Obsolescent, Obsoleteand Archaic Words

Obsolescent, Obsoleteand Archaic Words

All these terms denote old words but those of different degrees. It is worth mentioning here that there is no distinct border between obsolescent, obsolete and archaic words.

We distinguish 3 stages in the aging process of words:

1. The beginning of the aging process when the word becomes rarely used. Such words are called obsolescent, i. e. they are in the stage of gradually passing out of general: e. g. a pallet = a straw mattress, a palfrey = small horse, garniture = furniture – mainly French borrowings.

2. The second group of archaic words are those that have already gone completely out of use but are still recognized by the native speakers, e. g. methinks = it seems tome, nay = no. These words are called obsolete.

3. The third group which may be called archaic proper, are words which are no longer recognizable in modern English, words that were in use in old English, e. g. troth = faith, a losel = a worthless, lazy fellow.

Speaking of their function in fiction, they all have different functions but still have something in common: all of them make a realistic background in historical novels. In some particular cases though such words can be used for satirical purposes.

As for archaic words in particular, they are frequently used in official documents for to create terminological character of texts.

One should also note here that the literary layer of words includes a specific group that needs to be distinguished from archaic words - so-called historical words. They illustrate objects and phenomena of no longer use or existence, however the words have not disappeared from the language and are still recognized by the reader. E. g. knight, spear, goblet.

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