THE ADJECTIVE POVINNYI: SEMANTICAL AND FUNCTIONAL FEATURES (corpus-based research in the diachronic aspect)

Abstract

The article is devoted to the integrated analysis that is dedicated to the functioning of the adjective povinnyi (guilty) in the Russian language from the 11th century to the present. The paper presents a comparative analysis of dictionary definitions that are given to the words of the same root: the noun vina (guilt), the adjectives vinovnyi (guilty), vinovatyi (guilty) and povinnyi. Considerable attention is paid to the possibilities of using materials and tools of the National Corpus of the Russian Language to identify the functional specifics of linguistic units at a particular stage in the development of the Russian language. Corpus methods allowed to show that of the three adjectives related to the word vina, povinnyi is used less commonly. Based on the study of materials from historical and modern dictionaries of the Russian language, it has been determined that the adjective had a more complex semantic structure in the XI-XIV centuries. The idea that in the Old Russian language the notion of guilt was closely related to the notion of sin is substantiated. Therefore, the adjective povinnyi was used in the texts of that time when it was about a person guilty of committing some act contrary to social norms (guilty of what?), for which he had to be punished (guilty of what?), as well as when it was said about a person who is at the mercy of another person, any emotions, feelings (owe to whom? what?). The study demonstrates that gradually, guilt began to be understood as an illegal act, a crime, and responsibility for these actions (primarily in the eyes of the law). In this regard, there is a reduction in the number of uses of the word povinnyi, which has been used since the XV-XVII centuries to encourage the addressee to take some action (have to do what?) and to designate a document containing a confession of guilt. It is concluded that in modern texts, the adjective povinnyi in short form (guilty of what?) is used to describe situations where it is necessary to indicate the presence or absence of guilt of any subject, as well as the causes of any negative phenomenon or event.