HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF CONCEPTS ABOUT MAN AND WOMAN IN THE RUSSIAN LANGUAGE (BASED ON LEXICOGRAPHICAL SOURCES)

Abstract

. The article examines features of objectification in lexicographic sources of the Russian language of various chronological periods of the universal opposition “man – woman” using the example of key representatives – the lexemes of the same names man and woman. As a result of the definitional analysis of these units, changes within the opposition are revealed. It has been established that in explanatory dictionaries of the 18th – 19th centuries, in comparison with earlier sources, the following changes occur: within the framework of the opposition, a new characteristic appears – maturity (in relation to a man this is a social parameter, in relation to a woman – a natural one). The concept of “woman” takes on a positive connotation. The research determines that in the materials of dictionaries of the XX and XXI centuries within the framework of the opposition under consideration the natural component of these concepts is emphasized to a greater extent. A conclusion is made about changes in the reflection of gender stereotyping processes in dictionary sources. Thus, a number of stereotypes are disappearing, new ones are appearing, however, in all the selected chronological sections, the persistence of the stereotype “firm, courageous” in relation to a man and “ambivalent (multidirectional) behavior” in relation to a woman can be traced.