Hypocoristic Names Ending with -ec- in Old Russian

Abstract

The article examines Old Russian anthroponyms with the suffix -ec-, originally conveying the meaning ‘less than X’. A diachronic corpus study of 11th–17th-century texts reveals that while this suffix lacked inherent pejorative connotations in Old Russian sources, contextual (adherent) pejoration is clearly observable. For pre-15th-century chronicles, two primary usage patterns are identified—1) characters with explicit negative evaluation, and 2) individuals of lower social or communicative status. The metaphoric shift from diminutive to pejorative meaning aligns with cross-linguistic typological patterns, though in Old Russian, -ec- was not an exclusive marker of such meanings: lexical intensifiers could reinforce negative evaluation (e.g., lživyj vladyka Feodorec ‘the deceitful Bishop Feodorec’). Chronicle texts and birchbark letters further demonstrate a correlation between –ec- forms and patientive roles of referents. Quantitative analysis of epigraphic materials shows statistically significant prevalence of lower-status semantics over direct pejoration. Comparative analysis of the later (16th–17th century) official documents reveals an evolutionary trajectory: while 15th-century texts freely applied -ec- to participants of lower status (servants, debtors, children), by the 16th century it became institutionalized in legal documents—appearing in self-deprecating petitions (čelobitnye) and witness formulas in legal deeds (sales, exchanges, wills), along with other hypocoristic derivatives. By the 17th century, -ec- was gradually supplanted by other hypocoristic suffixes (-ko/-ka, -ško/-ška). Thus, the usage of -ec- in 11th–17th-century anthroponyms was governed by a complex interplay of semantic, pragmatic, syntactic, and sociolinguistic factors that evolved alongside language norms.

DOI: 10.31168/2305-6754.2026.1.02