Adaptation of Greek Loanwords (On the Material of the First Slavonic Translation of St. Gregory Nazianzen’s Homilies)

Abstract

Loanwords are important parts of lexical structure of a language, as well as significant markers of changes in the society. The studing of loanwords has particular significance and relevance. Greek loanwords are among the oldest layers of loanwords in the Russian language, and their study is especially important because no systematic studies of the volume, the place and role of Greek loanwords in various periods of the Russian language’s history as well as in the structure of the modern Russian language already exist. The first translations from the Greek language into Slavonic played a significant role in the process of transposition of Greek loanwords. One of these early translations was the translation of Orationes of St. Gregory Nazianzen. The Slavic text of the homilies included in the XIII Homilies of Gregory the Theologian offers wide possibilities to monitor the processes of borrowing and adaptation of Greek words. Analyzing Greek loanwords in this translation lets us draw some conclusions regarding transposition of foreign language vocabulary from one language to another and the reasons for differences in the adaptation of loanwords.