Lessons 12–13 · 2 lessons · B. Mengliyev, Sh. Toshmirzayeva, S. Atoyeva, S. Majidova. Ona tili (Uzbek language), Grade 11, Part 2. “O‘qituvchi” publishing and printing creative house, Tashkent, 2020
13
Working with text and dictionary
Textbook: Part 2, pp. 46–47
GoalRecognise obsolete words (historisms, archaisms) in a text on a historical theme and determine their meaning with a dictionary.
New words
historism · tarixiylik (tarixizm)archaism · arxaizmobsolete word · eskirgan so‘zrealia, a real-life object of a period · realiya
Explanation
Obsolete words fall into two groups. Historisms denote a vanished object or office and have no equivalent in today’s language: jarchi (herald), mirshab (night watchman), botmon (an old unit of weight). Archaisms are old names for things that still exist and have a modern counterpart: dorilfunun – universitet (university), sipohi – askar (soldier). In an explanatory dictionary they are marked “eski” (obsolete). In a historical work of fiction such words give the spirit of the age, i.e. they have a stylistic function, but they are out of place in a scientific or official text and in news about present events. When working with a text, the word’s obsolescence is checked in the dictionary and its modern equivalent is chosen.
Worked examples
“In the Caravanserai”. Past midnight the night watchman knocked at the caravanserai gate. At dawn the herald announced the ruler’s new decree in the square. A merchant hurried to the market to sell two botmon of wheat. Historisms: mirshab (night watchman), jarchi (herald), botmon (an old unit of weight).