ВОЗНИКНОВЕНИЯ И РАЗВИТИЕ АНГЛИЙСКОГО БАЗОВОГО ТЕРМИНА ECONOMICS

The process of the science different fields forming had begun before the written language appeared.  The general- use vocabulary was used by practically all sciences and after when every science had stood out for a separate field the science language started to transform. Every science began to isolate the terms of its own field of knowledge; the specialization of their meanings was taking place. First the special words appeared in every field of sciences and the special meanings of these words began to isolate the words and word combinations of the definite sciences. The isolated words may be called as the basic words, because they founded the base of every science. “The basic terms appeared they were borrowed through the origin from the terminology or from the field of the vocabulary lying in its foundation, so they were the basis for its development” [1, p.63]. The basic terms pass the main knowledge or ideas which characterize the definite field. Nowadays it is very important to know these basic terms they help to understand the primary meanings of many words.

Thanks to Greek borrowings determining the idea of economy, the basic term economy took place. Many nationalities kept houses and simultaneously they taught to the rules of products, things, tools production economy, etc. The process of standing out of the lexical unit economy as the isolated term with its specific meaning had lasted for very long.  The term economy continues to surprise us by the width and multifacety of its meanings beginning with the ancient people and is going to advance in its meanings. This term began to be used actively by the Greek scientist Aristotle who considered that “economy is the household activity which is in harmony with nature from which the acquisition is abruptly differed managing not by the high purposes of human being but by the tendency to the boundless gain forming the purpose in itself” [4, p. 174]. The lexical unit economy existed in Greek before Aristotle and its name of special Xenophon composition where “the reasonable household and agriculture rules are examined in the form of dialogue” [7, p.19]. The modern term economics to which the term economy had preceded takes place from old Greek oikonomia. Its first root oikos- means a house, a famous family, …[2, p.575], the second root by different versions “nom- means a law or nem- means to regulate”[11, p. 515]. The science about the house or the art of household managing means in literal meaning oikonomia. One more translation of this term also exists – domostroi: just this Russian name received the very early treatise “Oikonomia” by the famous Greek thinker Xenofon (V-IV cc. BC) who “gives the visual picture of “economy” in Old Greek presentation” [3, p.13]. The research of the term economy has shown from the etymological point of view that this term came from the lexical unit “yconomye in 1440 which means management of a household, influenced in its formation by earlier iconomique(n.) before 1393;  but ultimately borrowed through Middle French economie and directly from Latin oeconomia, from Greek oikonomia (oikos- a house +-nomos management)” [15, p.230]. The lexical unit economics appeared in 1586 in the meaning of the” art of managing a household perhaps from earlier Middle English iconomique, n+-s, as in physics: but generally considered to be formed in English from Middle French economique + English –s. The sense of the science of managing the resources of a country, etc., is first recorded in 1792 [15, p.230].

So, economics meant as before the art of managing household till 17th century but the attention was much focused on the problem of the royal economy. ‘The art of managing such economy can’t help varying from the economy of the private household and it caused the appearance of the new term the political economy at the beginning of the 17th century” [12, p.51]. In the economical literature this term was lead by Antoine de Montchrestien (1575-1621) and in 1615 he published the book named “Treatise of political economy”. In 1792 this term was firstly marked in the meaning of the science of the country resources managing. In 1970-s of XIX-th century the radical changes came in the economical science and the science even changed its name beginning with A. Marshall and in English-speaking countries political economy began to be named economics [5, p.176].The economy had formed at that period the independent science as a branch of economical science and opened the laws of business and the methods of keep housing on the macro- and micro- levels.

In modern Oxford Economy Dictionary the following definitions of term economy and economics are given:

“economy         1) a country’s money supply, trade and industry;

                           2) the control and management of money resources , etc, of an organization, a society, a country;  

                           3) the act of saving money, time, resources” [16, p. 147].

“economics            1. a) the study of the processes involved in the production, distribution and consumption of goods, esp. in relation to cost;

                                    b) the application  of this to a particular activity, industry, etc;

                                2. the financial conditions of a country” [16, p. 147].

According to Economic Dictionary economics “is the study of the production, distribution and consumption of wealth in a human society” [14, p. 122].

These definitions show that the terms economy and economics have the same ideas of household managing and housekeeping. These terms had developed according to the society development and all acts and actions which had happened in the society came to the appearance of the lexical units and terms for the economical science. They helped the society to isolate this science and to define its terms. The terms in the economical science changed all the time. It is the usual process for every science to define the terms for understanding its processes and actions. The basic terms economy and economics appeared.

So, the basic English term economy meant “the managing of household” in 1440, in 1586 – “the art of household”, in 1792 – “the science of managing the resources of a country, etc.” [12, p.53].

In the 19th century economics was called “market economy” [9, p.61]. The terminological combination market economy means “an economy in which a substantial proportion of economic decisions are taken by the use of markets” [13, p. 290]. In the middle of the XXth century in the economical science “two parts were isolated: microeconomics and macroeconomics” [10, p.12]. “Microeconomics is the part of economics in which small parts of an economy are studied, for example, particular goods, business, etc.” [17, p. 893]. And also it “examines how production and consumption are organized, what is produced and who benefits” [14, p.135].  The form micro- is mainly used for scientific terms and ideas development, in the meaning of “small, very small” [15, p.475]. This form is used for the development of the economical science direction microeconomics (from Greek “micros- and oikonomike”) [8, p.123].  Another direction of the economical science macroeconomics “studies national economies and determination of national income” [14, p.255]. The form macro- means “big, very big and relates to the whole of something, rather than its parts’ [17, p.850]. This form is borrowed from Greek (makro) macros in the meaning of “large, long” [15, p.449].

English basic term economics had undergone the changes during the history of the economical science development. Being borrowed from Greek and Latin, from the words oikonomia and oikonomos the term economy had modified to economics as the art of household managing in 1586. “The further economical processes and events which had happened before helped to find one more English term political economy which was first determined in 1792 as a science of country’s resources managing. This term existed not so long and in 1970-s of the XIXth century the changes in the economical science happened, it changed its name” [12, p.54].

In the economical science the term economics established again in the meaning of the “science which studies the production, distribution and consumption of the wealth in the human society and as the main component of modern economical science, the use of which lets decide more effectively the basic questions of society economical development” [6, p.10]. Based on the menue conception the economy was called lately the market economy, where the main proportion of the economical decisions is accepted with the use of markets.

In the middle of the XXth century two main directions were appeared in the economy. They are known as microeconomics and macroeconomics.

So, based on the history of the lexical unit origin and development we may say that any lexical unit turning out in the definite sphere of use can modify its meaning. The examined English basic term economy had undergone numerous changes in its meanings during the period which was represented above. And thanks to the impetuous human development may modify further changing its meanings.