The functioning of archaisms in Chinese fictional discourse

Abstract

The article examines the peculiarities of the use of archaisms in the historical works of Chinese writers. In general, obsolete vocabulary is considered, which includes archaisms, historicisms, chen’yus and wenyanisms. The understanding of “discourse” and “text” is examined, also the understanding of “fictional discourse” and Chinese fictional historical discourse is clarified. A classification of archaisms was introduced, such groups of archaisms were seen: lexical archaisms, lexical-phonetic archaisms, semantic archaisms. The grammatical constructions and phraseological units “chen’yus” are examined, which also symbolize the stylistic function of the archaic lexical parts and old grammar. The essence of the archaic lexicon and its interpretation in Chinese philology has been clarified. During the analysis of examples from Chinese-language historical works, the functioning of some groups of archaisms was demonstrated, that is, the implementation of the stylistic function of archaisms – strengthening the connection with the era, adding color to the language, evaluative tonality, emotional relation to the characters of the work. Archaisms as a stylistic phenomenon serve as a tool in the hands of the writer for more accurate detailing of a certain era. As a result of the analysis, it was established that archaic vocabulary plays an important role in the creation of fictional works, especially when it is the writing of the historical novels. It is noted that archaisms become such due to the progress of society, over time they pass to the passive vocabulary of the language, and also acquire new functions in certain types of modern discourse. It has been established that archaic vocabulary plays an important role in Chinese fiction, performs significantly important functions in discourse, enriches the figurative assessment of the realities described in the works, and presents a historical era. In the perspective of further research, the need and expediency of studying the role of obsolete words and their pragmatic functions in modern Chinese journalism, political and official-business discourses, as well as in Chinese historical series is indicated.