Etymologically
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тъ

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Forms

тъ (tŭ); Glagolitic ⱅⱏ[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *tъ (“this, that”).[1][2][3] The same word is Russian тот (tot), Serbo-Croatian tȃj, Slovene tȃ, Czech ten, Slovak ten, Polish ten and Upper Sorbian tón, and in Czech the -n comes from Proto-Slavic *onъ.[2][3] The postposed articles Bulgarian -ът (-ăt) and Macedonian -от (-ot) descend from it as well.[1]

It goes back to Proto-Balto-Slavic *tas, the source of Lithuanian tas, Latvian tas and Old Prussian stas (“the, this, that”).[1][2][3] Its Indo-European source is the demonstrative Proto-Indo-European *só, feminine *séh₂, neuter *tód, continued in Ancient Greek ὁ (ho) and τό (tó) and in Gothic 𐌸𐌰𐍄𐌰 (þata, “that”).[1][2][3][4] Balto-Slavic remodelled this paradigm, generalizing the stem with t-.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Gospel manuscripts тъ points to something just named, as in вьзвѣашѧ вѣтри • ꙇ нападѫ на храминѫ тѫ “the winds blew and beat upon that house” (Mt 7, 25 Zogr Mar As Ostr), for Greek τῇ οἰκίᾳ ἐκείνῃ.[5] The SNSP counts more than 2,000 occurrences, mostly for Ancient Greek ἐκεῖνος (ekeînos), αὐτός (autós) and οὗτος (hoûtos).[6]

Semantic evolution

Besides "that, this", the canonical texts use тъ anaphorically for "the aforesaid", in the phrase то ѥстъ “that is”, as an emphatic "he himself" (for αὐτός), and for "the same".[5] At the head of a sentence и тъ comes close to a particle, “and so, then”, and after a pronoun or adverb тъ is an intensifying particle, as in къто тъ естъ “who is he, then?” (J 9, 12).[5] The Euchologium Sinaiticum, of the end of the 9th or the beginning of the 10th century, uses it for Ancient Greek αὐτός (autós) and ἐκεῖνος (ekeînos).[7] In Old Russian the reduplicated тътъ is frequent from the 12th and 13th centuries.[3]

Meanings

Pronoun

  1. that, this (demonstrative); for ἐκεῖνος, οὗτος, αὐτός.[5][6][1]
  2. The one mentioned, the aforesaid (anaphoric).[5]
  3. He, it (as subject or object); in the genitive “his”.[5][1]
  4. He himself, the very one; for αὐτός.[5]
  5. The same; for ὁ αὐτός.[5]
  6. (as a particle) then, so; и тъ “and so”.[5][8]

Word family

  • тоу
  • тако
  • таковъ
  • такъ
  • тамо
  • тогда
  • топръво
  • тѣмьже
  • Russian тот (tot)

Usage notes

Swan and Sadnik record the set phrases къ томоу “furthermore” (with a negation “no more”), по томь “afterwards” and тѣмь “therefore”.[9][8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Derksen, Rick (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 4, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 502
  3. ^ a b c d e f Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress, p. 4, 88
  4. ^ Sadnik, Linda; Aitzetmüller, Rudolf (1955), Handwörterbuch zu den altkirchenslavischen Texten, Heidelberg: Winter / 's-Gravenhage: Mouton, p. 323
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ a b 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
  7. ^ SlaVaComp Metaglossar Griechisch–Kirchenslavisch, Universität Freiburg, slavistik-portal.de
  8. ^ a b Sadnik, Linda; Aitzetmüller, Rudolf (1955), Handwörterbuch zu den altkirchenslavischen Texten, Heidelberg: Winter / 's-Gravenhage: Mouton
  9. ^ Swan, Oscar E. (2008), Old Church Slavic Glossary, Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh; digital ed. with N. H. Reimer, Old Church Slavonic Dictionary