Change in the Stylistic Status of Derogatory Words Based on Lexicographic and Corpus Data

The article analyzes the change in the stylistic status of derogatory words in the Russian language in the second half of the 20th — early 21st century. The author compares stylistic labels (mainly colloquial and substandard) in academic explanatory dictionaries of the Russian language, as well as presents the shift of the use of words that have changed their stylistic status, according to the National Corpus of the Russian Language. Two opposing tendencies are revealed, due to a change in the frequency of the use of the word: an increase in stylistic status associated with an increase in the frequency of use (blat, bordovy, visochenniy, zazivala, etc.) and a decrease in stylistic status, correlating with a decrease in use (vnakladku, zaval’, vspolokhnutsa, etc.). Another aspect the article considers is the change in the stylistic status of word-formation doublets, when one of them gradually goes to the periphery and reduces the stylistic coloring, while the other А. Р. Пестова. Изменение стилистического статуса сниженной лексики в свете лексикографических и корпусных данных becomes neutral (borodatiy — borodastiy, brezgovat/brezgat, etc.). The paper emphasizes the importance of referring to the corpus data for the correct stylistic assessment and raises the question of the interaction of various factors affecting the change in the stylistic status of the derogatory words. By way of example of the pravsha, the work describes an increase in the stylistic status, caused by extralinguistic circumstances and the increase connected to the frequency of use of a certain word.