мѫжь

Forms

мѫжь (mǫžĭ) m, o-stem^[1] Glagolitic ⰿⱘⰶⱐ.^[1] Also written моужь and мѫжъ.^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *mǫžь (“man, husband”), which replaced the older *virъ.^[2][3][1] The same word is Russian муж (muž), Ukrainian муж (muž), Belarusian муж (muž), Bulgarian мъж (măž), Macedonian маж (maž), Serbo-Croatian mȗž, Slovene mǫ̑ž, Czech muž, Slovak muž, Polish mąż, Upper Sorbian muž and Lower Sorbian muž.^[2][3][1] Besides a man and a husband, the Slavic languages use it for a peasant, a brave man, a prince's retainer in Old Russian and a male animal in Old Polish.^[2]

Most etymologists derive it from Proto-Balto-Slavic *mangjás and Proto-Indo-European *mon-gʷ-yó-s, a form of *mon- (“man”) with a suffix in *-g-.^[1][3][2] That base is safe only in Indo-Iranian and Germanic: Sanskrit मनु (mánu, “man, mankind”), मनुष्य (manuṣyá, “human”), Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌽𐌽𐌰 (manna), Old Norse maðr, Old High German man and Latin Mannus, the forefather of the Germans in Tacitus.^[2][4][3] ESJS calls it an archaism kept in three branches, extended with *-u- in Indo-Iranian, *-n- in Germanic and a suffix with *g in Slavic.^[2] None of the explanations of this suffix convinces ESJS, and the most frequent compares Lithuanian žmogùs (“human being”) beside žmonės (“people”), as Derksen and Vasmer also do.^[2][3][4] Vaillant explained the *g as epenthetic, starting from the u-stem kept in Indo-Iranian, which Vasmer thinks cannot be proved, and Jacobsohn's link with Ancient Greek Ἀμαζών (Amazṓn) is rejected by Vasmer.^[2][4]

ESJS records two other views.^[2] Machek derived the word from the source of the Sanskrit word for human, with later voicing and shortening, and Martynov took it from Iranian.^[2] Blažek explains it as a blend of the same base with Proto-Indo-European *gʰ(o)mon- (“earthling, human being”), the word behind Latin homō and the Lithuanian word.^[2] The root *mon- itself is often derived from Proto-Indo-European *men- (“to think”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the oldest Gospel manuscripts, the Codex Zographensis, the Codex Marianus, the Codex Assemanianus and the Savvina kniga, мѫжь translates Ancient Greek ἀνήρ (anḗr, “man, husband”), as in the feeding of the five thousand, ѣдъшиіхъ же бѣаше мѫжь • пѧть тꙑсѧшть • развѣ женъ ꙇ дѣтиі “those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children” (Mt 14, 21).^[5] The Greek–OCS index of the SJS counts it for ἀνήρ 44 times in the Zographensis and 43 times in the Marianus.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The SNSP counts more than 300 instances in the oldest manuscripts.^[6] The word means a man as opposed to a woman, also for Ancient Greek ἄρσην (ársēn, “male”) (Mc 10, 6), more broadly a human being, for Ancient Greek ἄνθρωπος (ánthrōpos), and a husband (J 4, 18).^[5][6] Мѫжь цѣсарь or цѣсарѥвъ мѫжь is a royal official, for βασιλικός (J 4, 46), мѫжь кънижьнъ a learned man, and за мѫжь ити is said of a woman getting married.^[5][2] The Codex Suprasliensis once uses it for a soldier.^[6]

Later Church Slavonic kept the word for ἀνήρ.^[7] The grammatical term for the masculine gender, Russian мужеский род, is a Church Slavonic calque of Greek γένος ἀρσενικόν, and Russian мужик “peasant” began as a diminutive of муж.^[4]

Timeline

• End of the 9th – beginning of the 10th century – мѫжь renders ἀνήρ in the Euchologium Sinaiticum.^[8]
• 14th century – the Serbian Athonite translation of Gregory of Nyssa uses it for ἀνήρ.^[8]
• 1882–1885 – Giltebrandt lists the New Testament uses of the word in Church Slavonic.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A man, an adult male; for ἀνήρ, ἄρσην.^[5][6][1]
2. A human being, person; for ἄνθρωπος.^[5][6]
3. (in мѫжь цѣсарь) A royal official; for βασιλικός.^[5][6]
4. A husband; for ἀνήρ.^[5][6][1]

Word family

• мѫжьскъ
• мѫжьство
• безмѫжьнъ
• мѫжати
• мѫжатица
• мѫжеложьѥ

Related words

• Russian муж (muž)
• Russian мужик (mužik)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Havlová, Eva; Erhart, Adolf; Janyšková, Ilona (eds.) (1989–2022), Etymologický slovník jazyka staroslověnského, 21 fascicles, Praha: Academia / Brno: Tribun EU, p. 498
3. ^ a b c d e Derksen, Rick (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 4, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 330
4. ^ 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, 670
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Kurz, Josef; Hauptová, Zoe (eds.) (1958–1997), Slovník jazyka staroslověnského / Lexicon linguae palaeoslovenicae, 4 vols. + supplements, Praha: Academia; digital ed. gorazd.org
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b Gil'tebrandt, P. A. (1882–1885), Spravočnyj i ob''jasnitel'nyj slovar' k Novomu Zavetu, 6 vols., Sankt-Peterburg
8. ^ a b SlaVaComp Metaglossar Griechisch–Kirchenslavisch, Universität Freiburg, slavistik-portal.de