Приветственные формулы в восточнославянских дипломатических памятниках XVI–XVII веков
GREETING FORMULAS IN THE EAST SLAVIC DIPLOMATIC DOCUMENTS OF THE XVI–XVII CENTURIES

Summary/Abstract: The article examines greeting formulas in the initial protocol of diplomatic documents from the XVI and XVII centuries in the Old Russian, Old Ukrainian, and Old Belarusian languages. The study draws on diplomatic documents of various genres selected from the embassy books of Muscovite Rus, the Lithuanian Metrics, and two document collections – The Reunification of Ukraine with Russia and Documents of Bogdan Khmelnitsky. From 178 documents across the three languages, the author identifies 12 greeting formulas that show repeatability and relative stability. The article analyzes these formulas for each language, identifies the patterns regulating the choice of the unit depending on the social status of the addressee and addresser, and isolates the main lexical components that underlie the construction of greeting formulas in each language. It also examines the structural organization of these formulas, notes the high degree of their variability and the presence of optional components, and traces both common and different trends in the functioning of greeting formulas across the three languages. On this basis, the author concludes that distinct diplomatic sublanguages emerged in the territory of Eastern Slavs during the XVI and XVII centuries. These findings may inform further research into the history of the formation of diplomatic language and diplomatic phraseology in the Old Russian, Old Ukrainian, and Old Belarusian languages.

• Details
• Contents