повелѣти

Forms

повелѣти (povelěti) pf^[1]

Etymology

It is from Old Church Slavonic по- (po-) + велѣти (velěti, “to order; to want”).^[1] The base verb goes back to Proto-Slavic *velěti (“to want; to order”).^[1][2] Its cognates are Russian велеть (velétʹ, “to order”), Ukrainian веліти (velíty), Czech velet and Slovene veleti, while Bulgarian веля (vélja), Macedonian вели (veli) and Serbo-Croatian vèlīm mean “to say”.^[1][2][3]

The Proto-Slavic verb comes from Proto-Balto-Slavic *wel- and Proto-Indo-European *welh₁-.^[1][2] It is related to Lithuanian velti (“to allow”) (in Old Lithuanian, first person *velmi*), Latin volō (“to want”), Gothic 𐍅𐌹𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽 (wiljan, “to want”), Sanskrit वृणाति (vṛṇā́ti, “to choose, to prefer”) and Ancient Greek ἔλδομαι (éldomai, “to wish”).^[2][1][3][4] Vasmer, after Meillet, takes it as originally an athematic verb, and sets it in one ablaut series with воля (vólja, “will”) and довлеть (dovlétʹ).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Gospel manuscripts, the Codex Zographensis and the Codex Marianus among them, it renders Ancient Greek ἐντέλλομαι (entéllomai, “to command”) and Ancient Greek ἐπιτρέπω (epitrépō, “to permit”): вратьникоу повелѣ да бъдитъ “he commanded the doorkeeper to watch” (Mc 13, 34), and повели ми прѣжде ити и погрети отьца моего “suffer me first to go and bury my father” (Mt 8, 21).^[5]

Semantic evolution

The SJS gives two senses, to command or ordain and to permit; the SNSP, with more than 300 uses in the oldest manuscripts, lists the Greek verbs behind the first: Ancient Greek προστάσσω (prostássō), Ancient Greek κελεύω (keleúō), Ancient Greek ἐπιτάσσω (epitássō), Ancient Greek παραγγέλλω (parangéllō) and others.^[5][6] Nearly all the TOROT examples are from the Codex Suprasliensis.^[7] The verb renders κελεύειν in the Euchologium Sinaiticum, and ἐντάττειν and συντάττειν in a Serbian manuscript of the Rila monastery.^[8] In the Russian Church Slavonic New Testament Giltebrandt lists it for κελεύειν, προστάσσειν, ἐπιτρέπειν, συντάσσειν and other Greek verbs.^[9]

Timeline

• End of the 9th – beginning of the 10th century – повелѣти renders κελεύειν in the Euchologium Sinaiticum.^[8]
• Up to the beginning of the 15th century – a Serbian manuscript of the Rila monastery uses it for ἐντάττειν and συντάττειν.^[8]
• 1882–1885 – Giltebrandt lists the New Testament uses of the verb in Church Slavonic.^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. To command, order, to decide or lay down; for προστάσσειν, κελεύειν, ἐντέλλεσθαι, ἐπιτάσσειν.^[5][6][1]
2. To permit, allow; for ἐπιτρέπειν.^[5]

Word family

• повелѣниѥ
• повелѣвати

Related words

• велѣти
• велѣниѥ
• изволити
• благоволити
• довьлѣти
• волити

Usage notes

It is the perfective of велѣти, which the SJS gives as imperfective with the senses to command, to want and to allow; the sense “to want” is not recorded for повелѣти.^[5][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. 514
3. ^ a b c Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress, p. 1, 288
4. ^ Sadnik, Linda; Aitzetmüller, Rudolf (1955), Handwörterbuch zu den altkirchenslavischen Texten, Heidelberg: Winter / 's-Gravenhage: Mouton, p. 327
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b 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. ^ Eckhoff, Hanne M.; Berdicevskis, Aleksandrs et al., TOROT: The Tromsø Old Russian and OCS Treebank, release 20200116, torottreebank.github.io
8. ^ a b c SlaVaComp Metaglossar Griechisch–Kirchenslavisch, Universität Freiburg, slavistik-portal.de
9. ^ a b Gil'tebrandt, P. A. (1882–1885), Spravočnyj i ob''jasnitel'nyj slovar' k Novomu Zavetu, 6 vols., Sankt-Peterburg