What is harm? (motivational and genetic links of Rus. vred)

The study of motivational and genetic characteristics of lexical units is one of the current issues in today’s linguistics. This is due to the fact that the motivational links that exist in language characterize the structure of the world concept of the ethnos - the way a person that belongs to a certain time and culture categorizes the world using language. The article focuses on the problematic motivational and genetic characterization of the core of the lexical-semantic field vred [harm], which represents a negative utilitarian evaluation. The analysis of the systemic relations of this lexical-semantic field in standard Russian and its dialects, Old Russian and other Slavic languages has shown the following. Firstly, the motivational and genetic links of Rus. vred/vered are rooted in the Proto- Slavic language, when the corresponding notion was formed. Secondly, the Slavic notion vred was formed on the basis of the notion rana [wound, lesion] (cf. the idea that vred and rana are genetically related at the Indo-European level). The notion rana appears as a result of conceptualizing the consequences of a destructive action performed on the subject (e.g. razryvat [tear], tsarapat [scratch]) or a disease that shows on skin (naryv [abscess], chirei [boil], yazva [sore]). Thirdly, the motivational features of the synonymous lexemes (rana, naryv, yazva) support the idea of vred as bodily damage resulting from destructive actions towards the subject. Fourthly, the direction in which the semantic field of Slav. *vеrdъ developed may be represented in the following way: “tear, scratch” → “wound, lesion” → “sore, abscess; boil, blain” → “disease” and “harm, damage, corruption” (→ “evil, misfortune”). Fifthly, there has been found no reason to divide the derivational and etymological nest of Slav. *vеrdъ by representing it as originally related to two different etymological nests (Pokorny, Machek). Finally, along with the main direction of conceptualizing harm as a bodily injure, a second conceptualization was presumably developed - that of a counter-action to the subject’s interest (pakost [nasty trick] as “something done in contra, contrary to the will and interests of the subject” → “damaged, harmful”).

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