Etymologically
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страна

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Forms

страна (strana) f, a-stem[1] Once each in the Codex Zographensis and the Gospel of Nicodemus written стрѣна.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *storna (“side, land”), a word of all the Slavic languages.[2][1][4] The same word is Russian сторона (storoná), Ukrainian сторона (storoná), Bulgarian страна (straná), Serbo-Croatian strána, Slovene strána, Czech strana, Polish strona and Upper Sorbian strona.[2][5] Everywhere it means a side or edge; in the individual languages it also came to mean a slope, a page, a party to a dispute or a political party, a direction, and a region, land or state.[2] An i-stem form *stornь stands beside it, as in the Church Slavonic adverb странь, Serbo-Croatian stran and Czech stráň (“slope”).[2][5]

It is formed with the suffix *-na from the Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *sterh₃- (“to spread out”), also found in прострѣти and пространъ, and first meant something spread out in breadth, an expanse.[2][1][4][5] The root is that of Ancient Greek στόρνυμι (stórnumi, “to spread, strew”) and Latin sternō (“to spread, strew”), and Vasmer adds Latvian stara (“strip”), στέρνον (stérnon, “breast”), Old High German stirna (“forehead”) and Welsh sarn (“pavement”).[5][6][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Gospel manuscripts it is both a side, for Ancient Greek μέρος (méros, “part, side”), as in въвръзѣте о деснѫѭ странѫ мрѣжѧ “cast the net on the right side” (J 21, 6 Zogr Mar As Sav), and a land or region, for Ancient Greek χώρα (khṓra, “land, country”), as in придѫ на онъ полъ мор҄ѣ • въ странѫ гадаринскѫ “they came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes” (Mc 5, 1 Zogr Mar).[7][3]

Semantic evolution

The SJS gives three senses: a side, edge or border, a country or region, and, very often in the plural, a nation or people, for Ancient Greek ἔθνος (éthnos, “nation”) and Ancient Greek φυλή (phulḗ, “tribe”).[7] ESJS takes the plural meaning “the foreign nations, the heathen” as a semantic calque of Greek ἔθνη, and adds a party to a dispute, the surroundings, foreign lands, and она страна “the other side, the opposite shore”.[2] It rejects the meaning “wall” that the SJS gives for one passage of the Psalterium Sinaiticum (Ps 127, 3).[2]

Sedakova's dictionary of Church Slavonic gives the senses “side” and “locality”.[8] According to ESJS, Russian страна (straná, “country, land”), beside the native сторона (storoná), and the Russian words for a pilgrim and a foreigner come from Church Slavonic, as do Romanian strană (“choir stall”) and probably Hungarian zarándok (“pilgrim”), from страньникъ.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A side, an edge, a border; for μέρος, κλίτος.[7][3][1]
  2. A country, a land, a region; for χώρα, τὰ μέρη.[7][3][1]
  3. (often plural) A nation, a people, especially the heathen nations; for ἔθνος, φυλή.[7][2]

Word family

  • страньнъ
  • страньникъ
  • страньно
  • иностраньникъ
  • любостраньнъ
  • любостраньниѥ
  • страньнолюбиѥ
  • страньнолюбьць
  • страньнолюбьство
  • прострѣти
  • Russian сторона (storoná)

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 j Havlová, Eva; Erhart, Adolf; Janyšková, Ilona (eds.) (1989–2022), Etymologický slovník jazyka staroslověnského, 21 fascicles, Praha: Academia / Brno: Tribun EU
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ a b c Derksen, Rick (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 4, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 469
  5. ^ 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, 768
  6. ^ Sadnik, Linda; Aitzetmüller, Rudolf (1955), Handwörterbuch zu den altkirchenslavischen Texten, Heidelberg: Winter / 's-Gravenhage: Mouton, p. 310
  7. ^ 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
  8. ^ Sedakova, O. A. (2005), Slovar' trudnyx slov iz bogosluženija: cerkovnoslavjano-russkie paronimy, Moskva: Grēko-latinskij kabinet Ju. A. Šičalina