Etymologically
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нощь

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Forms

нощь (noštĭ) f, i-stem, Glagolitic ⱀⱁⱋⱐ[1] Also written ношть, as in the Codex Zographensis and the Codex Marianus.[2][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *noťь (“night”), a word of all the Slavic languages, which Derksen writes *noktь, an i-stem.[3][1][4] The same word is Russian ночь (nočʹ), Ukrainian ніч (nič), Bulgarian нощ (nošt), Serbo-Croatian nȏć, Slovene nọ̑č, Czech noc and Polish noc.[3][4][5] In Kashubian and in Russian dialects it also means the north.[3]

It continues Proto-Balto-Slavic *noktis, the source of Lithuanian naktìs, Latvian nakts and Old Prussian naktin (accusative).[4][1][6] It goes back to an Indo-European word for night, Proto-Indo-European *nókʷts, found in every branch except Armenian: Ancient Greek νύξ (núx), Latin nox, Gothic 𐌽𐌰𐌷𐍄𐍃 (nahts), Old Irish innocht (“tonight”), Albanian natë and Hittite nekuz (“in the evening”).[3][1][4][5] It was a consonant stem in Indo-European, and ESJS and Vasmer note that it became an i-stem separately in the different branches, in Slavic only after the split from Baltic, where Lithuanian still has the genitive plural naktų̃.[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Gospel manuscripts it translates Ancient Greek νύξ (núx, “night”), as in придетъ ношть “the night comes” (J 9, 4 Zogr Mar As Ostr), and in the Psalterium Sinaiticum отъ стражѩ оутрьнѩ до ношті “from the morning watch until night” (Ps 129, 5).[2]

Semantic evolution

Besides νύξ, the SJS records it for Ancient Greek ἑσπέρα (hespéra, “evening”) and Ancient Greek σκότος (skótos, “darkness”).[2][7] The instrumental нощиѭ and the phrase въ нощи mean “by night”, дьнь и нощь and нощиѭ и дьниѭ mean “day and night”, and об нощь бꙑти or вьсѭ нощь стоꙗти translate Ancient Greek διανυκτερεύω (dianukteréuō, “to spend the night”).[3][7] ESJS also notes велика нощь, “the great night”, for Easter, twice in the Gospel of Nicodemus.[3]

Later Church Slavonic kept the word, and Giltebrandt lists it for νύξ throughout the New Testament, from поѧ́тъ ѻ҆троча̀ и҆ мт҃рь є҆гѡ̀ но́щїю (Mt 2, 14) on.[8] From Church Slavonic Russian has the archaic and poetic Russian нощь (noščʹ) and the adverb нощно in денно и нощно “day and night”, and also Russian всенощная (vsenóščnaja), the all-night vigil.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. night, the time from dusk to dawn; for νύξ.[2][7][1]
  2. evening; for ἑσπέρα.[2][7]
  3. darkness; for σκότος.[2]

Word family

  • нощьнъ
  • вьсенощьнъ
  • полоунощи
  • обнощьница
  • Russian ночь (nočʹ)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  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 e f g h Havlová, Eva; Erhart, Adolf; Janyšková, Ilona (eds.) (1989–2022), Etymologický slovník jazyka staroslověnského, 21 fascicles, Praha: Academia / Brno: Tribun EU, p. 551
  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. 355
  5. ^ a b c Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress, p. 3, 86–87
  6. ^ Sadnik, Linda; Aitzetmüller, Rudolf (1955), Handwörterbuch zu den altkirchenslavischen Texten, Heidelberg: Winter / 's-Gravenhage: Mouton, p. 275
  7. ^ a b c d 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. ^ Gil'tebrandt, P. A. (1882–1885), Spravočnyj i ob''jasnitel'nyj slovar' k Novomu Zavetu, 6 vols., Sankt-Peterburg