Latin influence on the formation of Russian phytonyms (the case of the documents of the Pharmaceutical Order of the 17th century)

Olekhnovich Olga Georgievna

The article is devoted to the analysis of the phytonyms of the 17th century, the formation and development of which is somehow associated with the influence of the Latin language. 300 Russian phytonyms found in the manuscripts of the “Pharmaceutical Order” have been examined in this paper. As a result of the study, two main groups of Latinisms were identified. First, these are neologism phytonyms borrowed from the Latin language. Secondly, these are endemic phytonyms which were given the Latin names. Their destiny was different. Some Latinisms became established in the Russian language and are used to date, others failed to retain the Latin name. Another group of phytonyms shall be mentioned which have both variants in the Russian scientific nomenclature. In the analysis of semantic features, phytonyms without the Latin component were also identified which were formed on the basis of the translation from Latin into Russian.

Keywords:Russian phytonyms, Latinisms, Latin