as an example. When did this three-letter word appear? I will say one thing for sure, which is clearly not in the Tatar-Mongolian times. In the Turkic dialect of the Tatar-Mongolian languages, this “object” is denoted by the word “kutakh”. By the way, many now have a surname derived from this word and do not at all consider it dissonant: “Kutahov”.

In the Indo-European language-based, which was spoken by the distant ancestors of the Slavs, Balts, Germans and other European peoples, the word "dick" meant a goat. The word is related to the Latin "hircus". In modern Russian, the word “mug” remains a related word to him. Until recently, this word was used to call goat masks used by mummers during carols.

Thus, we can conclude that the checkmate arose in old times and associated with pagan rites. Checkmate is, first of all, a way to demonstrate readiness to break taboos, to cross certain boundaries. Therefore, the subject of swearing in different languages similar - "bodily bottom" and everything related to the administration of physiological needs. And the Russians have always had a great need for this. It is possible that even, like no other people in the world ...

Do not confuse!

In addition to "bodily swearing", some peoples (mostly French-speaking) have blasphemous swearing. The Russians don't.

And one more important point- You can’t mix argotism with obscenities, which are absolutely not obscenities, but most likely just foul language. As, for example, there are dozens of thieves' argotisms with the meaning of "prostitute" in Russian: alyura, barukha, marukha, profursetka, slut and the like.

RUSSIAN MAT

Every person in Russia from the very early childhood begins to hear words that he calls obscene, obscene, obscene. Even if a child grows up in a family where swearing is not used, he still hears it on the street, becomes interested in the meaning of these words, and pretty soon his peers interpret swear words and expressions for him. In Russia, attempts have been repeatedly made to combat the use of obscene words, fines have been introduced for swearing in public places, but to no avail. There is an opinion that swearing in Russia flourishes due to the low cultural level of the population, however, I can name many names of highly cultured people of the past and present, who belonged and belong to the most highly intelligent and cultured elite and at the same time are big swearers in everyday life and not shy away from obscenities in their works. I do not justify them and do not urge everyone to use the mat. God forbid! I am categorically against swearing in public places, against the use of obscene words in works of art, and especially on television. However, the mat exists, lives and is not going to die, no matter how much we protest against its use. And do not be hypocrites, close your eyes, you need to study this phenomenon and with psychological side and from a linguistic point of view.

I started collecting, studying and interpreting swear words as a student in the sixties. The defense of my Ph.D. thesis was held in such secrecy, as if it were about the latest nuclear research, and immediately after the defense of the thesis, the dissertation went into the special libraries of libraries. Later, in the seventies, when I was preparing my doctoral dissertation, it was necessary to clarify some words, and I could not get my dissertation from the Lenin Library without special permission from the authorities. So it was quite recently, when, as in famous joke, everyone pretended that they knew diamat, although no one knew him, but everyone knew the mat, and pretended that they did not know him.

Currently, every second writer uses obscene words in his works, we hear swearing from the television screen, but for several years not a single publishing house that I proposed to publish a scientific explanatory dictionary of swear words decided to release it. And only the dictionary, shortened and adapted for a wide range of readers, saw the light of day.

To illustrate the words in this dictionary, I widely used folklore: obscene jokes, ditties that have long lived among the people were often used, but were published in last years, as well as quotes from the classics of Russian literature from Alexander Pushkin to Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Many quotes are taken from the poems of Sergei Yesenin, Alexander Galich, Alexander Tvardovsky, Vladimir Vysotsky and other poets. Of course, I could not do without the works of Ivan Barkov, without the "Russian cherished tales" by A. I. Afanasyev, without folk obscene songs, poems and contemporary writers, such as Yuz Aleshkovsky and Eduard Limonov. A treasure trove for researchers of Russian swearing is a cycle of hooligan novels by Pyotr Aleshkin, which are almost completely written in obscene words. I could illustrate this dictionary only with quotations from his works.

The dictionary is intended for a wide range of readers: for those who are interested in swear words, for literary editors, for translators from the Russian language, etc.

In this dictionary, I did not indicate in what environment the word functions: whether it refers to criminal jargon, to youth slang, or to jargon of sexual minorities, because the boundaries between them are rather shaky. There are no words that would be used in one environment. I also indicated only the obscene meaning of the word, leaving other, ordinary meanings outside of it.

And the last. You hold in your hands the explanatory dictionary "Russian obscenities"! Remember that it contains only obscene, obscene, obscene words. You will not meet others!

Professor Tatyana Akhmetova.