Abstract:
The lexeme moskal appeared in the Ukrainian language at the beginning of the 16th century. Compilers of the Etymological Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language claim that the word moskal is borrowed from the Polish language. However, the observations of I. Ohienko as well as the author of the article, based on word-forming activity, the first fixations in written texts and frequency of use, give reasonable grounds to believe that the ethnonym originated on the East Ukrainian territory (or on the Ukrainian-Belarus border) and later spread to other territories of Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The ethnonym moskal as well as the related names moskva, moskalyk, moskovskyi, are components of 59 stable phrases. The inner form of paremies and phrases with a component moskal helps to reveal the presence of the connotative family, the absolute majority of which contain a negative assessment: 1) 'difference from Ukrainians by language'; 2) 'large population'; 3) 'treachery' and 'wickedness'; 4) 'greediness'; 5) 'dangerous influence on those who are in close contact'; 6) 'thievery'; 7) 'mendacity' and 'non-keeping to the word'; 8) 'poverty'; 9) 'ruthlessness', 'aggressiveness'; 10) 'cunning'; 11) 'boredom'; 12) 'foul language'; 13) 'laziness'; 14) 'servitude’.
