Lexical-semantic field of the lexeme ‘old’

Statement of the problem. The lexeme ‘stary’ (old) is one of the most polysemous and functionally rich adjectives in the Russian language. It covers a wide range of meanings–from denoting age-related characteristics and duration of existence to indicating wear, obsolescence, or cultural-historical distance. Despite its high frequency and well-developed semantic structure, a comprehensive description of its lexical-semantic field, including the core, near periphery, and distant periphery, has not yet been conducted, which complicates the systematization of its meanings and understanding of the mechanisms of its functioning across various discourses. The purpose of the study is to comprehensively describe the semantic field of the Russian adjective ‘old’: to determine its core and peripheral meanings, as well as to consider the functional and stylistic features of the use of this lexeme in various discourses. Materials and methods. The study relies on data from explanatory, etymological, and wordformation dictionaries, as well as synonym and antonym dictionaries. The methods applied include etymological, semantic, and word-formation analysis, componential analysis, examination of synonymic, antonymic, and hyperonymic–hyponymic relations, and collocational analysis based on contemporary language use. Research results. It has been established that the core of the semantic field is formed by the meanings ‘advanced age’ and ‘long duration of existence’. The near periphery includes meanings associated with antiquity, stability, and wear (worn-out, ancient, old-time), whereas the distant periphery is represented by lexemes with marked evaluative and metaphorical connotations (obsolete, old-fashioned, antiquated, archaic). A high derivational productivity of the root star- forming an extensive word family has been revealed. The lexeme ‘stary’ actively participates in paradigmatic, syntagmatic, and associative relations, demonstrating a complex field structure and wide combinability. Conclusions. The lexeme ‘stary’ preserves its original Old Slavonic meanings, yet in modern Russian it demonstrates significant semantic diversity, encompassing biological, temporal, culturalhistorical, and evaluative characteristics. It functions as a universal marker of antiquity, traditionality, and wear, possesses a high associative potential, and is widely used across various types of discourse. These findings emphasize the need for further research into the Russian lexical-semantic fields and their dynamics.