Semantics of the verb просить (to ask) in the Russian language of the 18th century (based on the materials of Transbaikal monuments of business writing)

The article analyzes the semantics of the verb просить (to ask) in the Russian language of the 18th century. For the study we have used the method of lexicographic portraying proposed by Yu. D. Apresyan. The verb просить is considered only in terms of the meanings, associated with incentive to action, but not with desire to possess any object. As a result, we have determined two usual meanings of the word просить in the formal language of the 18th century: ‘to apply with a written statement containing the request for decision of some case and its official registration’ and 'to make a complaint on someone'. Pragmatic factors affecting the formation of common usage are characterized. Among them the determining factor is a genre: просить in new meanings has been commonly used in petitions, reporting and executive documents of that time.