Etymologically
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братръ

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Forms

братръ (bratrŭ) m, o-stem, Glagolitic ⰱⱃⰰⱅⱃⱏ[1] Variant братъ (bratŭ), found beside братръ in the Zographensis, the Assemanianus, the Savvina kniga, the Euchologium and the Codex Suprasliensis.[2][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *bratrъ (“brother”), beside *bratъ, the word of all the Slavic languages, which in church use also means a monk.[3][4][1] The same word is Russian брат (brat), Bulgarian брат (brat), Serbo-Croatian brȁt, Slovene bràt, Czech bratr, Polish brat, Upper Sorbian bratr and Lower Sorbian bratš.[3][4][5]

It goes back through Proto-Balto-Slavic *brā́ˀtē to Proto-Indo-European *bʰréh₂tēr (“brother”), an old stem in *-ter- like the other kinship terms.[1][4][3] Cognates are Lithuanian broterė̃lis (“little brother”), Latvian brātarītis (“little brother”), Old Prussian brāti (“brother”), Ancient Greek φράτηρ (phrátēr, “member of a phratry”), Latin frāter (“brother”), Gothic 𐌱𐍂𐍉𐌸𐌰𐍂 (brōþar, “brother”) and Tocharian A pracar.[3][4][6][5] In Greek it came to mean only the member of a brotherhood.[3] The root is not transparent;[3] ESJS records attempts to derive it from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to carry”), as one who bears responsibility, or one who begets.[3]

The r-stem of Indo-European became an o-stem in Slavic.[3] *bratrъ most likely comes from the zero grade of the suffix in the oblique cases, made thematic;[3][7] Meillet derived it from the accusative.[3][7] How братъ arose is disputed: by dissimilation of the second r (Brugmann, Hujer, Bezlaj), as Sadnik and Vasmer also hold, or from one case form, the vocative (Georgiev), the nominative (Streitberg, Hirt) or an early nominative like that of мати (Moszyński).[3][6][5] Jagić took братръ as the older form because братъ is commoner in the younger manuscripts, but ESJS notes that the older manuscripts may simply keep the Moravian usage.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Codex Zographensis and the Codex Marianus братръ translates Ancient Greek ἀδελφός (adelphós, “brother”), as in да поꙇметъ братръ женѫ его • ꙇ въскрѣситъ сѣмѧ братра своего “that his brother should take his wife and raise up seed for his brother” (Mc 12, 19).[8] The two forms alternate even within one verse: прѣдастъ же братъ братра на съмръть “and brother will betray brother to death” in the Zographensis, братръ братра in the Marianus (Mc 13, 12).[8] The Greek–OCS index counts братръ and братъ together for ἀδελφός 50 times in the Zographensis and 54 times in the Marianus.[8]

Semantic evolution

Besides the brother by birth, the canonical texts use the word for near and distant kinsmen, for a fellow Christian, and figuratively for a monk, as in the Euchologium's prayer отъ ложа немощьнааго братра нашего “from the bed of sickness of our brother” (Euch 39b 18).[8][2] It once renders Ancient Greek σύνδουλος (súndoulos, “fellow servant”).[2] братъ господьнь “the brother of the Lord” translates Ancient Greek ἀδελφόθεος (adelphótheos) in the Assemanianus and the Savvina kniga.[8][2] OCS made compounds such as братолюбиѥ “brotherly love” for Ancient Greek φιλαδελφία (philadelphía) and братооубииство “fratricide”.[3]

The form with -тр- lived on in Russian Church Slavonic, as in an 11th-century copy of Gregory of Nazianzus.[7]

Timeline

  • End of the 9th – beginning of the 10th century – братръ renders ἀδελφός in the Euchologium Sinaiticum.[9]
  • 11th century – братръ in a Russian Church Slavonic copy of Gregory of Nazianzus.[7]
  • 14th century – the Serbian Athonite translation of Gregory of Nyssa uses it for ἀδελφός.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. brother; for ἀδελφός.[8][2][1]
  2. A kinsman, near or distant relative.[8]
  3. (figurative) A fellow Christian, a monk.[2][3]

Word family

  • братиꙗ
  • братооубииство
  • братриꙗ
  • братрьнь
  • братрьство
  • братъ
  • Russian брат (brat)

Usage notes

Братръ and братъ are one word: ESJS, after Kurz, finds братъ the commoner form in OCS except in the genitive singular.[3] The manuscripts vary from verse to verse, братръ in the Marianus where the Zographensis and the Assemanianus have братъ (Mt 10, 2).[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g 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 h i j k l m n o Havlová, Eva; Erhart, Adolf; Janyšková, Ilona (eds.) (1989–2022), Etymologický slovník jazyka staroslověnského, 21 fascicles, Praha: Academia / Brno: Tribun EU, p. 77
  4. ^ a b c d Derksen, Rick (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 4, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 60
  5. ^ a b c Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress, p. 1, 207–208
  6. ^ a b Sadnik, Linda; Aitzetmüller, Rudolf (1955), Handwörterbuch zu den altkirchenslavischen Texten, Heidelberg: Winter / 's-Gravenhage: Mouton, p. 218
  7. ^ a b c d Trubačev, Oleg N.; Žuravlev, Anatolij F.; Varbot, Žanna Ž. (eds.) (1974–2021), Ètimologičeskij slovar' slavjanskix jazykov: praslavjanskij leksičeskij fond, vols. 1–42, Moskva: Nauka, p. 2, 238
  8. ^ 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
  9. ^ a b SlaVaComp Metaglossar Griechisch–Kirchenslavisch, Universität Freiburg, slavistik-portal.de