Archaic, Obsolescent and Obsolete Words

The word-stock of a language is in the state of constant change. Words change their meanings, and sometimes drop out of the language. New words spring up and replace the old ones. Some words stay in the language for a long time and do not lose their faculty of gaining new meanings, others live but a short time to disappear without any trace of their existence.

There are 3 stages in the aging process of words:

1. Words in the stage of gradually passing out of general use are called obsolescent. Here belong - morphological forms belonging to the earlier stages in the development of the language:

e.g. pronouns thou, thee, thy, thine, ye

verb forms art, wilt (thou makest, thou wilt)

verbal endings: -est

ending (e)th (instead of –(e)s) he maketh

French borrowings kept in the language as a means of preserving the spirit of earlier periods:

garniture = furniture

to emplume = to adorn with feathers or plumes

2. The second group of archaic words that have already gone completely out of use but are still recognized by the English –speaking community are called obsolete:

e.g. methinks = it seems to me

nay (= no)

3. The third group, which may be called archaic proper, are words which are no longer recognizable in modern English:

e.g. troth=faith

losel –a worthless, lazy fellow

In the chart, the small circles denoting archaic and poetic words overlap and extend beyond the large circle of “special literary vocabulary”. This means that some of the words in these layers do not belong to the present-day English vocabulary.

There is still another class of words, which are classified as archaic i.e. historical words. By-gone periods in the life of any society are marked by historical events, by institutions, customs, material objects which are no longer in use, for example:

baldric - перевязь для меча, рога

yeoman- йомен (мелкий землевладелец)

mace - булава, жезл

goblet - бокал, кубок

Words of this type never disappear from the language; they remain terms referring to things and phenomena no longer existing. Historical words have no synonyms, whereas archaic words have been replaced by modern synonyms.

Archaic words are predominantly used in the creation of a realistic background in historical novels. (Cf.: in scientific style - e.g. an essay on the history of Scandinavian invasions- they will bear no stylistic function). In official style the use of archaic words is terminological in character. Obsolescent elements of the English vocabulary are also preserved in the style of official documents:

aforesaid - вышеупомянутый, вышеприведённый

hereby -им, этим, настоящим (юр.)

therewith- сим , этим, к тому же, тотчас, немедленно

hereinafter – ниже, в дальнейшем

In poetry archaic and obsolete words are also used as special terms.

Archaic words and particularly archaic forms of words are sometimes used for satirical purposes. Archaic words, word-forms and word-combinations are also used to create an elevated effect.