никътоже

Forms

никътоже (nikŭtože), genitive никогоже pron.^[1][2]

• Often written никтоже or никⸯтоже; the Vatican Gospel twice has the nominative никъже.^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *nikъto (“nobody”) with the particle же added.^[3][2] ESSJa lists both никъто and the form with the particle under the Proto-Slavic word, and ESJS names them as the negative forms of къто (“who”).^[3][4] The Proto-Slavic pronoun is formed from *ni- and *kъto (“who”).^[5][3] The same pronoun is Russian никто (niktó), Serbo-Croatian nȉko, Czech nikdo, Slovak nikto and Polish nikt.^[6][5][3]

The interrogative is found in all the Slavic languages: Derksen explains it as the stem Proto-Indo-European *kʷo- with *tod, and Wiktionary traces it through Proto-Balto-Slavic *kas to Proto-Indo-European *kʷos.^[4][7][5] Sadnik and Aitzetmüller compare Lithuanian kàs (“who”), Gothic 𐍈𐌰𐍃 (ƕas) and Latin quis (“who”).^[8] Vasmer compares the Baltic negative pronouns Lithuanian niẽkas (“nobody, nothing”) and Latvian niẽks.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Gospels it renders Ancient Greek οὐδείς (oudeís, “nobody”) and μηδείς (mēdeís), and stands with a further negation of the verb: не оуслꙑшитъ никътоже на распѫтиихъ гласа его “nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets” (Mt 12, 19 Zogr Mar As Sav).^[2][1] Of the transfiguration, възьрѣвъше, никогоже не видѣшѧ “looking round, they saw no one any more” (Mc 9, 8 Zogr Mar).^[1]

Semantic evolution

SNSP counts more than 500 instances in the oldest manuscripts, for οὐδείς, μηδείς, οὔ τις, μήτις and οὐκ ἄλλος, against only three of the bare никъто.^[1] The verb is negated as well, никътоже не, and the oblique cases put a preposition between the parts, as in ни о комьже (Mt 22, 16) and ни къ комоуже (Supr 528, 25).^[1][2] The variants of Mc 9, 30 show how the manuscripts choose between forms: the Assemanianus has да никтоже не оувѣстъ, the Zographensis and the Marianus да и къто оувѣстъ after a negated verb.^[2][1]

SlaVaComp finds it for μηδείς and οὐδείς in the Euchologium Sinaiticum and in the Lexicon ecclesiasticum, and for οὐδείς and οὐθείς in a later Serbian translation.^[9]

Timeline

• End of the 9th – beginning of the 10th century – the Euchologium Sinaiticum uses никътоже for μηδείς and οὐδείς.^[9]
• Until the beginning of the 15th century – a Serbian translation from the Rila monastery uses it for οὐδείς and οὐθείς.^[9]

Meanings

Pronoun

1. nobody, no one, not anybody; for οὐδείς, μηδείς, οὔ τις.^[2][1][10]

Related words

• никъто
• къто
• нѣкъто
• же
• ничьтоже
• никꙑиже
• ниѥдинъ
• Russian никто (nikto)

Usage notes

SNSP points to никꙑиже and ниѥдинъ, which render the same Greek words.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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
2. ^ a b c d e f 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 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. 25, 119
4. ^ a b Havlová, Eva; Erhart, Adolf; Janyšková, Ilona (eds.) (1989–2022), Etymologický slovník jazyka staroslověnského, 21 fascicles, Praha: Academia / Brno: Tribun EU, p. 395
5. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
6. ^ a b Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress, p. 3, 75
7. ^ Derksen, Rick (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 4, Leiden / Boston: Brill
8. ^ Sadnik, Linda; Aitzetmüller, Rudolf (1955), Handwörterbuch zu den altkirchenslavischen Texten, Heidelberg: Winter / 's-Gravenhage: Mouton, p. 258
9. ^ a b c SlaVaComp Metaglossar Griechisch–Kirchenslavisch, Universität Freiburg, slavistik-portal.de
10. ^ Slocum, Jonathan; Krause, Todd B., Old Church Slavonic Online, Base Form Dictionary, Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas at Austin