This master thesis discusses the vocabulary of the Russian criminal language, which is defined by the authors of Russian dictionaries as criminal jargon or argot. By researching the aforementioned topic, I tried to get to the conclusion why there are differences in the titles of Russian dictionaries of criminal language. With the help of theoretical scientific research in the field of social dialect, I have tried to demonstrate the common features and differences between jargon and argot. Since society is one of the most important factors that has influence on this social dialect, it seemed to me important to include in the theoretical part of my thesis also some facts about the appearance and progress of the Russian criminal society, which until recently was led by the famous Thieves in the Law (воры в законе). This master thesis also consists of a practical part which is based on nine Russian dictionaries of criminal language. Based on the analysis of these dictionaries, I tried to demonstrate the extent to which vocabulary of underclassed part of society in the time frame 88 years had been preserved.
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