Russian vocabulary of recruit rites in language and folklore (based on materials of the 20th-21st centuries)

The article analyzes Russian vocabulary of recruit rites in language and folklore based on the materials of the 20th-21st centuries. This lexical layer is practically not studied in Russian science. The purpose of the work is to explore the etymology of the words rekrut, nekrut (i.e. a recruit, a novice) and the functioning of lexemes used to denote a young man going into the army and his wife (bride). The chronological approach of the study allows us to trace the functioning of the terms of recruit rites from the moment of their appearance in the language and folklore in the 18th century to the present. The analysis is based on data from folklore sources, field materials of ethnographic expeditions, official documents, and fiction. The entire lexical array was divided into four thematic blocks: 1) the word rekrut and its derivatives in language and folklore; 2) the word soldat and its derivatives in language and folklore; 3) lexemes denoting the wife (bride) of a man who has left for the army; 4) other lexemes denoting those who have left for the army. The first block examines the etymology of the word rekrut and its derivatives, the peculiarities of the functioning of these lexemes in Russian dialects and folklore sources. The second block contains an analysis of the word soldat and the set expressions ukhodit ’/otdavat ’ v soldaty (can be literally translated as to leave to be a soldier/ to send somebody to be a soldier) as used in folklore texts. The third block examines the lexemes denoting the wife (bride, widow) of a soldier in Russian dialects. The fourth block contains other lexemes denoting a person who has left for the army - prizyvnik, novobranets (i. e. a conscript, newly drafted recruit) etc., and the features of their use in Soviet Russia.