Homeland is the land on which you were born. Origin, meaning and use of the word.

Often, when we talk about our home, we mention the word "fatherland". By it we mean the house in which we were born, the cherry blossoming by the window, the schoolyard where the ball was chased, a quiet square reminiscent of the first love and carefree youth. The fatherland is a part of our life and soul, a place for which it is not a pity to give the most precious: freedom and life.

Origin

There are several versions of where the word came from in our culture and way of life. The first says that the fatherland is the transformation of the "Father". Therefore, it is treated as "the land of the fathers", "chosen by the father." Adherents of this theory believe that the word has Old Slavonic roots, was used even in the times of Kievan Rus, in the 9th-10th centuries. The second version shows that it was not invented by our ancestors, but by the neighboring Polish people. They have the word ojczyzna, formed from ojciec - the father. Some historians say that the Russians began to use it in the 16th century, when Rzeczpospolita was a large and influential state on the international arena.

As you can see, the homeland is a semantic derivative of the father and father of the male ancestors. It seems to hint: at that time it was the representatives of the stronger sex who dominated society. From their decisions depended on politics, economics, culture and other spheres of society. This patriarchy was the basis of power, and therefore it was called home. Homeland was identified with a victorious warrior, strong and powerful, which protects his people and protects him.

Value

If you look into Russian dictionaries, everywhere you can read that the homeland is the place where a person was born. On this earth lived his ancestors: father and mother, grandfathers and great-grandfathers. Many people think that you can call yourself a native person if you were born in one or another territory in the third generation. In another case, you are still considered a newcomer or an expatriate.

Homeland is an area whose customs and traditions have long become part of everyday life. For example, only a real Russian person with pleasure celebrates the Old New Year or Polar Day - holidays that are unfamiliar to the inhabitants of other countries. Homeland is a concept that can be used in a broader and narrower sense. In the first case, this is the state of which you are a citizen, in the second - your home, street, district or region. The word is also often used in figurative meaning. For us, the homeland is not only the earth and the sky above it, it is also all the attributes of the Russian people: dolls, pelmeni, brown bears, vests and kokoshnik.

Use

The word fatherland - one of the most popular in the works of the classics of Russian literature. They treated him with some trepidation, because in those distant times the Motherland was a holy land, protecting it, without fear and doubt went to death. The word was often used by Lermontov in poems: "I love my homeland, but with strange love." Pushkin also decorated them with his famous for the whole world rhymed lines: "For the shores of the homeland faraway, you left the land of a stranger."

In our time, we also often use this word. True, in ordinary speech it does not occur very often. Similar to archaism, it is more suitable for solemn occasions, ceremonial events. For example, on February 23, we are called Day of the Defender of the Fatherland, which sounds more festive than in the case of the Motherland. For example, it sounds more harmonious in everyday dialogues. If the Motherland is associated with something soft and domestic, then the motherland - with strong-willed and severe. This word makes you proud to raise your head and say: "I'm Russian and I'm proud of it!"