Terms denoting parts of an orthodox church: naos, altar, narthex

Abstract

This article examines the origin and history of terms denoting parts of an Orthodox church, the ways of their borrowing into the Russian language. The linguistic analysis of the terms naos, altar, narthex, with special attention to their etymology, the variants of phonetic and graphic design of these words, as well as the development of their semantics both in the source language and in the history of the Russian language are considered. A comprehensive historical and linguistic study of this group of words is conducted for the first time.