units. In our research, non-traditional principles of etymological analysis find their
implementation. According to our observations, along with the semantic shifts, an
extensive phonetic transformation of the word is noted, which represents one of the
most important means of predicative processing of a lexical unit. As far as the
diachrony of the structure of the word is concerned, we advocate the idea of a
predicative connection in the word's composition of single-meaning primitives. The
starting point of phonetic transformations is represented by the consonant juncture,
which is the source of palatalization, phonetic additions, insertions, etc. We believe
that historically the following took place: the development of vocalism in the direction
from u (u → i, u → y, etc.); the appearance of palatalization at the junction of
consonants; transformations of u → wa (aw → a), etc.; the strengthening of sounds (h
→ r; w → l, etc.); the use of technical plosives before fricatives and liquids, etc.
The egocentric worldview manifests itself in the language. It is therefore the
human body that represents the starting point in the process of localizing entities and
objects in the surrounding space. This conclusion makes it possible to explain the fact
the same semantic foundation can be identified in different legal terms. As a rule, the
following notions are the most frequently found among the semantic foundations:
‛mouth’/‛hand’, ‛strength’, ‛head’, ‛eye’, ‛light’, ‛darkness’.
Examining the process of de-symbolization of lexical units makes it possible to
draw the conclusion that the functioning of words in the context of certain semantic
parameters determines the change in the content of those words' symbolic foundations.
The words are used in a narrower sense, since they have become terms.
The theoretical findings of the present research can be used to describe the process
of forming other terminological systems. The results of this study can be applied in the
educational process when reading courses in general linguistics, comparative
lexicology, in the practice of writing course or degree papers, in the preparation of
highly specialized legal dictionaries, in compiling textbooks and teaching aids for
students of philological and legal specialties.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
1. Zhivov, V. M. (2002). Istoriya russkogo prava kak lingvosemioticheskaya
problema / Razyiskaniya v oblasti istorii i predyistorii russkoy kulturyi [History of the
Russian Law as a Linguo-Semiotic Issue / Studies in the Field of the History and
Prehistory of the Russian Culture]. Moskva: Yazyiki slavyanskoy kulturyi [in
Russian].
2. Britsyin, M. A. (1965). Iz istorii vostochno-slavyanskoy leksiki [From the
History of the Eastern Slavic Lexicon]. Kyiv: Naukova dumka [in Russian].
3. Marr, N. Ya. (1935). Izbrannyie rabotyi. T. 5: Etno - i glottogoniya vostochnoy
Evropyi [Selected Works. Ethno- and Glottology of the Eastern Europe].
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