ѩти

Forms

ѩти (jęti) pf^[1] Also spelled ѧти (Savvina kniga) and ꙗти.^[1][2] Present имѫ, имеши; after a prefix the verb has -ѧти, present -ьмѫ.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *ęti (“to take”).^[4][1] The simple verb lives on in only a few Slavic languages, mostly as an archaic or dialect word: Serbo-Croatian jéti, Slovene ję́ti (“to begin”), Czech jmout, Polish jąć (“to begin, to seize”) and dialectal Russian ять (jatʹ), while prefixed forms are common everywhere.^[5][4] ESJS describes it as the ingressive partner of the stative verb имѣти (to have).^[5]

It continues Proto-Balto-Slavic *ímtei (“to take”) and the Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *h₁em- (“to take”).^[1][4] The nearest relatives are Baltic, Lithuanian im̃ti (“to take”), Latvian jem̃t and Old Prussian īmt, and further off is Latin emō (“to take, to buy”).^[5][4][6]

It is disputed whether German nehmen (“to take”) and Ancient Greek νέμω (némō, “to distribute”) belong here.^[5] Sadnik takes them as probable relatives, but ESJS thinks it more likely that three different roots, *jem-, *nem- and the one above, influenced one another through their similar meanings.^[6][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Gospel manuscripts it renders Ancient Greek ἐπιλαμβάνομαι (epilambánomai, “to take hold of”) and Ancient Greek κρατέω (kratéō, “to seize”): и‹соу›с‹ъ› простьръ рѫкѫ ѩтъ ꙇ “Jesus stretched out his hand and caught hold of him” (Mt 14, 31, Zographensis, Marianus, Assemanianus, Savvina kniga, Ostromir Gospel).^[2]

Semantic evolution

In the canonical texts the verb means to take or to grasp, to catch or arrest (fish in J 21, 3, for Ancient Greek πιάζω (piázō)), to take someone along, to take up someone's cause, and to take away.^[2][3] With a reflexive pronoun it means to cling to something, or to set about or undergo something.^[2] The phrase рѫками ѩти is “to lay hands on someone”, and вѣрѫ ѩти “to come to believe” translates Ancient Greek πιστεύω (pisteúō).^[2][7]

Later Church Slavonic has the present ѥмлю.^[8] Vasmer traces Russian заём and наём and the -ять of взять to this verb, and explains неимоверный “incredible” from the phrase ѩти вѣрѫ.^[9][10]

Timeline

• End of the 9th – beginning of the 10th century – it renders κρατεῖν and ἔχειν in the Slavonic Euchologium.^[11]
• 14th century – a Serbian translation of Gregory of Nyssa made on Mount Athos uses it for ἁλίσκομαι, ἀντιλαμβάνω and δράσσομαι.^[11]

Meanings

Verb

1. To take, grasp, seize; for λαμβάνειν, ἐπιλαμβάνεσθαι, κρατεῖν.^[2][3][1]
2. To catch, capture, arrest; for πιάζειν, ἁλίσκειν, συλλαμβάνειν.^[2][1]
3. To take along, take with oneself; for προσλαμβάνεσθαι.^[2]
4. To take up someone's cause, look after someone; for προσδέχεσθαι, ἀντέχεσθαι.^[2]
5. To take away; for ἀφαιρεῖν.^[2]
6. (reflexive) To cling to something; to set about, undertake or undergo something.^[2][1]

Word family

• благоприѩтьнъ
• възимати
• възѧти
• възѧтиѥ
• вънимати
• въньмати
• вънѧти
• въсприимати
• въсприѩти
• въсприѩтиѥ
• заимати
• заимодавьць
• заимъ
• заѩти
• изимати

Related words

• имати
• имѣти

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 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 Derksen, Rick (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 4, Leiden / Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e Havlová, Eva; Erhart, Adolf; Janyšková, Ilona (eds.) (1989–2022), Etymologický slovník jazyka staroslověnského, 21 fascicles, Praha: Academia / Brno: Tribun EU, p. 291
6. ^ a b Sadnik, Linda; Aitzetmüller, Rudolf (1955), Handwörterbuch zu den altkirchenslavischen Texten, Heidelberg: Winter / 's-Gravenhage: Mouton, p. 233
7. ^ Miklosich, Franz (1862–1865), Lexicon palaeoslovenico-graeco-latinum emendatum auctum, Vindobonae: Braumüller
8. ^ D'jačenko, Grigorij (1899), Polnyj cerkovno-slavjanskij slovar', Moskva
9. ^ Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress, p. 2, 18
10. ^ Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress, p. 3, 59
11. ^ a b SlaVaComp Metaglossar Griechisch–Kirchenslavisch, Universität Freiburg, slavistik-portal.de