Lexicographically undescribed words from the oldest Russian manuscript of the “Ladder” by St. John Climacus
- DOI
- 10.5922/2225-5346-2026-2-3
- Pages
- 58-74
Abstract
This article examines the functioning of rare and unique vocabulary in the oldest Russian manuscript of The Ladder by St. John Climacus, created in the mid-twelfth century. The aim of the study is to introduce new material into scholarly circulation in the fields of historical lexicology and historical lexicography. The principal research method employed is linguotextual analysis.
By comparing the lexical composition of the manuscript with the evidence provided by Old Church Slavonic dictionaries and historical dictionaries of the Russian language, the author identified 391 lexemes that had not previously been recorded in historical lexicography. The manuscript’s vocabulary was also compared with that of other manuscripts of the Preslav translation dating from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. This comparison made it possible to distinguish lexemes common to all manuscripts (226), lexemes replaced in South Slavic versions (84), lexemes replaced in East Slavic versions (55), and lexemes attested only in the oldest manuscript (26). Examples from each of these groups are presented in the form of dictionary entries, including definitions of meaning, extended contextual evidence, indications of possible scribal errors, and instances of lexical variation. The study also identifies Byzantine parallels to Old Russian lexemes and discusses cases of lexical homonymy. Particular emphasis is placed on the importance of considering extralinguistic factors in the analysis of Old Russian texts, especially the manuscript tradition and the historical circumstances of a text’s creation.
The article demonstrates the significance of lexical analysis of early Slavic texts from different chronological periods and geographical areas for the development of a new field of research concerned with the phenomenon of medieval ‘collective church memory’.