Most contemporaries can only read some words from Gogol or hear in series about the life of Cossacks. Because of this, the understanding of the plot breaks: a person with difficulty represents the essence of what is happening, does not fully delve into the plot. However, the classic "village" is a designation for a large settlement, often found in the southern regions of Russia. How has the concept changed over the centuries, what are the meanings put into it? A detailed analysis will help answer any questions.
Where did the term come from?
According to Dahl, the "village" is a derivative of the corresponding verb. An armed detachment came to take a key position before the battle, and what does it do first? He immediately begins to set up, set up camp. For this reason, the basic definition of "camp" has received such decryption as:
- temporary location;
- one of the troops participating in the war;
- enemy grouping, political association.
The word under study, due to the suffix, indicates a formation smaller in size and significance, gradually came into the speech of the inhabitants with completely different meanings.
What is the basic interpretation?
Perception of the term depends on the era and context. Most often, they mean the traditional Cossack village. And then the speaker means:
- a large village of Cossacks;
- the totality of its inhabitants.
It is the first option that is most in demand in works of art. Initially, they pointed to any settlement of the XVII-XVIII centuries, from where they could convene a Cossack army. But already in the 19th century, they were used to designate a territorial administrative unit with many farms, as well as villages. All these villages after the revolution during the USSR retained their name.
What versions are there?
Sometimes there is a misunderstanding when reading historical documents. Since there is occasionally used in a different meaning:
- horse reconnaissance and / or security detachment in the 15th-17th centuries;
- messengers of the Cossack army with gifts to the king in the XVI-XVIII centuries.
In parallel, two outdated versions that have long gone out of circulation, but are also available in a number of sources, are likely:
- detachment of robbers, a group of daredevils;
- a large number of someone, a crowd, a flock of birds or animals.
It is no wonder to get confused under a shaft of specific interpretations.
Which option to choose?
For a modern person, the choice is obvious: this is a village-village with all the inhabitants. Theoretically, it differs from the villages in larger sizes, which makes it possible to equate it to an urban-type settlement or even to a city. But in the Cossack territories such renaming rarely occur in the framework of preserving the historical and cultural heritage.