Etymologically
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гусь

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Pronunciation

Forms

гусь (gusʹ) m anim (genitive гу́ся or гуся́, nominative plural гу́си, genitive plural гусе́й, female equivalent гусы́ня, relational adjective гуси́ный, diminutive гусёк or гу́сик)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old East Slavic гоусь (gusĭ), from Proto-Slavic *gǫ̑sь (“goose”).[1][2][3] The word is shared by the Slavic languages: Ukrainian гусь (husʹ), Belarusian гусь (husʹ), Bulgarian гъска (gǎska), Serbo-Croatian guska, Slovene gôs, Czech husa and Polish gęś, with Old Church Slavonic гѫсь (gǫsĭ) in the oldest Slavonic texts.[4][5] The nasal vowel of the Proto-Slavic form became ⟨у⟩ in Russian.[6]

The Slavic noun belongs with the Indo-European name of the goose, *ǵʰh₂éns,[1] whose other descendants include Lithuanian žąsìs, Latvian zùoss, Old Prussian sansy, Sanskrit हंस (haṃsá), Ancient Greek χήν (khḗn), Old High German gans, Old Irish géiss and Latin ānser, as well as the English word goose.[4][5][1] Shaposhnikov and Shansky consider the name ultimately imitative of the bird's cry.[7][6]

The initial ⟨г-⟩ is the difficulty: a regular descendant of the Indo-European word would have given Slavic *zǫsь, as the Baltic forms with ⟨ž-⟩ and ⟨z-⟩ suggest.[4] Meillet tried to explain the ⟨g-⟩ by his law of dissimilation of spirants, but his view met with objections.[4] Vasmer thought it most likely that a native form was reshaped under the influence of the Germanic word, noting that Pliny praised the qualities of Germanic geese.[4] ESRJa lists the many scholars who explain the ⟨g-⟩ by Germanic influence or by borrowing from Germanic (among them Kiparsky), Moszyński's view that the borrowing is linked to the goose's role in ritual, and those who start instead from two series of velar consonants in the parent language (Georgiev, Sławski, the Bulgarian etymological dictionary).[5] Tsyganenko likewise speaks of a parallel ⟨g⟩ and ⟨ĝ⟩ in some Indo-European roots.[8] Wiktionary gives both views: inheritance from Proto-Balto-Slavic *gansís, supported by the accent shared with the Baltic word and by the match between *gǫserъ (“gander”) and the Latin word, or borrowing from an unattested Gothic word.[1] Derksen reconstructs a Balto-Slavic form with ⟨g-⟩ beside *źansis.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest dated record is a list of game served at a feast in the Troitsky Sbornik of the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries: „тетерѩ. гѹси. жеравие. рѩбі” “black grouse, geese, cranes, partridges”.[2] The Russkaya Pravda fixes the fine for a stolen goose: „а за гѹсь ·л҃· кѹнъ” “and for a goose thirty kunas”, in the copy of 1280;[2] its short redaction, a text of the 11th century known from a 15th-century copy, has „въ утке и в гусе” “for a duck and for a goose”.[9][10] SDRJa records the senses “goose” and “goose meat”.[2]

Semantic evolution

The Lay of Igor's Campaign has Igor fly as a falcon, “killing geese and swans” for his meals.[11] The 18th-century dictionary records the figurative colloquial use for a sly or unreliable man (не завидной ли я гусь in Krylov) and the adverb гусем “one behind another”, of horses harnessed in single file;[12] the adverb survives as гуськом.[8] Modern Russian keeps the ironic хорош гусь! “a fine fellow!” of a rogue,[13][14] and гусь лапчатый “a web-footed goose” for a man who looks after himself, which Michelson explains by the grasping feet.[15] The word was a common nickname: Якимко Гусь, a peasant, is recorded in 1495.[16]

Timeline

  • c. 1200 – гѹси “geese” in the Troitsky Sbornik.[2]
  • 1280 – а за гѹсь ·л҃· кѹнъ in the Russkaya Pravda copy of 1280.[2]
  • 1495 – the nickname Гусь of a peasant in a cadastre.[16]
  • 1673 – гуси и утицы “geese and ducks” in Avvakum's Life.[9]
  • 1704 – the adjective гусиный in Polikarpov's dictionary.[10][7]
  • 1771 – гус, a hooded fur garment, recorded in Tobolsk.[17]

Meanings

Noun

  1. goose: a large wild or domestic waterfowl related to the duck, with a long neck.[13][14][1]
  2. Goose meat as food: гусь на Рождество is a Christmas goose.[18][19]
  3. (colloquial, ironic) A rogue or untrustworthy person, mostly in exclamations such as ну и гусь![13][14][19]

Word family

  • гусиный
  • гусак
  • гусыня
  • гусёнок
  • гусятина
  • гуськом
  • гусёк
  • Old East Slavic гоусь (gusĭ)
  • Old Church Slavonic гѫсь (gǫsĭ)

Usage notes

The genitive is гу́ся, colloquially also гуся́.[1][20] Set phrases include как с гуся вода “like water off a duck's back” and the proverb гусь свинье не товарищ.[20][13] A Siberian гусь, a hooded garment of reindeer fur, is a separate word taken from Khanty or Mansi.[4][17]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f 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. s.v. гоусь
  3. ^ a b Derksen, Rick (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 4, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 184
  4. ^ a b c d e f Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress, p. 1, 478
  5. ^ 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. 4, s.v. гусь
  6. ^ a b Shansky, N. M.; Bobrova, T. A. (2004), Škol'nyj ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka [Школьный этимологический словарь русского языка], 7th ed., Moskva: Drofa, p. s.v. гусь
  7. ^ a b Shaposhnikov, A. K. (2010), Ètimologičeskij slovar' sovremennogo russkogo jazyka [Этимологический словарь современного русского языка], 2 vols., Moskva: Flinta / Nauka, p. 1, 204
  8. ^ a b Tsyganenko, G. P. (1989), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka [Этимологический словарь русского языка], 2nd ed., Kiev: Radjans'ka škola, p. s.v. гусь
  9. ^ a b 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. 4, 162
  10. ^ a b 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. гусь
  11. ^ Vinogradova, V. L. (1965–1984), Slovar'-spravočnik «Slova o polku Igoreve» [Словарь-справочник «Слова о полку Игореве»], 6 vols., Moskva / Leningrad: Nauka, p. s.v. гусь
  12. ^ 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. гусь
  13. ^ 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. гусь
  14. ^ a b c 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. гусь
  15. ^ Michelson, M. I. (1902–1903), Russkaja mysl' i reč'. Svoe i čužoe. Opyt russkoj frazeologii [Русская мысль и речь. Свое и чужое. Опыт русской фразеологии], 2 vols., Sankt-Peterburg, p. s.v. гусь
  16. ^ a b Tupikov, N. M. (1903), Slovar' drevne-russkix ličnyx sobstvennyx imen [Словарь древне-русских личных собственных имен], Sankt-Peterburg, p. 123
  17. ^ a b Anikin, A. E. (2000), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkix dialektov Sibiri. Zaimstvovanija iz ural'skix, altajskix i paleoaziatskix jazykov [Этимологический словарь русских диалектов Сибири], 2nd ed., Moskva / Novosibirsk: Nauka, p. 172
  18. ^ Kuznetsov, S. A. (ed.) (1998), Bol'šoj tolkovyj slovar' russkogo jazyka [Большой толковый словарь русского языка], Sankt-Peterburg: Norint, p. s.v. гусь
  19. ^ 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. гусь
  20. ^ a b Ushakov, D. N. (ed.) (1935–1940), Tolkovyj slovar' russkogo jazyka [Толковый словарь русского языка], 4 vols., Moskva: Sovetskaja ènciklopedija / OGIZ, p. s.v. гусь