Natalia Pyshna

Ivan Franko Drohobych State Pedagogical University

Lexeme ірмос to denote names of chants in religious terminology

© Pyshna N. I., 2014

The article traces the history of formation of the term name heirmos during all th phases of functioning of the Ukrainian language and characterizes its derivative formation – irmoloy (irmolohion). The research is based on lexographical souces covering XI–XXI centuries and written records of the church.

Keywords: Ukrainian terminology, chant, heirmos, irmolohion, religious terminology.

            Problem setting. One of thematic groups which require special study is the vocabulary for naming chants of confessional style found in written documents of the Ukrainian language of XI − XXI centuries. These groups are not systematically studied by linguists (an article by A. Horbach dedicated to church music terminology only outlines the problem). In this research the classification of titles of chants in religious terminology has been carried out, aspects of religious vocabulary research revealed, and the process of formation of chants considered: канон, тропар, кондак, ікос, ірмос, причасний (киноник) in diachrony and synchrony. Therefore, it is only logical to examine the history of the term ірмос (Eng. heirmos) as a representative of this group. This is the relevance of linguistic intelligence.

The research was conducted in accordance with the thematic plan of research of Ivan Franko Drohobych State Pedagogical University “Ukrainian linguistic picture of the world: linguistic-cognitive, linguocultural and linguistic aspects".

Analysis of recent research and publications. In the article "Genres and forms of liturgical singing" Y. Yasinovsky suggests heirmos to be the first tropar of each song of canon which serves as a model for other troparia of the same song. M. Skaballanovych in his work "Explanatory Typicon" reveals the following features of heirmos: 1. Serves as a model for melody, 2. Serves as a model for the rhythmic structure for troparia: troparion must have the same number of stanzas as well as the same length and musical lines as in heirmos, 3. not related to festive events, 4. establishes a connection with troparions. B. Rumovsky considers heirmos to be a troparion over which initial words are inscribed and aspects of the inscription are elucidated. However, in liturgical books heirmos texts are found. Besides this research, no other research of the formation of ірмос in diachrony and synchrony in the form of historical and lexicological sketch has yet been conducted and therefore is the subject of this paper.

Aim of research. The aim of the paper is to investigate the formation of the name ірмос at all stages of development of the Ukrainian language and trace the history of development of its generic correlates − ірмологіон (ірмолой).

Main body of the article. The first reference to ірмос in Ukrainian was revealed in the first half of the XV century, the term meaning “name of one of the liturgical songs of canon”. P. Mohyla in his collection of prescribed prayers gives examples of festive heirmos. We find this name in the ,,Ukrainian dictionary of XVI − first half of XVII century”. The Ukrainian vocabulary of the 18th century does not become enriched by the word ірмос. Illustrations from liturgical sources show that the highest activity of the word ірмос covers the period of XIX − XX centuries. The “Big Dictionary of Modern Ukrainian Language” argues that ірмос is a genre of Byzantine and Old Russian hymnography, the subject matter of which is related to biblical songs. The “Ukrainian Language Dictionary” by Yu. Rudnytsky explains ірмос as an ,,ecclesiastical song" − the first troparion of each song of a canon. In the dictionary of church-ritual terminology of N. Puriayeva the term ірмос is used with the meaning ,,the initial troparion of a song a canon, which is a thematic, musical and metric model for other troparia of this song of the canon”.

The derivatives from the stem ірмос are ірмологіон (ірмолой, єрмолой) − all meaning a book that is a collection of heirmoses and notes to them. First derivative formation Irmologion certified in the XV century with a meaning ,,religious books”. In the article "The history of Ukrainian church music terminology" A. Horbach proves that ірмолой is a book of heirmoses. The ,,Table book of acolyte” presents ірмологій нотного співу divided into eight parts, each part in turn containing nine sections − according to the number of songs of a full canon.

Conclusions. In this paper the term ірмос has been analyzed as well as its history of formation and functioning from ancient times to the present. The study also shows that the semantic structure of ірмос has not changed substantially over time. Further research should be focused on the study of the microgroup which includes such names of chants as акафист, антифон, катавасія, стихира etc.