ваш

Forms

ваш (vaš)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old East Slavic вашь (vašĭ), from Proto-Slavic *vašь (“your (plural)”).^[1][2][3] The word is common Slavic: Ukrainian ваш (vaš), Belarusian ваш (vaš), Old Church Slavonic вашь (vašĭ), Bulgarian ваш (vaš), Macedonian ваш (vaš), Serbo-Croatian vaš, Slovene vaš, Czech váš, Slovak váš, Polish wasz, Upper Sorbian waš, Lower Sorbian waš and Polabian vosă.^[2][4][3] Dialects have ва́ший (vášij) on the lower Pechora and ва́шевский (váševskij) on the Don.^[3]

Anikin explains the Proto-Slavic word as the genitive *vasъ of the pronoun “you” (see вас, вы) made into an adjective with the suffix *-jь, as in *mojь, *tvojь and *svojь; ⟨-sj-⟩ gave ⟨ш⟩.^[3][4] Vasmer and others derive it directly from an Indo-European adjective Proto-Indo-European *wōsyo-, built on *wōs (“you (plural)”), with ō becoming a.^[2][4][3] Latin vōs (“you”) is the closest match, though Latin made its possessive differently, vester (“your”).^[2][5] It stands to the genitive in the same relation as наш to нас.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Tale of Boris and Gleb, in a 12th-century manuscript, has „ведѣте мѩ къ кнѩзю вашемоу” “take me to your prince”.^[6] The Uspensky Sbornik of the 12th–13th century has it in the parable of the ten virgins: „дадите намъ масла отъ съсудъ вашихъ” “give us oil from your vessels”.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Old Russian used the word, some 1,900 times in the texts of SDRJa, only as the possessive of the plural “you”.^[6] By the 16th and 17th centuries it was also a polite form addressing one person, as in ваша государева сирота “your Majesty's orphan” in petitions, and it entered titles such as ваша милость “your grace” and ваша свѣтлость “your highness”.^[7] The 18th-century dictionary records the genitive spelling вашея and the phrase ваша правда “you are right”.^[8]

In colloquial speech ваши means “your family, your people”, and ваш as a noun can mean a woman's husband or sweetheart.^[9][10]

Timeline

• 12th century – къ кнѩзю вашемоу “to your prince” in the Tale of Boris and Gleb.^[6]
• 1262–1263 – ѡц҃и ваши и наши “your fathers and ours” in a Novgorod charter.^[6]
• 16th–17th century – the polite form addressing one person.^[7]
• 18th century – ваша правда “you are right”.^[8]

Meanings

Pronoun

1. your, yours: belonging or relating to you (plural, or one person addressed formally), as in ваш дом “your house”.^[9][11]
2. (as a noun, ваши) Your family or people: как ваши? “how is your family?”.^[9]
3. (colloquial, as a noun) Your husband, sweetheart or master.^[10]

Word family

• по-вашему

Related words

• вы
• вас
• наш
• Old East Slavic вашь (vašĭ)

Usage notes

По-вашему means “as you wish” and “in your opinion”;^[3] и нашим и вашим is said of a double-dealer.^[9] Anikin records a separate dated noun ваш “a large flat travelling trunk carried on the roof of a carriage”, from French vache (“cow; cowhide”), which at the end of the 18th century named various leather bags.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress, p. 1, 281
3. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. 6, 137
4. ^ a b c 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. 3, s.v. ваш
5. ^ Shaposhnikov, A. K. (2010), Ètimologičeskij slovar' sovremennogo russkogo jazyka [Этимологический словарь современного русского языка], 2 vols., Moskva: Flinta / Nauka, p. 1, 96
6. ^ a b c d Avanesov, R. I. et al. (eds.) (1988–), Slovar' drevnerusskogo jazyka (XI–XIV vv.) [Словарь древнерусского языка (XI–XIV вв.)], vols. 1–13, Moskva: Russkij jazyk / Azbukovnik, p. 1, 375
7. ^ a b c 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. 2, 25
8. ^ a b 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. ваш
9. ^ a b c d Ozhegov, S. I.; Shvedova, N. Yu. (1997), Tolkovyj slovar' russkogo jazyka [Толковый словарь русского языка], 4th ed., Moskva: Azbukovnik, p. s.v. ваш
10. ^ 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. ваш
11. ^ 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. ваш