вода

Forms

вода (voda) f, a-stem, Glagolitic ⰲⱁⰴⰰ^[1] In the Psalterium Sinaiticum it is once spelled въда (vŭda).^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *voda (“water”), from Proto-Balto-Slavic *wandō and ultimately Proto-Indo-European *wódr̥, an old noun with an r-stem in the nominative and an n-stem in the other cases.^[1][3][4][5] The same word is Russian вода (vodá), Bulgarian вода (vodá), Serbo-Croatian vòda, Slovene vóda, Czech voda, Slovak voda, Polish woda and Upper Sorbian woda.^[5][3][1]

Its relatives are Lithuanian vanduo (“water”), Latvian ūdens and Old Prussian wundan in Baltic, and further Ancient Greek ὕδωρ (húdōr), Latin unda (“wave”), Old High German wazzar and Old Norse vatn.^[3][5][4] Vasmer takes the nasal of the Latin and Lithuanian words as secondary, and sees other grades of the same root in Russian ведро (vedró, “bucket”) and выдра (výdra, “otter”).^[5]

Derksen notes that the word escaped Winter's law, which would have lengthened its vowel, and gives Kortlandt's explanation: the Slavic vowel continues the genitive of a Balto-Slavic noun with a nasal infix, as in Latin, whose cluster blocked the lengthening, and the nasal was later lost by dissimilation.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Gospel manuscripts use вода for Ancient Greek ὕδωρ (húdōr), as in Pilate's приꙇмъ водѫ оумꙑ рѫцѣ прѣдъ народомь “he took water and washed his hands before the crowd” (Mt 27:24, in the Codex Zographensis, the Codex Marianus, the Codex Assemanianus and the Savvina kniga), and in the “living water” of далъ ти би водѫ живѫ (J 4:10).^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

The SNSP counts more than 300 uses in the oldest manuscripts.^[2] Besides water as a substance, the plural means a body of water, a river, lake or sea, for Ancient Greek ὕδατα (húdata), νάματα (námata) and ῥεῖθρα (rheîthra), as in the Euchologium Sinaiticum's иеръданъскꙑѩ водꙑ “the waters of the Jordan”.^[6][2] In Mt 24:39 the Zographensis, Marianus and Savvina kniga use it for the Flood, Ancient Greek κατακλυσμός (kataklusmós), where the Assemanianus has потопъ.^[2]

Later Church Slavonic kept the word: Giltebrandt notes that “living water” in the Gospels means God or the grace of Christ,^[7] and Dyachenko lists the holy water blessed for the feast of the Epiphany and the water of baptism.^[8]

Timeline

• End of the 9th – beginning of the 10th century – вода renders ὕδωρ and ῥεῦμα in the Euchologium Sinaiticum.^[9]
• 14th century – the Athonite Serbian translation of Gregory of Nyssa uses it for ὕδωρ.^[9]
• 1882–1885 – Giltebrandt lists its New Testament uses in Church Slavonic.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. water; for ὕδωρ, νᾶμα.^[6][2][1]
2. (in the plural) Waters, a body of water such as a river, lake or sea; for ὕδατα, ῥεῖθρα, νάματα.^[6][2]
3. The flood, the Deluge; for κατακλυσμός.^[2]

Word family

• наводиѥ
• водоносъ
• водопиица
• водотѣчь
• водьнъ
• безводьнъ

Related words

• Russian вода (vodá)

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Derksen, Rick (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 4, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 523
4. ^ a b Sadnik, Linda; Aitzetmüller, Rudolf (1955), Handwörterbuch zu den altkirchenslavischen Texten, Heidelberg: Winter / 's-Gravenhage: Mouton, p. 333
5. ^ a b c d Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress, p. 1, 330
6. ^ a b c d Kurz, Josef; Hauptová, Zoe (eds.) (1958–1997), Slovník jazyka staroslověnského / Lexicon linguae palaeoslovenicae, 4 vols. + supplements, Praha: Academia; digital ed. gorazd.org
7. ^ a b Gil'tebrandt, P. A. (1882–1885), Spravočnyj i ob''jasnitel'nyj slovar' k Novomu Zavetu, 6 vols., Sankt-Peterburg
8. ^ D'jačenko, Grigorij (1899), Polnyj cerkovno-slavjanskij slovar', Moskva
9. ^ a b SlaVaComp Metaglossar Griechisch–Kirchenslavisch, Universität Freiburg, slavistik-portal.de