Philologist Uncovers Tolstoy's Linguistic Innovations in the Novella Boyhood
The study revealed how the writer expanded word meanings and created new expressions.
Philologist Dmitry Romanov, with support from the Russian Science Foundation (RSF), analyzed the vocabulary of Leo Tolstoy's novella Boyhood using linguistic algorithms and the Russian National Corpus.
As the RSF noted, Tolstoy not only created classic works but also made a substantial contribution to the Russian language. Scholars have long been interested in his innovations, but comparing his word usage with that of other authors across different eras is no simple task.
Romanov used the Russian National Corpus — an electronic database of texts from different eras — along with traditional linguistic analysis. He studied the vocabulary of Boyhood, published in 1854, and identified a large number of new words and expressions, as well as unique word combinations that did not take root in the lexicon.
In particular, Tolstoy introduced the word "flakonchik" (small vial) into usage, popularized a rare meaning of the word "serviz" (dinner service), and coined participles and compound adjectives — "prozhzhenny" (hardened) and "strogo-povelitelny" (sternly commanding). The work helps more accurately assess the writer's contribution to the development of the Russian language.
