Inquiry: Why consistently do you append with "c" at the end, and where exactly is it placed?
The Slovero, a historical linguistic term derived from the Old Church Slavonic letter 'с' and the hard sign 'ъ', was once a common feature in the Russian language. This stylistic marker, often added to nouns or verbs, served as a means of polite address, a marker of respect and hierarchy.
In the 19th century, it was common to address respected people as 'STATEР' and 'сударыня' with the slovero, such as 'извольте, сударь' or 'да, сударь'. This practice was a reflection of the social hierarchy of the time, with the use of the slovero often indicating the social status of the speaker and the addressee, particularly when a lower-ranking person addressed a higher-ranking one.
Once, adding the letter 's' at the end of words was considered a sign of good manners and respect. However, with the advent of mass education, changes in social roles, and democratization of communication, the need for ceremonial markers like the slovero gradually diminished.
The slovero can be found in works of Russian classics like Tolstoy, Lermontov, and Turgenev. In these literary works, the slovero was not only used to denote politeness but also to convey character, such as well-mannered, old-fashioned, shy, or overly formal.
In the 20th century, one could still hear the use of 'ers' among elderly intellectuals and some professors, but these were remnants of the old etiquette, not the norm. By the end of the century, the use of 'ers' had largely disappeared from modern Russian language usage, with only occasional appearances in specific contexts.
Today, 'ers' is used mainly as stylization in literary texts and theater, as an ironic or parodic insertion in spoken language, or as a historical marker in language research and reconstructions. In modern language, 'ers' is used extremely rarely and exclusively to convey authorial irony.
After the 1917 revolution, the address 'sir/madam' fell out of use, replaced by 'comrade'. The use of 'ers' may be perceived as irony or even mockery in modern language. Despite its historical significance, the expression 'Slovero' has no recognized meaning in the Russian language today.
The exact reasons for the disappearance of the slovero are not specified, but its decline can be attributed to the ongoing language standardization and orthographic reforms of the 19th-20th centuries, including the 1918 reform, which simplified spelling and eliminated archaic endings.
In summary, the slovero was a significant part of Russian language history, serving as a marker of respect and hierarchy. Although it has largely disappeared from modern Russian language usage, it continues to play a role in literature, theater, and language research as a historical marker and a tool for irony and parody.
