Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the dynamics of the compatibility of the color designations in the Russian language. The scientific novelty of the study is determined by unexplored valence bonds of color designations in the historical aspect. The relevance of scientific analysis determined a systematic approach to the subject of study, ensures veracity of its results. The work is aimed at identification of trends in the evolution of color designations system of the Russian language through the analysis of the valence bonds of color designations. Two fragments of the lexical-semantic group ‘color‘ in the Russian language of different times were subjected to comparative analysis. The separation of material by centuries is conditioned by its amount and uniqueness. Constitutive method of scientific analysis is historical and comparative. By the analysis of the dynamics of compatibility properties of the color designations, it was revealed that a fundamental role in the development of the color lexical system of the Russian language was played by a group of monovalent and polyvalent color designations. Comparison of the two chronological layers of Russian vocabulary of colors showed a significant increase in number of color terms especially in the group of monovalent words. High word-building activity of monovalent color designations in the history of the language made the group to be ‘the resource base‘ of the color lexical system. When the optimal color designations were selected, ‘insufficient‘ designations consisted the group of archaic members. If the group of monovalent color designations was ‘raw materials‘ for the selection of the most appropriate lexemes, the group of polyvalent color designations formed a stable color dictionary of contemporary Russian language. This word group includes abstract color terms, common words, and words that have undergone specialization of their meaning. The performed analysis of compatibility bonds of color designations in history of Russian language identified trends in the evolution of color lexical system as a whole. It showed that intensification of active generation of words with the color meaning provided with ‘raw material‘ the selection of color designations and the selection and actualization of optimal color designations and their meanings contributed to stabilization of color lexical system.