russisch

Forms

russisch (strong nominative masculine singular russischer, comparative russischer, superlative am russischsten)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German rūzesch, a Central German adjective formed from Rūz (“a Russian”), which continues Old High German Rūzo.^[2][1] The name came from Medieval Latin Russus, from Byzantine Greek Ῥῶς (Rhôs), from Old East Slavic Русь (Rusĭ), which the Duden dictionary traces back to Old Norse.^[2][1] The Grimms' dictionary explains that the name first belonged to a Scandinavian people who conquered Russia and organised it as a state, and that Finnish still calls the Swedes by it; it tentatively connected the name with the Germanic word for fame.^[3] Today the adjective is analysed from German Russe + -isch.^[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German Rūzo “Russian” is found only in the glosses.^[5] The Grimms' dictionary thinks the name may already appear in a gloss of the 12th century, and Middle High German has Rûʒ and Riuʒe, as in ze Riuzen “in Russia” in Hartmann's Iwein.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The Middle High German form with umlaut lived on as Reuße, which Frisch still glosses with Latin Russi and Rutheni.^[3][1] In technical language russisch named things that came from Russia: russischer Hanf for the castor-oil plant, russisches Glas for a kind of mica used in Siberia for windows, and russisches Einhorn for a gun used by the Russians in the Seven Years' War.^[6] Paul lists among the German words borrowed from Russian Datscha, Steppe, Wodka and Zobel.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Russian: relating to Russia or the Russians, coming from them or belonging to them: Sie hat russische Großeltern.^[2][1]
2. In the Russian language: ein russisch geschriebener Brief.^[2]

Noun

1. Russisch (neuter): the Russian language, also as a school subject: Er lernt seit drei Jahren Russisch.^[2][1]

Word family

• Russisch

Related words

• Russe
• Russland
• Reuße

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
3. ^ a b c Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 14, 1539
4. ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
5. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 269
6. ^ Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 14, 1543
7. ^ Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer