вѣдѣти

Forms

вѣдѣти (věděti) impf^[1] An athematic verb: present вѣмь or вѣдѣ, вѣси, вѣстъ, third person plural вѣдѧтъ.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *věděti (“to know”).^[4][1] The same word is Russian ведать (vedatʹ), Slovene vẹ́dẹti, Czech věděti and Polish wiedzieć.^[4][5][1]

The first person вѣдѣ is an old perfect with the Indo-European ending of the middle voice, the counterpart of Ancient Greek οἶδα (oîda, “I know”) and Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍄 (wait, “I know”), while the infinitive matches Old Prussian waidimai (“we know”).^[6][5][4] The perfect is Proto-Indo-European *wóyde (“has seen, knows”), from *weyd- (“to see”);^[1][4] Derksen writes *uoid- and Proto-Balto-Slavic *woiʔd- for the Balto-Slavic stage.^[1][4] Another grade of the vowel is in Old High German wizzan (“to know”) and the Gothic infinitive of the same verb, and in Slavic in видѣти "to see".^[5][6] Vasmer adds Osten-Sacken's view that the ѣ of the infinitive comes from the past tense.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Gospels вѣдѣти renders Ancient Greek οἶδα (oîda), as in вѣстъ бо о‹ть›ць вашь ꙇхъже трѣбоуете "for your Father knows what you need" (Mt 6, 8), in the Codex Zographensis, the Codex Marianus, the Codex Assemanianus and the Savvina kniga.^[2] The SNSP counts more than 800 uses in the oldest manuscripts.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The verb renders εἰδέναι, ἐπίστασθαι and γινώσκειν "to know", and не вѣдѣти stands for Ancient Greek ἀγνοέω (agnoéō, “not to know”) and ἀπορεῖν.^[7][2] With сѧ it means "to be aware of", as in не вѣдѧтъ бо сѧ чьто творѧтъ "for they know not what they do" (L 23, 34) in the Codex Zographensis and the Codex Marianus.^[7] Miklosich notes that вѣдѣ can work as a particle, "surely", for πάντως.^[8]

A wide family is formed on it, among them исповѣдь, заповѣдь, проповѣдь and съвѣдѣтель "witness", for μάρτυς, which became Russian свидетель under the influence of видеть.^[6][1][9] Russian ведать now means "to manage", and "to know" only in older use.^[4]

Timeline

• End of the 9th – beginning of the 10th century – the Euchologium Sinaiticum uses вѣдѣти for εἰδέναι and ἐπίστασθαι.^[10]
• 14th century – the Serbian Athonite translation of Gregory of Nyssa has it for ἐπίσταμαι, γινώσκω and οἶδα.^[10]

Meanings

Verb

1. To know, to be acquainted with; for εἰδέναι, ἐπίστασθαι, γινώσκειν.^[7][2][1]
2. вѣдѣти сѧ: to be aware of something; for εἰδέναι.^[7]
3. не вѣдѣти: not to know, to be ignorant; for ἀγνοεῖν, ἀπορεῖν.^[7][2]

Word family

• безвѣдьнъ
• вѣдомъ
• вѣдь
• вѣдѣние
• заповѣдь
• заповѣдѣти
• извѣдѣти
• исповѣдь
• исповѣдьникъ
• исповѣдѣти
• навѣдѣти
• невѣдомъ
• невѣдьство
• невѣдѣние
• недовѣдимъ

Related words

• вѣждьство
• вѣсть
• вѣстьникъ
• невѣжда
• невѣждьство
• невѣсть
• повѣсть
• видѣти
• Russian ведать (vedatʹ)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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. ^ Swan, Oscar E. (2008), Old Church Slavic Glossary, Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh; digital ed. with N. H. Reimer, Old Church Slavonic Dictionary
4. ^ a b c d e f g Derksen, Rick (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 4, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 518
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, 283
6. ^ a b c Sadnik, Linda; Aitzetmüller, Rudolf (1955), Handwörterbuch zu den altkirchenslavischen Texten, Heidelberg: Winter / 's-Gravenhage: Mouton, p. 329
7. ^ a b c d e Kurz, Josef; Hauptová, Zoe (eds.) (1958–1997), Slovník jazyka staroslověnského / Lexicon linguae palaeoslovenicae, 4 vols. + supplements, Praha: Academia; digital ed. gorazd.org
8. ^ Miklosich, Franz (1862–1865), Lexicon palaeoslovenico-graeco-latinum emendatum auctum, Vindobonae: Braumüller
9. ^ Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress, p. 3, 577
10. ^ a b SlaVaComp Metaglossar Griechisch–Kirchenslavisch, Universität Freiburg, slavistik-portal.de