аминъ

Forms

аминъ (aminŭ); Glagolitic ⰰⰿⰻⱀⱏ^[1] The manuscripts write it аминъ and аминь, also амин, амнь and abbreviated forms, and five times аменъ (SinN).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Koine Greek ἀμήν (amḗn, “truly, so be it”), from Biblical Hebrew אמן (ʾāmēn, “certainly, truly”).^[1][4][5][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It renders Ancient Greek ἀμήν (amḗn) in the Gospel manuscripts, most often in Jesus' formula аминⸯ г‹лаго›лѭ вамъ “truly I say to you” (Mc 14, 9 Zogr Mar); the Greek–OCS index of the SJS counts it 93 times in the Zographensis and over a hundred times in the Marianus and Assemanianus.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

Besides the Gospel formula, doubled in John (аминⸯ аминⸯ г‹лаго›л҄ѭ вамъ, J 8, 51), the word confirms a doxology, as нꙑн҄ѣ и присно и вь вѣкꙑ вѣкомь • аминъ “now and always and for ever and ever, amen” (Supr 81, 27), a blessing (R 15, 33), and is the people's or the deacon's response in the liturgy (Euch 6b 3).^[3] Once the Suprasliensis translates ἀμήν instead by правь.^[3]

Giltebrandt explains it as a Hebrew word meaning “truly, verily”, and Dyachenko notes that it passed to the Christians from the synagogue, where those praying said it after the blessing, and that it occurs 26 times in the Gospels.^[6][7] According to Dyachenko, citing Barsov, in the 16th century almost every Old Russian tale or story ended in аминь, a scribe's habit of closing any copied work with it, also found in the medieval literatures of the West.^[7]

Timeline

• End of the 9th – beginning of the 10th century – аминъ in the Slavonic translation of the ecclesiastical history from the western regions of the First Bulgarian Empire.^[8]
• 16th century – almost every Old Russian tale ends in аминь.^[7]
• 1882–1885 – Giltebrandt lists its New Testament uses in Church Slavonic.^[6]

Meanings

Interjection

1. amen, so be it, closing a prayer, doxology or blessing and as a liturgical response; for ἀμήν.^[3][2][1]
2. аминь глаголѭ вамъ “truly I say to you”, Jesus' formula of solemn assurance; for ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν.^[3][2]

Related words

• Russian аминь (aminʹ)

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Slovník nejstarších staroslověnských památek (digital ed., Gorazd, Slovanský ústav AV ČR, gorazd.org); cf. Cejtlin, R. M.; Večerka, R.; Blagova, É. (eds.) (1994), Staroslavjanskij slovar' (po rukopisjam X–XI vekov), Moskva: Russkij jazyk
3. ^ a b c d e f g Kurz, Josef; Hauptová, Zoe (eds.) (1958–1997), Slovník jazyka staroslověnského / Lexicon linguae palaeoslovenicae, 4 vols. + supplements, Praha: Academia; digital ed. gorazd.org
4. ^ Havlová, Eva; Erhart, Adolf; Janyšková, Ilona (eds.) (1989–2022), Etymologický slovník jazyka staroslověnského, 21 fascicles, Praha: Academia / Brno: Tribun EU, p. 49
5. ^ Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress, p. 1, 76
6. ^ a b Gil'tebrandt, P. A. (1882–1885), Spravočnyj i ob''jasnitel'nyj slovar' k Novomu Zavetu, 6 vols., Sankt-Peterburg
7. ^ a b c D'jačenko, Grigorij (1899), Polnyj cerkovno-slavjanskij slovar', Moskva
8. ^ SlaVaComp Metaglossar Griechisch–Kirchenslavisch, Universität Freiburg, slavistik-portal.de