ѥще

Forms

ѥще (ješte), also written еще (ešte), ѥште and еште^[1][2][3][4] Church Slavonic also has the form още (ošte).^[5][6]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *ešče (“still, yet”), found in all the Slavic languages.^[5][7][3] The same word is Russian ещё (eščë), Bulgarian още (ošte), Serbo-Croatian još, Slovene še, Czech ještě, Slovak ešte and Polish jeszcze.^[5][7][8] Because the word begins differently in the different languages, the Proto-Slavic form is hard to reconstruct, and some scholars allow forms such as *išče and *ošče beside it.^[5] Vasmer puts the forms beginning in o down to sandhi.^[8]

ESJS finds none of the explanations convincing.^[5] The most common one joins an Indo-European adverb seen in Ancient Greek ἔτι (éti, “still, further”), Latin et (“and, also”) and Gothic 𐌹𐌸 (iþ) with the enclitic particle Proto-Indo-European *-kʷe (“and”) of τε (te) and -que; to account for the Slavic consonants Meillet had to posit *et-s-kʷe.^[5][8][4] Vasmer and Sadnik and Aitzetmüller accept this with reservations, and ESJS notes that it suits the meaning better than the sounds.^[8][9][5] A second view compares Ancient Greek ἔστε (éste, “until”), Latin usque (“up to”) and a Sanskrit word for "up to";^[5][4] Machek reconstructed *es-kʷe (“and besides”), deriving the first part from the preposition *en (“in”).^[5][4] Derksen takes this line, reconstructing Proto-Indo-European *h₁eskʷe(h₁) and comparing a Sanskrit preposition and preverb and an Armenian prefix meaning "to", after Lubotsky.^[7] Wiktionary gives the same reconstruction through Proto-Balto-Slavic *eske, and takes it as probably a compound of Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- (“to be”) and *-kʷe.^[3]

Brückner and others saw in the word a deictic e-, extended with -s-, and the particle also found in аще.^[5] Vaillant derived it from a verbal adjective of ѥсмь meaning "real", with a further suffix, so that the first sense would have been "really, truly", an idea ESJS calls attractive for the meaning but which needs a participle that is not attested.^[5][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Gospel manuscripts (Zographensis, Marianus, Assemanianus, Savvina kniga and the Ostromir Gospel) ѥще renders Ancient Greek ἔτι (éti, “still”), as in нъ бѣ на мѣстѣ еште ꙇдеже сърѣте і марⸯта “but he was still in the place where Martha met him” (J 11, 30).^[1] The SNSP counts more than a hundred occurrences in the oldest manuscripts.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The first sense is temporal, "still, so far", for ἔτι and Ancient Greek ἀκμήν (akmḗn), often strengthened as и ѥще or ѥще пакꙑ for ἔτι πάλιν.^[1][2] With a negation it means "not yet", for Ancient Greek οὔπω (oúpō) and οὐδέπω, as in не ю ѥште почоу мѫкъ “thou hast not yet felt the torments” (Supr 112, 9).^[1][2] With a perfective verb it means "again, once more".^[1] A second temporal sense is "already", for Ancient Greek ἤδη (ḗdē), and with a negation "no longer", for Ancient Greek οὐκέτι (oukéti).^[1][2] Of measure it means "more, besides, also", as in чьто еште трѣбоуемъ съвѣдѣтел҄ь “what further need have we of witnesses” (Mt 26, 65), and in the Codex Suprasliensis it once stands with a superlative in the sense "as … as possible".^[1] Joined to other conjunctions it reinforces them, giving concessive phrases meaning "yet, nevertheless".^[5]

In later Church Slavonic the word kept these uses: Giltebrandt's dictionary of the New Testament glosses єще as "besides, moreover" and "until now", for ἔτι.^[10]

Timeline

• End of the 9th – beginning of the 10th century – ѥще renders ἔτι and ἀκμήν in liturgical texts from the western regions of the First Bulgarian Empire.^[11]
• 14th century – the Serbian Athonite translation of Gregory of Nyssa uses it for ἔτι.^[11]
• 1882–1885 – Giltebrandt lists the New Testament uses of the word in Church Slavonic.^[10]

Meanings

Adverb

1. still, so far; for ἔτι, ἀκμήν.^[1][2][3]
2. (with a negation) Not yet; for οὔπω, οὐδέπω.^[1][2]
3. (with a perfective verb) again, once more; for ἔτι, πάλιν.^[1]
4. already; with a negation, no longer; for ἤδη, οὐκέτι.^[1][2]
5. More, besides, also; for ἔτι, προσέτι.^[1][2][4]

References

1. ^ 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
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
4. ^ a b c d e f Sadnik, Linda; Aitzetmüller, Rudolf (1955), Handwörterbuch zu den altkirchenslavischen Texten, Heidelberg: Winter / 's-Gravenhage: Mouton
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Havlová, Eva; Erhart, Adolf; Janyšková, Ilona (eds.) (1989–2022), Etymologický slovník jazyka staroslověnského, 21 fascicles, Praha: Academia / Brno: Tribun EU, p. 285
6. ^ Miklosich, Franz (1862–1865), Lexicon palaeoslovenico-graeco-latinum emendatum auctum, Vindobonae: Braumüller
7. ^ a b c Derksen, Rick (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 4, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 146
8. ^ a b c d Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress, p. 2, 30–31
9. ^ Sadnik, Linda; Aitzetmüller, Rudolf (1955), Handwörterbuch zu den altkirchenslavischen Texten, Heidelberg: Winter / 's-Gravenhage: Mouton, p. 234
10. ^ a b Gil'tebrandt, P. A. (1882–1885), Spravočnyj i ob''jasnitel'nyj slovar' k Novomu Zavetu, 6 vols., Sankt-Peterburg
11. ^ a b SlaVaComp Metaglossar Griechisch–Kirchenslavisch, Universität Freiburg, slavistik-portal.de