Etymologically
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сльза

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Forms

сльза (slĭza) f, a-stem, Glagolitic ⱄⰾⱐⰸⰰ[1] Also spelled слъза and слеза.[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *slьza (“tear”).[1][3] The same word is Russian слеза (sleza), Ukrainian сльоза (sl’oza), Bulgarian сълза (sǎlza), Macedonian солза (solza), Serbo-Croatian sȕza, Slovene sólza, Czech slza, Slovak slza, Polish łza, Upper Sorbian sylza and Lower Sorbian łdza.[1][3]

Vasmer allows a Proto-Slavic *slьza or *slьdza and prefers the first; in that case he relates it to Russian слизь (sliz’, “slime”), Middle Low German slīk (“slime”), German schlickern (“to spill”) and Middle High German slīch (“silt”).[3] Wiktionary takes it as a deverbal noun from Proto-Slavic *slьzati (“to slip, slide”), “something that slips”, and compares the same Germanic words, Lithuanian šlakėti (“to drip”), Sanskrit सृजति (sṛjati, “to discharge, emit”) and Avestan sraska (“tear”).[1] Vasmer, by contrast, calls Machek's comparison with Lithuanian žlùgti (“to get soaked”) and šlãkas (“drop”) unjustified.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The oldest manuscripts use it for Ancient Greek δάκρυον (dákruon, “tear”) and δάκρυ (dákru): отьць отрочѧте • съ сльзами глаголааше “the father of the child said with tears” (Mc 9, 24, Codex Zographensis, Codex Marianus and others), and in the Psalter бꙑшѩ слъзꙑ моѩ мнѣ хлѣбъ денъ і нощь “my tears have been my bread day and night” (Ps 41, 4, Psalterium Sinaiticum).[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The word keeps the single sense “tear”, though occasionally it renders Ancient Greek θρῆνος (thrênos, “lament”), οἰμωγή (oimōgḗ) or ὀλολυγμός (ololugmós), wailing rather than tears.[4][2] The phrase сльзꙑ оупоуштати “to shed tears” renders Ancient Greek δακρυρροεῖν (dakrurrhoeîn).[2] SNSP counts 76 uses, with spellings слъз- (most of them in the Codex Suprasliensis) and слез- (Psalterium Sinaiticum, Euchologium Sinaiticum) beside сльз-.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A tear, a teardrop; for δάκρυον, δάκρυ.[4][2][1]
  2. weeping, lament; for θρῆνος, οἰμωγή.[4][2]
  • Russian слеза (sleza)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ a b c d Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress, p. 3, 668
  4. ^ a b c d Kurz, Josef; Hauptová, Zoe (eds.) (1958–1997), Slovník jazyka staroslověnského / Lexicon linguae palaeoslovenicae, 4 vols. + supplements, Praha: Academia; digital ed. gorazd.org