Etymologically
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ѩзꙑкъ

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Forms

ѩзꙑкъ (językŭ) m, o-stem, Glagolitic ⱗⰸⱏⰹⰽⱏ[1] Other spellings in the manuscripts are ѧзꙑкъ (Savvina kniga), ꙗзꙑкъ, ѫзꙑкъ and езꙑкъ, and the word is often abbreviated under a titlo (ѩз҃къ).[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *ęzykъ (“tongue, language”), a word of all the Slavic languages, which use it both for the organ of taste and speech and for speech itself.[4][5][1] The same word is Russian язык (jazyk), Bulgarian език (ezik), Serbo-Croatian jèzik, Slovene jézik, Czech jazyk and Polish język.[4][5][6]

ESJS and Vasmer explain the Proto-Slavic noun as an older stem *ęzy- extended by the suffix *-kъ, in the same way as Proto-Slavic *kamykъ beside *kamy (“stone”); its closest relative outside Slavic is Old Prussian insuwis (“tongue”).[4][6] Derksen sets up Proto-Balto-Slavic *inźuʔ- that had lost its initial d and took the suffix in Slavic, and Wiktionary derives the word from *inźūˀs and Proto-Indo-European *dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s.[5][1] Most of the other Indo-European languages keep an initial consonant, probably d, as in Old Latin dingua, Gothic 𐍄𐌿𐌲𐌲𐍉 (tuggō), German Zunge and Tocharian A käntu.[4][5][7] The initial l of lingua, of Lithuanian liežùvis and of the dialect form Russian лязык (ljazyk) is put down to the verb for licking.[4][5][6] Sanskrit जिह्वा (jihvā́) has yet another initial, which is explained in several ways, and Vasmer finds its relation to the Slavic word hard to account for; a linguistic taboo has been proposed to explain the irregular forms.[4][6]

The anomalies have led to several further proposals, which ESJS lists: some scholars assume a secondary loss of the d in Baltic and Slavic, others see in it a kind of prefix, and others an old compound, for Trubachev a preposition meaning "in" with a root meaning "to call", for W. Winter a word for "below" with a word for the vault of the mouth, and for J. Hilmarsson a form related to the word for fish, žuvìs.[4] Machek considered a link with the Proto-Slavic word for "narrow".[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Gospel manuscripts use ѩзꙑкъ for the tongue, translating Ancient Greek γλῶσσα (glôssa, “tongue”), as in the rich man's plea to Abraham, посъли лазора да омочитъ • коньць пръста своего въ водѣ • ꙇ оустоудитъ ѩзꙑкъ моі “send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue” (L 16, 24, Zogr), and раздрѣши сѧ ѫза ѩзꙑка его “the bond of his tongue was loosed” (Mc 7, 35, Zogr).[2][3] The Greek–OCS index of the SJS finds it for γλῶσσα in the Zographensis, Marianus, Assemanianus, Savvina kniga and Ostromir Gospel, and 33 times in the Psalterium Sinaiticum.[2]

Semantic evolution

From the organ the word passed to language and speech, also for Ancient Greek διάλεκτος (diálektos), as in како мы слышимь кьждо езыкомь своимь “how do we hear, each in his own language” (A 2, 8) and in the Greek and Latin names that the texts explain as said “in the Greek tongue”.[2][3] It also means words or speech, and in the Pauline epistles the speaking in tongues, глаголати ѩзꙑкꙑ, for γλώσσαις λαλεῖν (Mc 16, 17 Mar).[2]

The sense “nation, people”, for Ancient Greek ἔθνος (éthnos), is according to ESJS a calque of the Greek plural γλῶσσαι, itself modelled on Hebrew;[4][6] Meillet, who held the Slavonic church vocabulary to be taken from Latin, saw in it a calque of Latin lingua.[4][6] From the Greek plural τὰ ἔθνη, the Hebrew “nations” as opposed to Israel, came the sense “pagans, the gentiles”, a semantic calque in Schumann's analysis: всѣхъ бо сихъ ѩзꙑци ꙇштѫтъ “for all these things the gentiles seek” (Mt 6, 32 Zogr), where the Savvina kniga has погании.[4][2] The phrase не ѩзꙑкъ, for οὐκ ἔθνος, means “a no-people”.[4][2]

From the sense “pagan” Church Slavonic formed ѩзꙑчьникъ and ѩзꙑчьскъ, the source of Russian язычник “pagan” and языческий.[4] In Old Russian the word could also mean an interpreter or a scout taken for information.[6] Giltebrandt lists the Church Slavonic New Testament uses for γλῶσσα and διάλεκτος, the tongue and a language.[8]

Timeline

  • End of the 9th – beginning of the 10th century – the Euchologium Sinaiticum uses ѩзꙑкъ for both γλῶσσα and ἔθνος.[9]
  • 1342 – Old Russian языкъ in the sense of an interpreter or scout, in the First Sofia Chronicle.[6]
  • 14th century – the Serbian Athonite translation of Gregory of Nyssa uses it for γλῶσσα.[9]
  • 1882–1885 – Giltebrandt lists every New Testament use in Church Slavonic.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The tongue, the organ; for γλῶσσα.[2][3][1]
  2. A language; for γλῶσσα, διάλεκτος.[2][3][1]
  3. Speech, words.[2]
  4. (in the plural) Tongues, the ecstatic speech of glossolalia;[2] глаголати ѩзꙑкꙑ “to speak in tongues”.[2]
  5. A nation, a people; for ἔθνος.[2][3][1]
  6. A foreign or pagan nation, and in the plural the pagans or gentiles; for ἔθνος, τὰ ἔθνη.[2][3]

Word family

  • ѩзꙑчьникъ
  • ѩзꙑчьнъ
  • ѩзꙑчьскъ
  • иноѩзꙑчьникъ
  • триѩзꙑчьникъ
  • Russian язык (jazyk)
  • Russian язычник (jazyčnik)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Kurz, Josef; Hauptová, Zoe (eds.) (1958–1997), Slovník jazyka staroslověnského / Lexicon linguae palaeoslovenicae, 4 vols. + supplements, Praha: Academia; digital ed. gorazd.org
  3. ^ a b c d e f g 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 d e f g h i j k l m Havlová, Eva; Erhart, Adolf; Janyšková, Ilona (eds.) (1989–2022), Etymologický slovník jazyka staroslověnského, 21 fascicles, Praha: Academia / Brno: Tribun EU, p. 293
  5. ^ 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. 159
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress, p. 4, 550
  7. ^ Sadnik, Linda; Aitzetmüller, Rudolf (1955), Handwörterbuch zu den altkirchenslavischen Texten, Heidelberg: Winter / 's-Gravenhage: Mouton, p. 235
  8. ^ a b Gil'tebrandt, P. A. (1882–1885), Spravočnyj i ob''jasnitel'nyj slovar' k Novomu Zavetu, 6 vols., Sankt-Peterburg
  9. ^ a b SlaVaComp Metaglossar Griechisch–Kirchenslavisch, Universität Freiburg, slavistik-portal.de