сь

Forms

сь (sĭ); Glagolitic ⱄⱐ^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *sь (“this”), from Proto-Balto-Slavic *śís, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱís.^[1][2] The same pronoun survives in Russian сей (sej), Ukrainian сей (sej) and Slovene sej, and is hidden in Russian сегодня (sevodnja, “today”).^[2][3] Its nominative plural was remade after an old i-stem form, according to Vaillant as cited by Vasmer.^[3]

Its Indo-European relatives are Lithuanian šis, Latvian šis and Old Prussian schis (“this”), Latin cis (“on this side”) and citrō (“hither”), Ancient Greek ἐκεῖ (ekeî, “there”), Old High German hiutu (“today”) and Hittite kās (“this”).^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It renders Ancient Greek οὗτος (hoûtos, “this”) and Ancient Greek ὅδε (hóde, “this”) in all the canonical manuscripts, as in сь естъ сꙑнъ мои възлюбленꙑ “this is my beloved son” (Mt 3, 17 in the Zographensis and Assemanianus).^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

The SJS distinguishes its use as a demonstrative “this”, both with a noun and on its own (“this one, he”), its use pointing back to something already named (“the, that”), an emphatic “this very, he himself”, a use for what was mentioned earlier (“that”, for ἐκεῖνος) and a rare “a certain” for something the hearers do not yet know.^[6] After a noun it is often joined to it in writing, as in глаголось, образось and родось (Mt 24, 34).^[5][6] Set phrases such as по семь and по сихъ mean “after this, thereupon”.^[6]

In Old Russian it was also doubled as сьсь, сесь, and Russian keeps it in fixed phrases such as сию минуту “this minute” and ни с того ни с сего “out of the blue”.^[3]

Meanings

Pronoun

1. this, this one; he; for οὗτος, ὅδε.^[6][5][1]
2. The, that, referring back to something already named; for οὗτος, αὐτός.^[6][1]
3. This very, he himself (emphatic).^[6]
4. That, referring to something mentioned earlier; for ἐκεῖνος.^[6]
5. A certain, some (rare).^[6]

Word family

• се
• сесь
• сѣмо
• доселѣ
• досели
• отъселѣ
• отъсели
• селикъ
• сиць
• таковьсь

Usage notes

Сь is also a spelling of the preposition and prefix съ, which Sadnik and Aitzetmüller and the SNSP record under that form.^[7][5]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Derksen, Rick (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 4, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 484
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, 591–592
4. ^ Sadnik, Linda; Aitzetmüller, Rudolf (1955), Handwörterbuch zu den altkirchenslavischen Texten, Heidelberg: Winter / 's-Gravenhage: Mouton, p. 300
5. ^ 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
6. ^ 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
7. ^ Sadnik, Linda; Aitzetmüller, Rudolf (1955), Handwörterbuch zu den altkirchenslavischen Texten, Heidelberg: Winter / 's-Gravenhage: Mouton, p. 126