берёза

Forms

берёза (berjóza) f inan (genitive берёзы, nominative plural берёзы, genitive plural берёз, relational adjective берёзовый, diminutive берёзка)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old East Slavic береза (bereza), from Proto-Slavic *berza (“birch”).^[1][2][3] The other Slavic languages have Ukrainian береза (bereza), Belarusian бяроза (bjaroza), Bulgarian бреза (breza), Serbo-Croatian breza, Slovene breza, Czech bříza and Polish brzoza.^[4][2] Russian ⟨-ере-⟩ developed from Proto-Slavic ⟨-er-⟩ between consonants;^[5] the Church Slavonic form is Old Church Slavonic брѣза (brěza), and Russian texts of the 11th to 17th centuries have both бреза (breza), from Church Slavonic, and the native form.^[6][3] A masculine *berzъ, reconstructed from South Slavic and Ukrainian dialect forms, has been taken as a sign that the name was first an adjective.^[2]

It continues an old Indo-European feminine noun, *bʰerHǵós.^[4][1] The cognates include Lithuanian béržas, Old Prussian berse, Latvian bērzs, Old Norse bjǫrk, Old High German birihha and the English word birch, and with the zero grade bìržis (“birch grove”).^[4][2][1] Latin frāxinus (“ash tree”) shows the name moved to another tree, beyond the range of the white birch.^[2] The root meant “bright, white” or “to shine”, as in Albanian bardh (“white”) and beršta (“shows white”): the birch was named after the colour of its bark, “the tree with the white bark”.^[4][7][2][6] ESRJa derives it from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“bright, light”), of the same root as белый, and rejects Chernykh's view that separates them.^[8] берест and береста are related.^[4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Chernykh cites береза and березовый from the Novgorod First Chronicle, under the year 6636 (1128) as its Synodal copy preserves it, and the place name Березьно from before 1136.^[7] The month name березозолъ “April”, a derivative, is in the Galich Gospel of 1144.^[7] SlRJa's first quotation for the tree is a 15th-century Dvina deed that marks a boundary „з березы на камень” “from the birch to the stone”.^[9]

Semantic evolution

In the 18th century the word was also used collectively for birch trees and for birch firewood: Karamzin has „дуб и береза пылают в каминѣ нашем” “oak and birch are blazing in our fireplace”.^[10] The birch's twigs gave берёзовая каша “birch porridge”, a jocular name for a flogging with rods.^[11] In Pskov dialect берёза was the answer of the bride's side that meant consent to the match, which Anikin connects with the birch as a symbol of purity in Slavic custom;^[12] Dal records the birch as the matchmaker's yes, and the pine, spruce or oak as a refusal.^[13] In slang Берёзка is the hard-currency shop.^[14] Береза was also a personal nickname from the 15th century.^[15]

Timeline

• 1128 – береза in the Novgorod First Chronicle, under the year 6636 as its Synodal copy preserves it.^[7]
• 1144 – the derived month name березозолъ “April” in the Galich Gospel.^[7]
• 1381 – the place name Береза in the Nikon Chronicle, under the year 1381.^[9][2]
• 15th century – з березы на камень in a Dvina deed.^[9]
• 1495 – Васко Береза, a peasant, in the Novgorod cadastres.^[15]
• 1653 – береза in a list of trees in Arseny Sukhanov's Proskinitarion.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. birch: a deciduous tree with white (more rarely dark) bark and heart-shaped leaves.^[11][16][1]
2. Birch wood as timber or firewood: шкатулка из берёзы is a birch-wood box.^[17][18]
3. A birch grove.^[18]

Word family

• берёзка
• берёзонька
• берёзовый
• березняк
• березник

Related words

• берест
• береста
• Old East Slavic береза (bereza)
• Old Church Slavonic брѣза (brěza)

Usage notes

In Pskov dialect a homonymous берёза was the bride's family's consent to a match.^[12][19]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Anikin, A. E. (2007–2021), Russkij ètimologičeskij slovar' [Русский этимологический словарь], vols. 1–13 (A–D), Moskva: Rukopisnye pamjatniki Drevnej Rusi / Institut russkogo jazyka RAN, p. 3, 110
3. ^ a b Derksen, Rick (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 4, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 38
4. ^ a b c d e Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress, p. 1, 154
5. ^ Tsyganenko, G. P. (1989), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka [Этимологический словарь русского языка], 2nd ed., Kiev: Radjans'ka škola, p. s.v. берёза
6. ^ a b c Shaposhnikov, A. K. (2010), Ètimologičeskij slovar' sovremennogo russkogo jazyka [Этимологический словарь современного русского языка], 2 vols., Moskva: Flinta / Nauka, p. 1, 58
7. ^ a b c d e Chernykh, P. Ya. (1993), Istoriko-ètimologičeskij slovar' sovremennogo russkogo jazyka [Историко-этимологический словарь современного русского языка], 2 vols., Moskva: Russkij jazyk, p. 1, s.v. берёза
8. ^ Shansky, N. M.; Zhuravlev, A. F. (eds.) (1963–2007), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka [Этимологический словарь русского языка], vols. 1–10 (A–M), Moskva: Izdatel'stvo Moskovskogo universiteta, p. 2, s.v. береза
9. ^ a b c d Barkhudarov, S. G. et al. (eds.) (1975–), Slovar' russkogo jazyka XI–XVII vv. [Словарь русского языка XI–XVII вв.], vols. 1–31, Moskva: Nauka / Azbukovnik / Lexrus, p. 1, 145
10. ^ Sorokin, Yu. S. et al. (eds.) (1984–), Slovar' russkogo jazyka XVIII veka [Словарь русского языка XVIII века], vols. 1–24, Leningrad / Sankt-Peterburg: Nauka, p. s.v. береза
11. ^ a b Ozhegov, S. I.; Shvedova, N. Yu. (1997), Tolkovyj slovar' russkogo jazyka [Толковый словарь русского языка], 4th ed., Moskva: Azbukovnik, p. s.v. берёза
12. ^ a b Anikin, A. E. (2007–2021), Russkij ètimologičeskij slovar' [Русский этимологический словарь], vols. 1–13 (A–D), Moskva: Rukopisnye pamjatniki Drevnej Rusi / Institut russkogo jazyka RAN, p. 3, 111
13. ^ Dal', V. I. (1880–1882), Tolkovyj slovar' živago velikorusskago jazyka [Толковый словарь живаго великорусскаго языка], 2nd ed., 4 vols., Sankt-Peterburg / Moskva: M. O. Vol'f, p. s.v. береза
14. ^ Elistratov, V. S. (2000), Slovar' russkogo argo [Словарь русского арго], Moskva: Russkie slovari, p. s.v. берёза
15. ^ a b Tupikov, N. M. (1903), Slovar' drevne-russkix ličnyx sobstvennyx imen [Словарь древне-русских личных собственных имен], Sankt-Peterburg, p. 44
16. ^ Evgen'eva, A. P. (ed.) (1981–1984), Slovar' russkogo jazyka v četyrex tomax [Словарь русского языка в 4 тт.] (MAS), 2nd ed., Moskva: Russkij jazyk, p. s.v. берёза
17. ^ Kuznetsov, S. A. (ed.) (1998), Bol'šoj tolkovyj slovar' russkogo jazyka [Большой толковый словарь русского языка], Sankt-Peterburg: Norint, p. s.v. берёза
18. ^ a b Efremova, T. F. (2000), Novyj slovar' russkogo jazyka. Tolkovo-slovoobrazovatel'nyj [Новый словарь русского языка. Толково-словообразовательный], 2 vols., Moskva: Russkij jazyk, p. s.v. берёза
19. ^ Filin, F. P.; Sorokoletov, F. P.; Myznikov, S. A. (eds.) (1965–), Slovar' russkix narodnyx govorov [Словарь русских народных говоров], vols. 1–51, Moskva / Leningrad / Sankt-Peterburg: Nauka, p. 2, 250