Theory of Three Styles and Lexis of Russian 18th-century Poetry: Noch' and Noshch' ‘Night

The paper analyses the use of noch' and noshch', two synonyms for ‘night’, in Russian poetry from 1701 to 1800. Noch' is of Russian origin, while noshch' is derived from Church Slavonic. The research is based on the poetic sub-corpus of the Russian National Corpus. The aim is to test the hypothesis of whether their distribution is in line with the theory, outlined by Mikhail Lomonosov in his Preface on the Use of Church Books in the Russian Language, and to describe the actual patterns of their occurrence. The focus on these words is due to their rhythmic identity in most forms, which helps to exclude the influence of the metrical factors on the choice between them.

The study reveals a discrepancy between the usus and the norm as proposed by Lomonosov. Noch' is the unmarked term of the stylistic opposition; this word may be used in all genres, including the high ones, e. g. solemn and spiritual ode or epic. Noshch' is the marked term, but is optional even in high genres, rare in middle and especially low ones. The role of rhyme in word choice is crucial. The variety of the usus allows for wide opportunities for individual stylistic strategies. For example, Lomonosov almost always uses noch', even in his epic, while Mikhail Kheraskov prefers noshch' for this genre. Some poets of the second post-Petrine generation, such as Kheraskov, Vasily Petrov, and Gavrila Derzhavin, use noshch' more often than their predecessors. At the end of the century, noshch' comes to function as a marker of a deliberately archaic manner, when used frequently (as Semyon Bobrov does); however, when it occurs rarely, it turns into a typically poetic word, employed even by the Karamzinists, who are generally hostile to Slavonisms.