радовати

Forms

радовати (radovati) impf^[1] Used reflexively, радовати сѧ, present радоуѭ сѧ, радоуѥши сѧ.^[2]

Etymology

It is from Old Church Slavonic радъ (radŭ, “glad, merry”) + -овати (-ovati), a verb that ESJS lists among the derivatives of the adjective.^[3][4] Sadnik and Aitzetmüller put it in one word family with обрадовати, радость and радъ.^[5]

The adjective is inherited from Proto-Slavic *radъ (“glad, willing”), found in every Slavic language: Bulgarian рад (rad), Serbo-Croatian rȁd, Slovene ràd, Czech rád, Polish rad, Russian рад (rad) and Ukrainian радий (radyj), meaning glad, willing or content, and in several of them also joyful or merry.^[3][6][1] In most of these languages it survives only in the nominative and turns into an adverb meaning gladly or willingly.^[3]

ESJS calls its etymology not very clear.^[3] The closest match in sound and sense is Old English rōt (“glad, cheerful”), with Old Norse rǿtask (“to brighten up, cheer up”), a comparison Trautmann made and Vasmer thought very likely.^[3][6][4][1] Several scholars also connect the word with the verb Proto-Slavic *roditi (“to care, heed”);^[3][4] Furlan and Snoj even give the senses glad and willing separate origins, while ESJS points out that the sense could have moved from glad to willing.^[3][4] Szemerényi compared Avestan urvaz- (“to rejoice”) and reconstructed Proto-Indo-European *wadʰ- (“to be glad”).^[3] Lithuanian rodas (“willing”) is not a cognate but a borrowing from Slavic.^[3]

An older view started from Proto-Indo-European *ard-, on the strength of the Byzantine form Byzantine Greek Ἀρδάγαστος (Ardágastos) of the Slavic leader's name Radogostь; it then compared Ancient Greek ἔραμαι (éramai, “to love”).^[3][6][1] ESJS follows Nieminen in explaining the Greek spelling by the Iranian names beginning with Arda-, and without that starting point the Greek comparison falls away.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Gospels the verb, with сѧ, translates Ancient Greek χαίρω (khaírō, “to rejoice”): радоуите сѧ и веселите сѧ “rejoice and be glad” (Mt 5, 12) in the Zographensis, the Assemanianus and the Savvina kniga.^[2] In the Psalter it renders Ancient Greek ἀγαλλιάω (agalliáō) (Ps 96, 1, Psalterium Sinaiticum).^[2]

Semantic evolution

The SJS gives a whole range of Greek verbs of joy behind радовати сѧ: besides χαίρειν and ἀγαλλιᾶσθαι, also εὐφραίνεσθαι, ἐπιχαίρειν “to gloat over”, συγχαίρειν “to rejoice with” and θαρσεῖν.^[2] It is construed with the dative, with о or въ and the locative, or with за and the accusative, and in one passage the participle means gladly or willingly.^[3][2]

The imperative радоуи сѧ, dual радоуита сѧ, serves as a greeting, rendering χαῖρε, and in the Apostolos the infinitive радовати stands for the χαίρειν of the opening greetings of the letters.^[3][2] ESJS lists the prefixed verbs обрадовати “to fill with joy”, порадовати сѧ, сърадовати сѧ “to rejoice with someone” and въздрадовати сѧ “to exult”; in the Suprasliensis the participle обрадованаꙗ “full of grace” is said of the Virgin Mary, where the Gospels have a form of благодѣть.^[3]

Timeline

• End of the 9th – beginning of the 10th century – the Euchologium Sinaiticum uses радовати for χαίρειν and συγχαίρειν.^[7]
• End of the 9th – 11th century – the early liturgical translations use it for εὐφραίνειν, ἐπιχαίρειν, γηθεῖν and θαρσεῖν.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. (reflexive) To rejoice, to be glad; for χαίρειν, ἀγαλλιᾶσθαι, εὐφραίνεσθαι.^[2][8][1]
2. (reflexive) To gloat over someone's misfortune; for ἐπιχαίρειν.^[2]
3. (imperative, reflexive) hail, a greeting; for χαῖρε.^[3][2]

Word family

• обрадовати
• обрадованиѥ

Related words

• радъ
• радость
• Russian радоваться (radovatʹsja)

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 i j k l m n o Havlová, Eva; Erhart, Adolf; Janyšková, Ilona (eds.) (1989–2022), Etymologický slovník jazyka staroslověnského, 21 fascicles, Praha: Academia / Brno: Tribun EU, p. 745
4. ^ a b c d Sadnik, Linda; Aitzetmüller, Rudolf (1955), Handwörterbuch zu den altkirchenslavischen Texten, Heidelberg: Winter / 's-Gravenhage: Mouton
5. ^ Sadnik, Linda; Aitzetmüller, Rudolf (1955), Handwörterbuch zu den altkirchenslavischen Texten, Heidelberg: Winter / 's-Gravenhage: Mouton, p. 292
6. ^ a b c Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress, p. 3, 429
7. ^ a b SlaVaComp Metaglossar Griechisch–Kirchenslavisch, Universität Freiburg, slavistik-portal.de
8. ^ 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