The "pause" in music and linguistics: on the history of the term before 1810

The article is devoted to the study of the Russian term pause and its parallel names in historical-linguistic, functional and lexicographic aspects in the period from the 16th century to 1810. Modern scientific literature provides information about this linguistic phenomenon since 1847, which does not allow to form a comprehensive view of the history of the term, the development of its semantics, to reveal the structure of interrelations existing between this term and its parallel nominations, to establish the functional similarities and differences that have developed over three centuries between the term pause and its sixteen synonymous names. The study is based on textual and lexicographic sources published from the beginning of the 16th century to 1810, thanks to which it is possible to establish the chronology of semantisation of the term and its synonymous names. The aim of the article is to systematise historical and linguistic information about the term pause, to study its semantics and functions using the methods of comparative, semantic and historical-linguistic analysis. The semantic structure of the word pause, taking into account the sphere of its use and functioning, began to emerge in 1679 in Nikolai Diletsky’s treatise "The Idea of Musical Grammar", where the author used this nomination as a musical term in the meaning ‘a rhythmically ordered break in musical sounding’. On this basis, it can be assumed that the word pause was not previously used either as a term or as a word of common language. From that time until 1810, pause appears as a musical term in the above-mentioned meaning. Simultaneously with this meaning, the semantic structure of the term was enriched with another meaning ‘musical note sign’, in which this term was used until the beginning of the 19th century (the later period of the term’s functioning was not considered). Starting from 1787, as the study shows, the term is found in the new meaning ‘a temporary stop, delay, brief interruption in sounding, speech, conversation’. This suggests that from this time the pause begins its history as a linguistic term in the meaning of ‘speech pause’. Since the 16th century, the word-term pause has had synonymous designations, the number of which has been constantly increasing. By 1810, at least 16 nominations had emerged, appearing both in the general meaning and in the meanings used in the musical and linguistic fields. The first designation of such kind is the word otdokhnutiye, dating from the 16th century, which the manuscript author used in the meaning ‘syntactic pause’. It correlated with the comma as a written punctuation mark and indicated breaks in sounding speech. Later on, there appeared a number of other special names related to the designation of various pauses, which typologically can be qualified as syntactic (ostanovka, otdokh, otdokhnoveniye, uderzhaniye golosa), articulatory (ostanovka, otdokhnoveniye, otdokhnoveniye golosa, peremeshka, perestavaniye, prepinaniya glasa, presecheniye golosa) and respiratory (ostanovka, presecheniye golosa). Among the first nominations appearing in the meaning ‘articulatory pause’ are such as otdokhnoveniye,prepyatiye glasom (1680) andprepinaniye glasa (1687), found in different versions of the manuscript “Alphabet for the education of small children”. In the meaning ‘breathing pause’ in textual and lexicographical sources of the late 18th-early 19th centuries, the nominations ostanovka (1791) and presecheniye golosa (1810) are recorded. In music, the nominations synonymous with the term pause identified in the course of the study have been used in the meanings ‘interruption in musical sounding’ (including vocal and / or instrumental performance) and ‘note sign’ since the 2nd half of the 17th century. They include molchaniye, ostanovka, otdykh, otdyshka, peremeshka, perestavaniye, pous. The first registered terminological designation among the above mentioned is molchaniye, which is first mentioned in Diletsky’s treatise "The Idea of Musical Grammar" and continues to be used until 1806 in the meaning ‘interruption of musical sounding’. In the meaning ‘musical note sign’ the first nomination is pous. It appeared in J. Formey’s book “A Brief Notion of All Sciences for the Use of Young People” (1774). The word pause in the general meaning ‘rest, interval between the end of one action and the beginning of another’ can be compared with the lexemes opochineniye andpre-staniye, recorded in Epiphanius Slavinetsky’s "Slovene-Latin Lexicon" (1650). The author declares ho conflicts of interests.

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