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сꙑнъ

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сꙑнъ1 son

Pronunciation

Forms

сꙑнъ (synŭ) m[1]

Etymology

The son is inherited from Proto-Slavic *synъ (“son”), an old u-stem noun.[1][2][3] The same word is Russian сын (syn), Bulgarian син (sin), Serbo-Croatian sȋn, Slovene sȋn, Czech syn and Polish syn.[2][3]

The Proto-Slavic noun continues Proto-Balto-Slavic *sū́ˀnus, from Proto-Indo-European *suHnús.[1] Derksen reconstructs the Indo-European form as *suH-n-ú- and compares Lithuanian sūnùs, Old Prussian souns, Gothic 𐍃𐌿𐌽𐌿𐍃 (sunus) and a Sanskrit word of the same meaning.[2] Vasmer adds Old High German sunu, Avestan hūnu- and Ancient Greek υἱύς (huiús, “son”), and connects the word further with verbs meaning to give birth, such as hunāmi (“I give birth”), and with Old Irish suth (“birth, fruit”).[3] Derksen notes that Hirt's law would lead one to expect stress on the first syllable, and suggests that the final stress was restored by analogy, perhaps already in Balto-Slavic.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is found throughout the oldest manuscripts, more than a thousand times in all, for Ancient Greek υἱός (huiós).[4] In the Gospels it is Peter's confession, тꙑ еси христосъ сꙑнъ бога живаго “you are the Christ, the son of the living God” (Mt 16, 16 Zogr Mar As).[4] The manuscripts often write it under a titlo, сн҃ъ.[5][1]

Semantic evolution

Besides a son by birth, the canonical texts use сꙑнъ for adopted and spiritual sons and for disciples, for the angels and the chosen ones of God (сꙑнове божии), for any descendant, and in the plural for the tribes named after a forefather (сꙑнове иꙁдраилеви).[5] These figurative uses copy those of Greek υἱός, and Wiktionary counts them as a semantic loan from it.[1] Following Hebrew usage, сꙑнъ with a genitive marks membership of a group, as in сꙑнове брачьнии “the wedding guests” (Mc 2, 19), and сꙑнъ чловѣчьскъ and сꙑнъ давꙑдовъ are titles of Christ.[5] In a few passages it means the young of an animal, for Ancient Greek πῶλος (pôlos) or υἱός (Mt 21, 5).[5] In the Suprasliensis and the newly found Sinai manuscripts it also names the second person of the Trinity, as in вѣроуѭ азъ въ отьца и сꙑна и свѧтааго доуха “I believe in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Supr 261, 3).[4]

Church Slavonic kept these phrases: Sedakova lists сы́нъ свѣ́та, сы́нове ца́рствїѧ “the heirs of the kingdom” and сы́нъ поги́бели “one who brings ruin” among the Hebraisms of the Church Slavonic Bible.[6]

Timeline

  • End of the 9th – beginning of the 10th century – сꙑнъ renders υἱός in the Euchologium Sinaiticum.[7]
  • 14th century – the Serbian Athonite translation of Gregory of Nyssa uses it for υἱός.[7]
  • 1882–1885 – Giltebrandt lists its New Testament uses in Church Slavonic, from і҆ѡ́сифе, сы́не дв҃довъ (Mt 1, 20) on.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A son; for υἱός, παῖς, τέκνον.[5][4][1]
  2. (figurative) An adopted or spiritual son, a disciple; in сꙑнове божии the angels or the chosen ones of God.[5][1]
  3. A descendant, offspring; in the plural, the members of a tribe.[5][1]
  4. (Hebraism) With a genitive, a member of a group or one who has a quality (сꙑнове брачьнии wedding guests).[5]
  5. The young of an animal; for πῶλος.[5][1]
  6. (Christianity) The Son, the second person of the Trinity.[4][1]

сꙑнъ2 tower

Pronunciation

Forms

сꙑнъ (synŭ) m, u-stem[1]

Etymology

The tower is probably borrowed from Bulgar *syn, a word of the Danube Bulgars.[9][1] Vasmer compares an Old Turkic word for a statue or grave monument, and Wiktionary Tatar and Uzbek words for a figure or posture, all ultimately from Proto-Turkic *sï(y)n.[9][1] Wiktionary calls the origin uncertain and records a comparison with Ancient Greek μόσσυν (móssun, “wooden tower”), itself of unknown origin.[1] Vasmer rejects Vaillant's derivation from Old High German zūn (“fence”) and the connection with Russian сы́пать (sýpatʹ, “to pour”).[9] Outside the Suprasliensis the word lives on in Russian Church Slavonic, beside Old East Slavic сунъ (sunŭ) of the same meaning.[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Among the oldest manuscripts only the Codex Suprasliensis has this word, nine times, for Ancient Greek πύργος (púrgos, “tower”): иде въ малꙑи сꙑнъ • иже бѣ тъгда въ манастꙑри • на прибѣганьѥ съзъданъ “he went into the small tower that stood in the monastery then, built as a refuge” (Supr 553, 27).[5][4]

Semantic evolution

The Suprasliensis also uses it figuratively, for the holy fathers as towers set against the heretics (Supr 543, 3).[5] Miklosich records it in later Church Slavonic, in a translation of John Chrysostom and in a commentary on the Song of Songs that glosses сыны as столпы “pillars”.[10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A tower; for πύργος.[5][4][1]
  2. (figurative) A tower of defence, a bulwark.[5]
  • Russian сын (syn)
  • Bulgarian син (sin)

Usage notes

For the tower the SNSP refers to стлъпъ for comparison.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Derksen, Rick (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 4, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 483
  3. ^ a b c Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress, p. 3, 817
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h 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
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Kurz, Josef; Hauptová, Zoe (eds.) (1958–1997), Slovník jazyka staroslověnského / Lexicon linguae palaeoslovenicae, 4 vols. + supplements, Praha: Academia; digital ed. gorazd.org
  6. ^ Sedakova, O. A. (2005), Slovar' trudnyx slov iz bogosluženija: cerkovnoslavjano-russkie paronimy, Moskva: Grēko-latinskij kabinet Ju. A. Šičalina
  7. ^ a b SlaVaComp Metaglossar Griechisch–Kirchenslavisch, Universität Freiburg, slavistik-portal.de
  8. ^ Gil'tebrandt, P. A. (1882–1885), Spravočnyj i ob''jasnitel'nyj slovar' k Novomu Zavetu, 6 vols., Sankt-Peterburg
  9. ^ 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, 818
  10. ^ Miklosich, Franz (1862–1865), Lexicon palaeoslovenico-graeco-latinum emendatum auctum, Vindobonae: Braumüller