"Alive as life," Chukovsky. Summary, analysis

First of all, Kornei Ivanovich Chukovsky is known as the author of children's poems about Moidodyr and flying chairs. But also the writer was a literary critic and advocated the preservation of a vibrant, vivid Russian language. The book "Living as Life" (first published in 1962), dedicated to this issue, became a classic. We will talk about its content today.

Chapter One: "Old and New"

The story about the famous lawyer and academician Anatoly Kony opens the first chapter "Alive as Life" (Chukovsky), a brief summary of which we will now analyze. Anatoly Fyodorovich was a man of great kindness. But only until the moment when I heard the awkward Russian speech. There was no limit to his anger, although often the interlocutor was not really to blame.

The fact is that at that time the honorary academician was already old. He was born and grew up in those days when the word "necessarily" meant "courtesy, respectful". But it acquired a different meaning over time, and now it meant "by all means." Everyone who used the word "necessarily" in the sense of "by all means," immediately fell into a flurry of criticism.

About these changes in language, and about whether this is always bad, about the "illnesses" of Russian speech and the friend Kornei Ivanovich Chukovsky tells in this book.

Chapter Two: "Imaginary Diseases and - Genuine"

What can be considered a "disease of the word"? The book "Alive as Life" (Chukovsky), whose genre can be defined as a cross between journalism and linguistic research, helps to understand this issue.

Did you know that in the poems of Pushkin the word "scrupulous" has a very unusual meaning for us - "haberdashery"? The word "family", so familiar, first denoted slaves and servants, and then - a wife. Interesting "genealogy" and the word "mess". At first, this was the name of a very elegant dish of the 17th century, which was beloved by the boyars. Then a sharp pain in the abdomen, caused by a nasty little talker, began to be called a mess. Soldiers cook threw uncleaned fish in the sand, onions, biscuits, sauerkraut and everything that was near at hand. And only then the "mess" acquired the familiar meaning of "confusion, disorder."

These transformations are natural, the language grows and develops, and it is impossible to resist and even stupid, the author believes.

Chapter Three: "Inheritable words"

This chapter is a logical continuation of the previous one. The book "Alive as Life" (Chukovsky), the brief content of which we are discussing, would be incomplete without foreign words. Kornei Chukovsky wrote a lot of letters from ordinary people who care about the safety of the Russian language. Many believed that foreign words should be expelled as soon as possible.

The author gives examples of foreign words that have long since become Russian: algebra, alcohol, stocking, artel, rally, steering wheel, rails, naive, serious ... "Can it really be thrown out of a living Russian speech?" Asks Chukovsky. At the same time he is glad that many foreign words did not take root in everyday life and did not supplant the native Russians. For example, once popular "frishtikat" will never come to the language of an ordinary person. Instead, we "have breakfast".

Chapter four: "Umslopogasy"

Fashionable verbal abbreviations are also not able to spoil the Russian language. But in the work "Alive as Life" (Chukovsky), whose analysis we are conducting, a whole chapter is devoted to them. And not in vain. It is cuts that show how important moderation is in everything. For example, cuts such as the Moscow Art Theater, the savings bank, the workday did not spoil Russian speech at all.

But the fashion for reduction has spawned and a lot of "monsters." Tverbul Pampush in fact - Tverskoy Boulevard, a monument to Pushkin. Massively shortened names - Peter Pavlovich turned Pe Pe for both students and fellow teachers. But worst of all there were cuts-pallindromy Rosglavstankoinstrumentsnabsbyt, Lengorshveytikotazhpromsoyuz, Lengormetallorprompromsoyuz and others of this type.

From this it is necessary to draw a conclusion, one of the main: everything depends on a sense of style and proportionality.

Chapter Five: "Vulgarisms"

Readers of the 1960s often considered such words "obscene", such as "syvolapy", "trousers", "stench", "rubbish", "blow their nose" and many other similar ones that are absolutely natural for a modern man. The author remembers an angry letter addressed to him for using the word "champ" in the article.

Quite different is the vulgar slang of modern youth, writes in "Alive as Life" Chukovsky. The summary of the chapter boils down to the fact that such jargons as "Fuflo", "vshhenyapilsya" (instead of "in love"), "chuvika", "kadrishka" (instead of "girl"), "lobuda", "shikara" and others desecrate not Only the Russian language, but also the concepts that young people denote by them.

The author correctly notices that the dude, who has become obsessed with the croquet, experiences far from those lofty feelings of love that are described in the poems of Alexander Blok. Decomposition of the language by vulgar leads to moral decay, therefore, jargon should be zealously eradicated.

Chapter Six: "Chancellery"

It was Korney Chukovsky's book "Alive as Life" that gave the name of the only real "illness" of Russian speech - to the clerk. This term is used by linguists, including the translator Nora Gal in the book "The Word of the Living and the Dead."

The office is the language of bureaucracy, business papers and offices. All these "above", "given this certificate", "the specified period", "on this basis", "and therefore", "for want of", "in the absence", "as for" have firmly taken their place in the business documentation ( While sometimes reaching the point of absurdity).

The problem is that the secretary got into the usual spoken language. Now instead of the "green forest" they began to say "green mass", the usual "quarrel" became a "conflict", and so on. These turns of speech, borrowed from individual papers, have become a "litmus test". It was believed that every cultured, well-bred person should have such words in his vocabulary.

It was considered rustic and uncultured to say in the radio "Passed heavy rains". Instead, it sounded "A lot of rain fell." Unfortunately, the problem of the chancellery did not disappear. Today, this disease has strengthened its position even more. No scientist can defend a thesis written in simple, understandable language. In everyday life, we constantly insert clerical phrases, without even noticing it. So lively, strong, sparse Russian spoken language turns into gray and dry. And this is the only disease of the language with which to fight.

Chapter Seven: "Against the Elements"

Many perceive the Russian language as an element with which it is impossible to cope. So writes in "Alive as Life" Chukovsky. The summary of the last, the seventh chapter boils down to the fact that at a time when knowledge is available for everyone, ordinary and evening schools are open, no one has the right to be illiterate, not to respect one's language.

All wrong words and verbal turns must be eradicated, and the culture of the masses must grow, not fall. And just speaking is an indicator of the growth or decline of culture.

Results

K. Chukovsky, by his research, initiated a great debate around the Russian language. He did not adhere to one side and proceeded from carefully checked data and sense of proportion. Like K. Paustovsky, Kornei Ivanovich was very fond of the Russian language, so "Alive as Life" is still a book until today, which must be read by all - both linguists and those who want to fall in love with a living, simple Russian speech.