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да

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Pronunciation

Forms

да (da)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old East Slavic да (da), from Proto-Slavic *da (“so, thus”).[1][2] The word is common Slavic, with senses that differ from language to language: Ukrainian да (da, “and, also”), Belarusian да (da, “and, but”), Polish da (“so that”), Bulgarian да (da, “and; but; in order to”), Serbo-Croatian да (da, “that, in order to; yes”) and Slovene da (“let, in order that”).[3][2] In Old Church Slavonic да (da) renders Ancient Greek ἵνα (hína, “in order that”), καί (kaí, “and”) and ἀλλά (allá, “but”).[3]

ESRJa takes Proto-Slavic ⟨*da⟩ to have first joined clauses side by side; the sense “in order that” grew out of this in several languages, and the particle “yes” goes back to the same word.[2] Shansky and Bobrova likewise derive the particle “yes” from the conjunction meaning “and”.[4] The word is usually traced to the demonstrative pronoun stem Proto-Indo-European *do-, as an old instrumental form;[2][3] the comparison is with Ancient Greek δή (dḗ, “then, indeed”), ἤδη (ḗdē, “already”), Latin dōnec (“until”) and dēnique (“then, at last”), and with the pronoun Old Prussian din (“him”).[3][2] Shansky relates it to the stem of тот and to до.[5]

For the particle that expresses a wish with a verb, Vasmer, after Wilhelm Schulze, gives a separate source, Proto-Indo-European *dō (“give, let”), comparing the way пусть and давай are used;[3] ESRJa follows him for this use.[2] Shansky considers it possible that this particle too continues the affirmative ⟨да⟩.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Both main uses are in the Izbornik of 1076.[6][7] With a verb, да forms a wish or exhortation: „Съмьрть и гонение и напасть и вьсѧ видимаѩ зълаѩ прѣдъ очима ти да боудоуть по вьсѧ дьни и часы” “let death and persecution and misfortune and all visible evils be before thine eyes every day and hour”.[6] In questions it means “surely not, can it be”: „Да ли не чюуть никоея же благодати грѣшьныихъ душѩ…?” “Do the souls of sinners then feel no grace…?”.[7] As the conjunction “and” it is in the Primary Chronicle under 946, in Olga's demand „дайте ми от двора по три голуби да по три воробьи” “give me from each household three pigeons and three sparrows” (Laurentian copy of 1377).[8][6]

Semantic evolution

In Old Russian the particle of exhortation was far more frequent than the conjunction: SDRJa counts about 13,000 examples of the one and 421 of the other.[6] The conjunction “and” is frequent in the charters and account books of the 14th–17th centuries.[8][6] It is the most common use in Afanasy Nikitin's Journey beyond Three Seas, with 307 examples.[9] The particle of wish survived as a solemn, bookish form (да здравствует “long live”), recorded again in Polikarpov's dictionary of 1704.[10][11]

From the 11th to the 17th century да was known both as the affirmative particle and as a coordinating conjunction.[11] The dialects keep the conjunction in its joining and adding senses.[12] Modern Russian has also made it a noun, an indeclinable да “a yes”, used in slogans for approval.[1][13]

Timeline

  • 1076 – да боудоуть “let them be”, and да ли in a question, in the Izbornik of 1076.[6][7]
  • 1377 – the conjunction да “and” in the Laurentian copy of the Primary Chronicle, under the year 946.[8]
  • 1389 – да joining items in a Moscow princely charter.[6]
  • 1600 – да “and” in a monastery's account book.[8]
  • 1704 – the particle да with a verb in Polikarpov's dictionary.[10][11]

Meanings

Particle

  1. yes: used to answer in agreement or to confirm.[13][1]
  2. At the end of a question, asks for confirmation: “isn't it?”, “right?”.[13]
  3. (stressed) Opens a sentence when the speaker changes the subject or remembers something: да, чуть не забыл “oh yes, I nearly forgot”.[13]
  4. (colloquial, unstressed) Adds emphasis, often with irritation: да оставь ты меня! “oh, leave me alone!”.[13]
  5. In answer to a call, with a rising tone: “yes?”, “I'm listening”.[13]
  6. (colloquial) Expresses disbelief: “oh, sure!”.[13]
  7. In slogans, expresses approval of something, the opposite of нет.[13]
  8. (elevated) With a verb: let, may: да здравствует… “long live…”.[13][10]

Conjunction

  1. and: joins words or clauses, as in хлеб да соль “bread and salt”.[13]
  2. but, yet: мал золотник, да дорог “the gold coin is small but precious” (proverb).[13]
  3. (dated, elevated) In order that, so that.[13]
  4. (unstressed) Between a subject and a word for an action or quality, insists that the opposite is true: он да испугается? “him, afraid?”.[13]

Word family

  • дабы
  • даже
  • да-да
  • ну да

Usage notes

The conjunction and the particle of emphasis are unstressed, while the answering да and the particle opening a sentence are stressed.[13][14]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f 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. 5, s.v. да
  3. ^ 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, 480
  4. ^ 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. да
  5. ^ a b Shansky, N. M.; Ivanov, V. V.; Shanskaya, T. V. (1975), Kratkij ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka [Краткий этимологический словарь русского языка], 3rd ed., Moskva: Prosveščenie, p. s.v. да
  6. ^ a b c d e f g 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. 2, 44
  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. 4, 164
  8. ^ 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. 4, 163
  9. ^ Eckhoff, Hanne M.; Berdicevskis, Aleksandrs et al., TOROT: The Tromsø Old Russian and OCS Treebank, release 20200116, torottreebank.github.io, p. s.v. да
  10. ^ a b c 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. да
  11. ^ a b c Shaposhnikov, A. K. (2010), Ètimologičeskij slovar' sovremennogo russkogo jazyka [Этимологический словарь современного русского языка], 2 vols., Moskva: Flinta / Nauka, p. 1, 204
  12. ^ 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. 7, 253
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Ozhegov, S. I.; Shvedova, N. Yu. (1997), Tolkovyj slovar' russkogo jazyka [Толковый словарь русского языка], 4th ed., Moskva: Azbukovnik, p. s.v. да
  14. ^ Ushakov, D. N. (ed.) (1935–1940), Tolkovyj slovar' russkogo jazyka [Толковый словарь русского языка], 4 vols., Moskva: Sovetskaja ènciklopedija / OGIZ, p. s.v. да