два

Forms

два (dva) m or n (feminine две)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old East Slavic дъва (dŭva), from Proto-Slavic *dъva.^[1][2][3] The feminine and neuter is ⟨дъвѣ⟩, from *dъvě, whence две.^[2][3] The numeral is common Slavic: Old Church Slavonic дъва (dŭva), Ukrainian два (dva), Bulgarian два (dva), Serbo-Croatian два (dva), Slovene dva, Czech dva, Polish dwa and Upper Sorbian dwaj.^[2][4]

The Proto-Slavic forms continue the Indo-European dual Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ (written ⟨*duu̯ō(u)⟩ in the masculine and ⟨*duu̯oi⟩ in the feminine and neuter).^[1][3][5] The cognates include Lithuanian du, Latvian divi, Old Prussian dwai, Ancient Greek δύω (dúō), Latin duo, Gothic 𐍄𐍅𐌰𐌹 (twai), Old High German zwei, Albanian dy and Tocharian A wu.^[2][4][3] The jer of ⟨дъва⟩ is not always reconstructed: some posit Proto-Slavic ⟨*dv-⟩, and Mańczak explains the loss of ⟨ъ⟩ by the frequency of the word.^[3] Obnorsky held that two was once the smallest number in counting, before the more abstract notion of one.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Ostromir Gospel of 1056–1057 has „Стояше Иоанъ и отъ ученикъ его дъва” “John stood, and two of his disciples” (John 1:35).^[6] The Izbornik of 1073 has the feminine, двѣ хотѣнии и двѣ естьствѣ “two wills and two natures”.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Old Russian declined the numeral as a dual: genitive дъвою, later дъву.^[8][5] The phrases дъва на десять “two on ten” and двадесяти became двенадцать and двадцать, recorded from the 14th century.^[8][9] The Lay of Igor's Campaign speaks of Igor and Vsevolod as „два храбрая Святъславлича” “the two brave sons of Svyatoslav”.^[6]

Colloquial Russian uses два for “very few” (двух слов связать не может “cannot put two words together”), and the dialects have два столько “twice as much” (Kolyma, Perm, Arkhangelsk).^[3] In schools it is also the name of the mark “two”, a fail.^[5][10]

Timeline

• 1056–1057 – дъва in the Ostromir Gospel.^[6]
• 1073 – двѣ хотѣнии “two wills” in the Izbornik of 1073.^[7]
• 1282 – на дву коню “on two horses” in the Russkaya Pravda (short version, copy of 1282).^[7]
• 14th century – двенадцать and двадцать as single words.^[8][9]
• 1690 – зъ двѣма вершки “with two vershoks” in a description of an icon.^[7]

Meanings

Numeral

1. two: the number, figure and quantity 2.^[10][11]
2. (colloquial) Very few: в двух словах “in a word, briefly”.^[10][3]
3. (indeclinable noun) The school mark “two”, a fail, the same as двойка.^[10][5]

Word family

• двое
• дважды
• двадцать
• двенадцать
• двести
• двойка
• двойной
• вдвоём
• вдвое
• двойник

Related words

• двоежёнство
• двоеточие
• двоиться
• двоичный
• двойня
• двойственный
• двоюродный
• двоякий
• двубортный
• двугласный
• Old East Slavic дъва (dŭva)

Usage notes

Два is used with masculine and neuter nouns, две with feminine ones; the noun stands in the genitive singular (два дома “two houses”).^[10][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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, 486
3. ^ 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. 13, 21
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. 5, s.v. два
5. ^ a b c d Shaposhnikov, A. K. (2010), Ètimologičeskij slovar' sovremennogo russkogo jazyka [Этимологический словарь современного русского языка], 2 vols., Moskva: Flinta / Nauka, p. 1, 208
6. ^ a b c 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. два
7. ^ 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, 179
8. ^ 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. два
9. ^ a b Tsyganenko, G. P. (1989), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka [Этимологический словарь русского языка], 2nd ed., Kiev: Radjans'ka škola, p. s.v. два
10. ^ a b c d e Ozhegov, S. I.; Shvedova, N. Yu. (1997), Tolkovyj slovar' russkogo jazyka [Толковый словарь русского языка], 4th ed., Moskva: Azbukovnik, p. s.v. два
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. два