Lexis Of The Communication Sphere In Notes Of The Missionary V. Verbitskij

Lexical representants of the sacred aspect of communication

The sacred aspect of communication predominates in the genre of missionary notes, it may be attributed to the main aim of the mission – to preach the Word of God ( слова Божiя ). Five types of the sacred aspect of communication are represented in the text under analysis, they are missionary’s address to God, to local people (mass communication), missionary’s communication with an individual person, citation and references to the range of sacred texts. A special case of sacred communication is represented by the “voice” of nature, nature response to God’s presence in the world. The expression слово Божie ( Word of God ) ( Verbitskij, 1862) occurs in the notes three times, one of these instances is represented by antithesis, namely in V.I. Verbitskij’s answer to an old man Chotushka: Слова Божiя у меня много, а вина нѣтъ ( Word of God I have plenty of, but wine I am short of ) ( Verbitskij, 1862, p. 18).

19 contexts represent the instances of communication between the preaching missionary and local people (collective image), 8 of these contexts feature a noun проповедь ( sermon ) or a verb проповедовать ( to preach ); 3 contexts feature a noun учение ( teaching ), and 1 context features a word наставление ( guidance ). 3 contexts from above mentioned as well as 7 others feature verbs and verb forms related to the actions of both the speaker ( предложена проповедь, оглашены евангельским учением, предложил учение, сказанное мною, сказал, прибавил, доказывал, объяснял ( preached a sermon, blessed with the Christian gospel, presented teachings, spoken by me, (I) said, (I) added, (I) proved, (I) was explaining )) and his addressee ( слушают, соглашаются ( are listening, are accepting )). Nominal and verbal components of lexis represent semantics of the missionary’s educational and voluntative impact on the local people. Quantitative aspects are significant. Firstly, the key word of the genre проповедь ( sermon ) predominates in the contexts: проповедовать (preach) – «говорить всенародно, извѣщать, провозглашать; поучать, взывать к слушателямъ речью, убѣждая и наставляя; бол. о речахъ и поученiяхъ духовныхъ» ( Dal', 1994, p. 503). Such expressions as проповѣдовать слово Божiе ( preach the Word of God ) ( Verbitskij, 1862, p. 4), предложена ( евангельская ) проповѣдь (( evangelical ) preaching was offered ) ( Verbitskij, 1862, p. 9, p. 17, p. 23) are used. Secondly, the verbs and the verb forms of sphere of communication point to the missionary (addressant) paramount communicative role, whereas the pronouns ( my, me ) realise a personality principle twice: Ученiю моему никто не противорѣчилъ, и всѣ соглашались, что все, сказанное мною , действительно справедливо ( Verbitskij, 1862, p. 10). A stylistically marked verb form оглашены shows the character of the speaker’s effect on his addressees. Оглашенные – “црк. стар. Оглашенный в храмѣ идолопоклонникъ, принимающiй христiанство <…> Огласить слушателей словом истины , поучать, наставлять” ( Dal', 1994, p. 643).

It is worth noting the range of verbs characterising missionary’s manner of speaking. The context where the missionary renders his argumentation in the prayer features, alongside a more frequent verb сказать ( say ); such verbs as прибавить ( add ) conveying the meaning of adding the information, and доказывать, объяснять ( prove, explain ), revealing the argumentative manner of the missionary’s persuasive speech. The diary entry reflects the past events, thus the speech verbs are used in the past form.

The speech verbs reflecting the way the local people react to preaching are not so frequently observed, they convey response to missionary’s speech as well as an action independent of this speech. “Notes ...” feature general characterisation of “common non-Russians of Kuznetsk okrug”: <…> ученiе xpиcтiанское слушаютъ охотно , и называютъ его: Кутай дын – указ, т. е. Божiй указъ <…>; соглашаются , что христiанская вѣра лучше, только отстать отъ шаманства не рѣшаются, изъ опасенiя мщенiя злаго духа ( Verbitskij, 1862, p. 27). The word охотно ( willingly ) in this context provides a characteristic of an action (listening), pointing to eagerness and good feeling. On the one hand, the language behaviour of the indigenous people (non-Russians) indicates that missionary’s argumentation produced a desired effect; on the other hand, it reveals the social and psychological aspects of communication as it shows that the local people are curious about the preacher and his words. The verb forms used in the general context of the local people characterisation convey the meaning of the non-actuality of the moment of speech.

The instances of sacred interpersonal communication are featured less frequently than the instances of mass communication, sacred interpersonal communication is observed in 6 contexts in the lexical representants of the priest’s communication with his congregation (blessing, absolution, catechism). The sacred texts, that Verbitskij ( 1862) makes references to and quotes in his notes, are featured in 4 contexts. 3 contexts have social and psychological colouring along with the sacred connotations, they reflect communicative situations where local people express their doubts and reservations (p. 18-19, p. 21, p. 22). Man’s encounter with the divine beauty of the world created by God represents a specific context of a sacred text citation: <…> любовались звѣзднымъ небомъ и, будучи привѣтствуемы птицами, изъ которыхъ каждая съ соревнованiемъ и по своему славословила Господа, и мы съ Пророкомъ, размышляя о дѣлахъ рукъ Божiихъ, восхищались и говорили : дивна дѣла Твоя, Господи! вся премудростiю сотворилъ ecи; благослови душе моя Господа (Пс. 103, 24.35.) ( Verbitskij, 1862, p. 7). Славословить – “прославлять, ублажать, честить, возносить, величать, восхвалять, воздавать хвалу, воспѣвать чью славу” ( Dal', 1994, p. 215-216). The missionary’s direct appeal to God is represented in two contexts where the author employs a set expression читать (прочитать) молитвы ( say prayers ). The context includes particular references to matins or morning prayers, this suggests the idea of beginning, when every day you make a new step on the way full of good deeds and overcome difficulties in the name of the Lord.

Lexical representants of the social and psychological aspects of communication

The social and psychological aspects of communication are connected with the complexities of the relations between the local people and the missionary, characteristics of communication common to the whole people, some communities or individuals. Many of the contexts involve the sacred aspects of mass communication and interpersonal communication, although they tend to foreground a person’s character, ways of life, circumstances rather than spiritual, religious matters. The social and psychological aspects of mass and interpersonal communication reflected in the lexical representant are discussed further.

Interpersonal communication is represented in “Notes …” more frequently than other forms of communication, more than 30 contexts feature 11 episodes of meetings and conversations where speech verbs predominate ( сказать, говорить, заметить, прибавить, спросить, ответить, рассказывать, подтвердить, предложить, уговаривать, убеждать, склонять, возразить, согласиться, совещаться, рассуждать ) ( say, talk, remark, add, ask, answer, tell, confirm, offer, reason with, persuade, convince, retort, agree, discuss, speculate ); examples of a split predicate ( иметь разговор ( have a conversation )); a verbal noun ( убеждение ( convincing )), expressions conveying speech contents ( изъявить желание, выразить сожаление ( show one’s willingness, express regret )), manner of listening ( внимательно слушать ( listen carefully )) are also observed.

Speech verbs are used predominantly in the contexts where the author renders dialogues, and these verbs may be grouped in pairs “stimulus-reaction”: remarked (interlocutor) – answered (narrator) ( Verbitskij, 1862, p. 2), asked (inclusive we) – answered (interlocutor) ( Verbitskij, 1862, p. 2), asked (interlocutor) – said (narrator), said (narrator) – responded (interlocutor), asked (interlocutor) – said (narrator), said (narrator) – confirmed (interlocutor) ( Verbitskij, 1862, p. 17-18), said (narrator) – confirmed (interlocutors), said (narrator) – added (interlocutors) ( Verbitskij, 1862, p. 19), remarked, said (narrator) – responded (interlocutor) ( Verbitskij, 1862, p. 30-31). Here the past form of the verb indicating the result of the action (perfective aspect) is widely featured, this form is typical of diary entries with reference to past events, while the verb сказать ( say ) is the most typical representant of the narrator’s language behaviour, although the missionary can act both as the one who makes inquiries and as the one who responds. Verbs, that are not involved in dialogue rendering, convey the missionary’s aim in communication ( tried to persuade, convinced, discussed, speculated ): Проходя по берегу, я встрѣтиль бѣглеца изъ Спасскаго золотаго промысла, утекавшаго съ работы и уговаривалъ его возвратиться ( Verbitskij, 1862, p. 18); Но сколько мы ни убеждали жену его къ принятiю христiанства, она осталась непреклонною ( Verbitskij, 1862, p. 23). The typical communicative role of the missionary – proponent – is represented not only by verbs ( persuaded, convinced, discussed, speculated ) but a verbal noun ( убеждение ( convincing )) ( Verbitskij, 1862, p. 25).

Various speech verbs characterise verbal behaviour of the narrator’s partners in the conversation, they can remark, respond, ask, confirm, add, tell and their utterances tend to reflect their everyday experience. Only few contexts feature speech verbs and characterise the manner of speech at the same time, it happens in the example where the narrator draws attention to the insincerity of his interlocutor (using the verb conceal ) ( Verbitskij, 1862, p. 21).

The episodes when the missionary encounters a shaman (kam) are significant in terms of ideology as they reflect the contradictory aspects of communication and the clash of two systems of beliefs ( Verbitskij, 1862, p. 15-16). The extracts feature speech verbs, a genre name беседа (conversation) , addressee’s communicative role characterisation ( listeners ). The lexical items relating to the missionary’s role in the communication are имел разговор, предложил, рассказал (had a conversation, offered, told), while the shaman’s verbal behaviour is represented through the lexical items не противоречил, не соглашался, согласился (2) , сказал, не умея ничего сказать (did not contradict, did not agree, agreed (2) , said, being unable to say anything). The analysis shows that the narrator focuses on rendering his opponent’s response which, in its turn, is characterised by opposite language occurrences and opposite dynamics.

13 contexts feature etiquettical aspect of communication including lexical representation of degree of acquaintance, communicative situations of invitation, request, promise, as well as forms of address, greeting, saying goodbye, expressions conveying favourable attitude of other people, while verbs, nouns and adjectives are used as etiquette markers pointing to the significant situations in terms of etiquette. While representing the speech of other people the author uses a form of address to the missionary 5 times. 3 contexts feature a form of address батюшка (Father ) characteristic of Russian orthodox culture, it is worth noting that it occurs not only in ceremony related situations but twice in a casual conversation. It might be seen in the musings of the converted ingenious man Petr: Петръ отвѣтилъ : «что намъ медаль, батюшка ? въ работѣ она не пособитъ, въ бѣдности ее не укусишь, а худое что сделаешь, и на медаль не посмотрятъ» ( Verbitskij, 1862, p. 30-31). Three forms of address occur in the conversation between the missionary and the fugitive. Admonishing the desperate and exhausted man, the priest uses the address любезный (good man) ( Verbitskij, 1862, p. 19). The fugitive man, in his turn, uses stylistically marked synonyms батюшка (Father (batyushka)) and informal батька ( Father ( bat’ka )). The latter (informal) form of address is an organic part of an emotionally and expressively coloured conversation and conveys man’s pain and resentment ( Verbitskij, 1862, p. 18); the more traditional form батюшка is used in the utterance to express a strong opinion of the man: Нѣтъ, батюшка , я уже решился, и назадъ не возращусь.» ( Verbitskij, 1862, p. 19). “Notes…” feature etiquette expressions of conveying favourable attitude of other people and saying goodbye ( Verbitskij, 1862, p. 9); a fugitive worker’s response to the missionary’s warning ( Verbitskij, 1862, p. 19). Alongside the etiquette signs, some other language means can be used to indicate (though then in a more indirect mode) the etiquette relevant situations of introduction, greeting and invitation ( Verbitskij, 1862, p. 2, p. 9).

Local people’s (non-Russians’) attitude to the priest and his sermons is revealed in 6 contexts. 4 contexts depict how the information about the missionary’s arrival is spread ( the news spread quickly ) and people invited to listen to a sermon ( having invited non-Russians ), and while the priest is driven by the incentive to get people listen to the word of God ( if any of them want to hear the word of God ), the local people are driven by curiosity ( they come to me out of curiosity ) ( Verbitskij, 1862, p. 9). 2 contexts are noteworthy because of their psychological complexity, after listening to the sermon people refused to receive baptism ( Verbitskij, 1862, p. 16). The extract features an expression под предлогом ( on the pretext ); i.e. a reason given in justification of a course of action that is not the real reason, an excuse, as well as a culture-specific concept of the local social order совещание волости во время сбора ясака ( assembly of volost at the time of natural tax (paid off in furs) collection ).

People’s language behaviour in a generative register is reflected in the text twice, as a Shor folk wisdom and as a universal conventional wisdom. The generative register features a verb characterising the local people linguistic behaviour, it is a verb говорите (speak): <…> но вѣдь сколько ни камлайте, а отъ смерти никуда не скочуете; это вы и сами знаете, когда говорите : кому должно умереть, того камъ не отниметъ, кому съ голоду умереть, того и богачъ не избавить ( Verbitskij, 1862, p. 10-11). Here the missionary attempts to disprove the belief in the shamanistic ritual (kamlanye) or “shaman’s mysteries” ( Kropochev, 2008, p. 280). Discussion strategy is represented in this context by the opponent’s image explication, the direct appeal ( вы и сами знаете ( and you know it yourself ) and the paroemia reflecting the opponent’s cultural traditions and speech patterns. Thus the speech verb in this context serves as a representant of the world of folk wisdom. The ethnographic aspects of communication are linked to the sacred ones.

Lexical representants of the ethnographic and metalinguistic aspects of communication

The ethnographic aspects of communication in “Notes…” are connected with the representation of local colour. The only representant indicating the author’s viewpoint occurs almost at the end of the notes in the metatextual function: Подъ впечатлѣнiемъ перваго обозрѣнiя Черновыхъ инородцевъ сдѣлаю cлѣдyющee общее замѣчанiе о нихъ ( Verbitskij, 1862, p. 27). Here we see a travelling missionary who studies local customs and traditions. The ethnographic aspects of communication are observed in the contexts featuring the natural world and the ingenious population (Shor people) beliefs and practices.

In Shor tradition a man is seen as a part of nature. “Notes...” feature 9 contexts with the lexical representation of the idea of man’s communion with nature. Shor mythopoetic conception of mountains as giants is reflected in 3 contexts where mountains are personified. The author uses anthropomorphic language – speech verbs ( ask, tell ) and a genre name “ request ” – to refer to them: Однажды Мустагъ замедлилъ сборомъ дани съ своихъ подчиненныхь и послалъ своего почталiона Азрадэша попросить у Абагана отсрочки, приказавъ посланному, чтобы онъ нисколько не медлилъ въ дорогѣ; Абаганъ, соскучась ожидать дани или просьбы объ отсрочкѣ, напалъ на Мустага <…> ( Verbitskij, 1862, p. 20) (Мустагъ (Mustag), Абаган (Abagan, now Abakan), Азрадэш (Azradaesh) are mountains). 4 contexts feature lexical representants of “communication” with a bear ( Verbitskij, 1862, p. 7, p. 25-26).

10 contexts reveal the Shor beliefs and feature lexical representants of shaman’s communication with spirits. The author describes every step of the shamanistic ritual using the verbs in the present tense to characterise the dynamics of the shaman’s behaviour: На пятомъ небѣ вступаетъ въ разговоръ съ сильнымь духомь Яючи, который творитъ младенцевъ, — и набравшись отъ него силы, начинаетъ пророчествовать : предсказанiя , касательно житейскихъ потребностей, сыплются во множествѣ ( Verbitskij, 1862, p. 14). The verbs convey the information obtained from the interaction between the shaman and the spirits: <…> отъ [Ульгэня] онъ узнаетъ , прiятна ли жертва ( Verbitskij, 1862, p. 14-15). The present tense is used here in the meaning of so-called narrative present and points to the theatrical nature of the actions that the missionary observes. The colloquial expression не до разговоровъ (won’t do much talking) captures the dynamics of the shaman’s behaviour accurately and in effect desacralises the mystic ritual: Но каму не до разговоровъ съ ними: ему предстоить ѣзда еще на 9-ть круговъ небесныхъ ( Verbitskij, 1862, p. 14).

The author documents the shaman’s communication with spirits using verbal nouns призывание ( invocation (used twice)), предсказание ( prediction ) и отзыв ( response ) ( Verbitskij, 1862, p. 13). The lexical representants предсказания , призывание и пророчествовать (prediction, invocation , prophesise) are related to the sacral semantics essential to conveying the shamanistic ritual atmosphere in the text. The author also mentions Shor poems (въ извѣстныхъ стихахъ) which are recited during the ritual and contribute to its special atmosphere. Although shaman’s verbal behaviour is represented more widely in the text, some markers of the spirits’ verbal behaviour are also featured (the shaman received a positive response from the spirits, gets important information from one of the spirits).

The metalinguistic aspects of communication are reflected in the single utterance of the generative register: Вообще, если утомишься, то, несмотря на душевное усердiе, слово не слагается и языкъ плохо повинуется ( Verbitskij, 1862, p. 17). The utterance features two key concepts of the communication sphere – word and tongue . The verbs used in combinations with these nouns convey the meaning of the “present abstract”, thus the thoughts about communication activity are not referred to the specific moment on the timeline. The speaker’s words highlight his mission: he must use his oratorical skills to preach the Word of God to people of different faith. Two components of rhetorical canon are reflected in this context: invention ( won’t word ) and delivery ( the tongue won’t obey ). It is worthy of note that two capacities of missionary’s work (spiritual and fleshly (material)) are intertwined here: his life requires the strength of spirit, tireless efforts of mind ( душевное усердие ) but his fleshly strength is as exhaustible as strength of any other human (the generalized-personal form утомишься, the expression язык плохо повинуется).