CHURCH SLAVONICISM REPRESENTATION IN THE UKRAINIAN ORTHODOX BELIEVERS EVERYDAY LANGUAGE

Abstract

Based on the socio-historical features clarification of the Church Slavonic language development in Ukraine, the article reveals the Church Slavonic lexicon semantic potential in the Ukrainian Orthodox believers' everyday language using the semantic analysis example of individual lexical units. The significant importance of the Church Slavonic language as the Orthodox tradition foundation is determined. It is established that believers' everyday language in the form of an Orthodox sociolect appears as a linguistic microsystem characterized by certain parameters and possibilities of functioning. At the Ukrainian Orthodox believers' everyday communication level, archaic vocabulary becomes actual, new connotations appear, and the deatheization of a certain word group continues. The statement that by the beginning of the 90s of the 20th century the Ukrainian literary language development and the Church Slavonic liturgical language rehabilitation were not priority areas of state policy is substantiated. Having a confessional character, the Church Slavonic language was detached from live use in various spheres of social life and underwent numerous changes, codification, and normalization. This led to the traditional Ukrainian version displacement of the Church Slavonic language from use, which was reflected in its use in the church sphere. The influence of the living Ukrainian language tradition was manifested in the reproduction of the Church Slavonic language in the confessional environment. Russification of the Orthodox Church in the 19th century was contrasted with the oral liturgical tradition, which enabled priests and deacons to interpret Church Slavonicisms in the Ukrainian language during church services. Unlike the vernacular and book versions of the Ukrainian language, the Church Slavonic language was never used in live communication. It was used during prayers or religious services, and at the state level – as a literary language in diplomatic and legal correspondence. An exception is the borrowing of individual lexemes and syntactic constructions used in the modern Ukrainian language for stylistic purposes.