Occasional nominations of achromatic colours in the roman by A. Bely «Moscow»

Abstract

The article examines the features of the word-formation structure and semantics of occasional designations of white and gray achromatic colours based on the novel by A. Bely «Moscow». The study of occasional colour designations as one of the main structuring and semantically significant components of the text contributes to the study of A. Belyi’s idiostyle. A characteristic feature of the language of the symbolist writer is the inclusion in the texts of the created works of synonymous series and lexical units taken from the Dictionary of V. Dahl. The connection between the elements of the text is carried out on the basis of the parallel use of occasional and conventional color names, as well as lexical repetitions, metaphorization and associativity. The group of occasional white designations in the novel is represented by derivatives that serve to designate items of clothing and body parts of a character, interior items, architectural structures, a generalized color characteristic of the described space, landscape, as well as dilapidated household items. Occasionalisms with gray semantics characterize space and objects as emphatically impure, fragile and subject to decay. Based on the «Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language» by V. Dahl, derivative units corresponding to the semantic type of occasionality have been identified. Occasional meaning in color designations is manifested as a result of the actualization of the differential seme of the producing word. A characteristic feature of A. Bely’s idiostyle is the creation of lexical occasionalisms with the help of conventional word-formation methods with a violation of the typical combinable connections between the affix and the stem.