слꙑшати

Forms

слꙑшати (slyšati) impf or pf^[1] The present is слꙑшѫ, слꙑшиши; the Codex Marianus and the Codex Clozianus also have the spellings слиш- and слъш-.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *slyšati (“to hear”).^[3][1] The same word is Russian слышать (slyšatʹ), Ukrainian слишати (slyšaty), Serbo-Croatian slȉšati, Slovene slíšati, Czech slyšeti and Polish słyszeć.^[3][1][4]

Wiktionary derives it from an earlier *slyxěti and Proto-Indo-European *ḱléwseti, first "to want to hear, to stay listening", a form with -s- of the root *ḱlew- (“to hear”).^[1] Vasmer and Sadnik and Aitzetmüller compare the same s-form in Lithuanian klausýti (“to listen, obey”), Latvian klausīt (“to hear, obey”), Old High German hlosēn (“to listen”) and Old Saxon hlust (“hearing, ear”); слоухъ and слоушати show another grade of the vowel.^[4][5] The root without -s- is that of Ancient Greek κλέος (kléos, “fame”), Latin clueō (“to be called”) and šlovė (“honour”), and of слово and слава.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Gospels слꙑшати renders Ancient Greek ἀκούω (akoúō, “to hear”), as in ꙇмѣѩи оуши слꙑшати • да слꙑшитъ "he who has ears to hear, let him hear" (Mt 13, 43), in the Codex Zographensis, the Codex Marianus, the Codex Assemanianus and the Ostromir Gospel.^[6] The SNSP counts more than 1,000 uses in the oldest manuscripts.^[2]

Semantic evolution

From "to hear" the canonical texts move to hearing of something, learning, for μανθάνειν and πυνθάνεσθαι, to listening to someone, and in law to hearing a person in court, as in J 7, 51.^[6] Applied to God it means "to hear a prayer, to answer", for εἰσακούειν and ἐπακούειν, and applied to people "to obey", for ὑπακούειν, as in the Proverbs (Pr 1, 33).^[6] With сѧ it means "to be called", for λέγεσθαι, as in иоуда слꙑшꙙи сꙙ искариотинъ "Judas called Iscariot" (Supr 410, 13).^[6]

In the Gospels the prefixed послоушати and оуслꙑшати share the rendering of ἀκούειν with it.^[6][7] Giltebrandt lists the Church Slavonic New Testament uses, from слы́шасте (Mt 5, 21) on.^[8]

Timeline

• End of the 9th – beginning of the 10th century – the Euchologium Sinaiticum has слꙑшати beside оуслꙑшати and послоушати for ἀκούειν.^[7]
• 14th century – the Serbian Athonite translation of Gregory of Nyssa uses it for ἀκούω and ἐπαΐω.^[7]
• 1882–1885 – Giltebrandt lists every New Testament use of the verb in Church Slavonic.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To hear, to listen; for ἀκούειν.^[6][2][1]
2. To hear of something, to learn; for ἀκούειν, μανθάνειν, πυνθάνεσθαι.^[6]
3. To listen to someone or something;^[6] (law) to interrogate, to hear a case.^[6]
4. To hear a prayer, to answer; for εἰσακούειν, ἐπακούειν.^[6]
5. To obey; for ὑπακούειν.^[6]
6. слꙑшати сѧ: to be called, to be named; for λέγεσθαι.^[6][9]

Word family

• оуслꙑшати

Related words

• слоухъ
• слоушати
• слово
• слава
• Russian слышать (slyšatʹ)

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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 Derksen, Rick (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 4, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 455
4. ^ a b Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress, p. 3, 680
5. ^ a b Sadnik, Linda; Aitzetmüller, Rudolf (1955), Handwörterbuch zu den altkirchenslavischen Texten, Heidelberg: Winter / 's-Gravenhage: Mouton, p. 304
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Kurz, Josef; Hauptová, Zoe (eds.) (1958–1997), Slovník jazyka staroslověnského / Lexicon linguae palaeoslovenicae, 4 vols. + supplements, Praha: Academia; digital ed. gorazd.org
7. ^ a b c SlaVaComp Metaglossar Griechisch–Kirchenslavisch, Universität Freiburg, slavistik-portal.de
8. ^ a b Gil'tebrandt, P. A. (1882–1885), Spravočnyj i ob''jasnitel'nyj slovar' k Novomu Zavetu, 6 vols., Sankt-Peterburg
9. ^ Sadnik, Linda; Aitzetmüller, Rudolf (1955), Handwörterbuch zu den altkirchenslavischen Texten, Heidelberg: Winter / 's-Gravenhage: Mouton