Language of the General Regulations of 1720 (on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of its first edition)

Abstract

The paper presents a comprehensive description of the language of the General Regulations. The content of the text is embodied with the help of a modernized language of documents, with a synthesis of Russian, Slavic, and foreign language elements carried out at different levels. The morphological basis is formed by the colloquial forms of names and verbs, including a small number of old forms. The syntax features a tendency to transform the colloquial structure of the phrase of pre-Petrine documents to make it more bookish. The lexical basis comprises Russian words, with the inclusion of Church Slavonicisms and numerous European borrowings. Church Slavonicisms are represented mainly by service vocabulary (conjunctions, particles, pronouns, adverbs). Of the Europeanisms, three groups of words are especially frequent: names of collegiate positions, names of documents and forms of work with them, and words of the behavioral sphere. Also, the paper provides a detailed description of the ways of expressing imperativeness in the text of the General Regulations in comparison with document texts of the pre-Petrine era. In addition to infinitive sentences traditionally used to express the command, the text of the General Regulations includes many new means, both borrowed and Russian in origin. In order to enhance the imperativeness, a wide range of various intensifiers was used. The language of the General Regulations reflects the results of its creators’ searching for the means of expression that could be adequate to a new genre and a new era.