The discourse word ‘khot’ in the poetry of the Silver Age
- DOI
- 10.5922/2225-5346-2026-2-7
- Pages
- 133-147
Abstract
The consolidated Dictionary of the language of Russian Poetry (20th century) is based on a corpus of texts by ten major poets of the Silver Age, from Innokenty Annensky to Marina Tsvetaeva. The dictionary combines the features of a complete concordance with those of a differential explanatory dictionary. Its distinctive characteristic is the exhaustive scope of its lexical coverage: all units function as headwords, including function words. The functioning of discourse words in poetic language has attracted considerable attention in contemporary scholarship. This article examines the particle ‘khot’ (‘even’), described in the dictionary entry (‘KHOT’) in this dictionary. In explanatory and specialised dictionaries, as well as in scholarly literature, ‘khot’ is classified as a particle homonymous with the conjunction ‘khot’/khotya’ (‘although’, ‘even if’). In the poetic dictionary, however, ‘khot’ / khotya’, both as a conjunction and as a particle in its different meanings, is not divided into separate homonymous entries but is presented within a single dictionary entry, with variant forms taken into account. This group of units is surrounded by a lexical nest formed by the verb ‘khotet’ (‘to want’), and the etymological connection between ‘khot’ / khotya’ and this nest is further emphasised by the presence of the homonymous gerund form ‘khot’. A systematic analysis of dictionary examples containing the particle ‘khot’ reveals the specific features of its poetic functioning. This specificity is manifested in the increased frequency of particular collocations and constructions involving this word, its recurrence in poetic contexts, its use both in the author’s voice and in the speech of literary characters, and its contribution to the formation of a moderately lowered stylistic colouring of poetry.