Two centuries of the Russian classics Two centuries of the Russian classics 2686-7494 IWL RAS https://doi.org/10.22455/2686-7494-2026-8-3-284-305 Research Article Articles Some Lexical Characteristics of the Early Drafts of L. N. Tolstoy’s Story “Youth” Romanov Dmitry A. red@rusklassika.ru 25 09 2026 8 3 284 305 literary text L. N. Tolstoy “Youth ” author’s editions individual style vocabulary potential word vernacular borrowing stylistic techniques Copyright © 2026, IWL RAS 2026 This study aims to identify the lexical indicators of Leo Tolstoy’s innovative approaches to literary text. The biographical trilogy not only established the fundamental features of the writer’s individual style but also refined the author’s approaches to word processing: the selection of lexical units, word creation, the addition of connotative shades to meaning, the formal and semantic transformation of foreign lexemes, and the use of figurative, expressive, and stylistic devices. The author’s initial versions of the text provide representative information about the nature of Tolstoy’s work on “Youth.” The article emphasizes their value in illustrating Tolstoy’s fundamental approaches to the artistic development of vocabulary. The dynamic changes in the lexical composition of these textual versions are examined as a process of honing the writer’s craft and as a “dialogue” with the literary language of the era. The use of corpus methodology and statistical analysis (based on the National Corpus of the Russian Language) makes it possible to trace the chronological development of each lexical phenomenon under study, determine its frequency level, and assess its potential influence on the development of the lexical composition of the Russian literary language in subsequent times. 1. Buharkin, P. E. Ritorika i smysl [Rhetoric and Meaning]. St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg State University Publ., 2001. 168 p. (In Russ.) 2. Kirsanova, R. M. Rozovaia ksandreika i dradedamovyi platok: Kostium — veshch’ i obraz v russkoi literature XIX v. [Pink Xandreika and Dradedamovy Shawl: Costume — Thing and Image in Russian Literature of the 19th Century]. Moscow, Kniga Publ., 1989. 286 p. (In Russ.) 3. Kupreianova, E. N. “ʽDetstvo’, ‘Otrochestvo’, ‘Iunost’’ (k stoletiiu s nachala literaturnoi deiatel’nosti L. N. Tolstogo)” [“ʽChildhood’, ʽAdolescence’, ʽYouth’ (On the Centenary of the Beginning of L. N. Tolstoy’s Literary Activity)”]. Literaturnaia Tula [Literary Tula], book 5. Tula, Regional Book Publ., 1952, pp. 107–117. (In Russ.) 4. Romanov, D. A. “Fenomen comme il faut” [“The Phenomenon of Comme il Faut”]. I. I. Sreznevskii i istoriia slaviano-russkoi filologii: tendentsii v nauke, obrazovanii i kul’ture [I. I. Sreznevsky and the History of Slavic-Russian Philology: Trends in Science, Education and Culture]. Moscow, Ryazan, Vinogradov Institute of the Russian Language of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Ryazan State University Publ., 2007, pp. 165–171. (In Russ.) 5. Savchuk, S. O., T. A. Arkhangel’skii, A. A. Bonch-Osmolovskaia, O. V. Donina, Iu. N. Kuznetsova, O. N. Liashevskaia, B. V. Orekhov, and M. V. Podriadchikova. “Natsional’nyi korpus russkogo iazyka 2.0: novye vozmozhnosti i perspektivy razvitiia” [“The National Corpus of the Russian Language 2.0: New Opportunities and Development Prospects”]. Voprosy iazykoznaniia, no. 2, 2024, pp. 7–34. (In Russ.) 6. Chicherin, A. V. Ocherki po istorii russkogo literaturnogo stilia [Essays on the History of Russian Literary Style]. Moscow, Khudozhestvennaia literatura Publ., 1977. 445 p. (In Russ.) 7. Iazyk L. N. Tolstogo. Posobie po istorii russkogo literaturnogo iazyka [The Language of L. N. Tolstoy. A Textbook on the History of the Russian Literary Language], ed. by A. N. Kozhin. Moscow, Vysshaia shkola Publ., 1979. 240 p. (In Russ.)