за

Forms

за (za), preposition with the accusative, the instrumental and the genitive^[1][2] Glagolitic ⰸⰰ.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *za (“behind, after, for”), from Proto-Balto-Slavic *źō, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰō (“behind, under, because of”), perhaps an instrumental of a pronoun stem.^[3] Derksen reconstructs the element shared by Baltic and Slavic as Proto-Balto-Slavic *źoʔ.^[4] The same preposition is Russian за (za), Bulgarian за (za), Serbo-Croatian za, Slovene za, Czech za, Slovak za, Polish za, Upper Sorbian za and Lower Sorbian za.^[5][4]

The Baltic cognates are Lithuanian ažù (“behind, beyond”) of eastern Lithuanian dialects and dialectal Latvian az beside aiz- (“behind, beyond”).^[5][6][4] Vasmer and Sadnik compare their relation to за with that of Ancient Greek ἄνω (ánō, “up”) to на.^[5][6] Derksen has no explanation for the a- of the Baltic forms.^[4] A link with Armenian and Gothic prefixes is doubtful because of the meaning.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Gospels за with the accusative translates Ancient Greek ὀπίσω (opísō, “behind”): иди за мⱑ сотоно “get behind me, Satan” (Mt 4, 10) in the Savvina kniga, where the Zographensis has отиди диѣвол҄е.^[2] With Ancient Greek ἀντί (antí, “instead of”) it is “for, in exchange for”: око за око • ꙇ зѫбъ за зѫбъ “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” (Mt 5, 38, Zographensis and Marianus).^[2]

Semantic evolution

With the accusative the SJS distinguishes motion behind something, the place where something is held or struck (ѩтъ ѭ за рѫкѫ “he took her by the hand”, Mt 9, 25, for a Greek genitive), substitution (ἀντί), benefit (ὑπέρ, περί: да кⸯто д‹оу›шѫ своѭ положитъ за дроугꙑ своѩ “that someone lay down his life for his friends”, J 15, 13), cause (διά: ꙇ диви сѧ за невѣрьствие ꙇхъ “and he marvelled because of their unbelief”, Mc 6, 6), and, rarely, a span of time.^[2][7] Посагнѫти за мѫжь is “to marry”, of a woman.^[2] With the instrumental it marks position behind, as in ꙇди за мъноѭ (Mc 8, 33), and with the genitive it forms adverbial phrases such as за оутра “in the morning” and за рана “early”, and expresses cause or benefit.^[2][1]

In old East Slavic texts Dyachenko notes за for διά, ὑπέρ and ὀπίσω, and in later documents it means “after, in the course of” and “in the time of”.^[8]

Timeline

• End of the 9th – beginning of the 10th century – the Euchologium Sinaiticum uses за for περί, ὑπέρ and διά.^[9]
• Before the beginning of the 15th century – a Serbian translation from the Rila monastery uses it for ὑπέρ.^[9]
• 1467 – the Pskov judicial charter has за in the sense “after, in the course of”.^[8]

Meanings

Preposition

1. With the accusative: behind, after (of motion); for ὀπίσω.^[2][7]
2. With the accusative: by (of the part that is held or struck), as in за рѫкѫ “by the hand”.^[2][7][1]
3. With the accusative: instead of, in exchange for; for ἀντί.^[2][7]
4. With the accusative: for, on behalf of; for ὑπέρ, περί.^[2][7]
5. With the accusative: because of; for διά.^[2][1]
6. With the accusative, rarely: within (a span of time).^[2]
7. With the instrumental: behind, beyond (of place); for ὀπίσω.^[2][1]
8. With the genitive: in phrases of time such as за оутра “in the morning”, and because of, for the sake of; for διά, ὑπέρ.^[2][1]

Word family

• зане
• занѥже

Related words

• Russian за (za)

Usage notes

The same element is the verbal prefix за-, which can mean “behind, beyond”, can mark the beginning of an action, or can simply make a verb perfective.^[3] Sadnik lists verbs with it such as задѣти in the family of дѣти.^[10] Зане and занѥже “because” are formed with the preposition.^[11]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Sadnik, Linda; Aitzetmüller, Rudolf (1955), Handwörterbuch zu den altkirchenslavischen Texten, Heidelberg: Winter / 's-Gravenhage: Mouton
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Kurz, Josef; Hauptová, Zoe (eds.) (1958–1997), Slovník jazyka staroslověnského / Lexicon linguae palaeoslovenicae, 4 vols. + supplements, Praha: Academia; digital ed. gorazd.org
3. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
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. 540
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. 2, 69
6. ^ a b Sadnik, Linda; Aitzetmüller, Rudolf (1955), Handwörterbuch zu den altkirchenslavischen Texten, Heidelberg: Winter / 's-Gravenhage: Mouton, p. 335
7. ^ a b c d e 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
8. ^ a b D'jačenko, Grigorij (1899), Polnyj cerkovno-slavjanskij slovar', Moskva
9. ^ a b SlaVaComp Metaglossar Griechisch–Kirchenslavisch, Universität Freiburg, slavistik-portal.de
10. ^ Sadnik, Linda; Aitzetmüller, Rudolf (1955), Handwörterbuch zu den altkirchenslavischen Texten, Heidelberg: Winter / 's-Gravenhage: Mouton, p. 227
11. ^ Swan, Oscar E. (2008), Old Church Slavic Glossary, Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh; digital ed. with N. H. Reimer, Old Church Slavonic Dictionary