другой

Forms

друго́й (drugój)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old East Slavic дроугъ (drugŭ), from Proto-Slavic *drugъ.^[1] It was at first the same word as друг “friend”.^[2][3] The sense “other” arose in phrases such as *drugъ druga (“one another”) and *drugъ drugu (“one to another”), which survive as друг друга;^[3][4] Old Russian could still use другъ (drugŭ) for “other” and другыи (drugyi) for “comrade”.^[3] The Russian ending ⟨-ой⟩ comes from ⟨-ыи⟩.^[5]

The related forms are Old Church Slavonic дроугъ (drugŭ, “other”) (with дроугъ дроуга (drugŭ druga) translating Ancient Greek ἀλλήλους (allḗlous)), Ukrainian другий (druhyj, “second”), Belarusian другі (druhí, “second”), Bulgarian други (drugi), Serbo-Croatian drugi, Slovene drug (“other”) beside drugi (“second”), Czech druhý (“second”) and Polish drugi (“second”).^[2][3] Shaposhnikov gives the Proto-Slavic sense as “the one who follows, next, second”, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrewgʰ- in a sense “follower, companion on a campaign”;^[6] its cognates include Lithuanian draũgas (“companion”) and Old High German truht (“troop of warriors”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Sinai Patericon, in a manuscript of the 11th–12th century, has it in a contrast of two bishops: „бе же одинъ богатъ и хыщьникъ, другыи же зѣло съмѣренъ” “one was rich and grasping, the other very humble”.^[7] Its first sense in the dictionary is “other, not this one; one more”.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Old Russian used другой for “other” and, in opposition with одинъ, for “the one … the other”;^[7] in the plural друзии meant “some … others”.^[7] From the 15th century it could also mean “some, a certain”.^[7] The old sense “second” lived on: Dal records другой “the next after the first, second” from Arkhangelsk, and a Moscow clerk of 1611 was called Другой Тимофеевич Рындин.^[8][9] The 18th century still used the short form друг as a noun “another person”: „Жаль друга, да не как себя” “one is sorry for another, but not as for oneself”.^[10]

In Olonets dialects другая половина “the other half” meant the house spirit or the forest spirit.^[11]

Timeline

• 11th–12th century – другыи “the other” in the Sinai Patericon.^[7]
• 1219 – друзии “others” in the Life of Niphon.^[7]
• 1611 – Другой as a personal name in Moscow.^[9]
• 1667 – въ другомъ столе “at the other table” in Kotoshikhin.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Not this one, not the one in question; other: на другой стороне улицы “on the other side of the street”.^[12][13]
2. Not the same, different: он стал совсем другим “he became quite a different man”.^[12][13]
3. second, next: на другое утро “the next morning”.^[12][14]
4. (colloquial, pronoun) Some, any other person: другой бы обиделся “someone else would have taken offence”.^[12]
5. (as a noun, другой) Someone else, not oneself; in the plural другие “other people”.^[12][15]

Word family

• по-другому

Related words

• друг
• вдруг
• Old East Slavic дроугъ (drugŭ)

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress, p. 1, 543
3. ^ a b c d 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. другой
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. другой
5. ^ Tsyganenko, G. P. (1989), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka [Этимологический словарь русского языка], 2nd ed., Kiev: Radjans'ka škola, p. s.v. другой
6. ^ Shaposhnikov, A. K. (2010), Ètimologičeskij slovar' sovremennogo russkogo jazyka [Этимологический словарь современного русского языка], 2 vols., Moskva: Flinta / Nauka, p. 1, 247
7. ^ a b c d e f g h 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, 360
8. ^ 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. другой
9. ^ a b Tupikov, N. M. (1903), Slovar' drevne-russkix ličnyx sobstvennyx imen [Словарь древне-русских личных собственных имен], Sankt-Peterburg, p. 135
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. другой
11. ^ 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. 8, 210
12. ^ 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. другой
13. ^ a b 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. другой
14. ^ Ushakov, D. N. (ed.) (1935–1940), Tolkovyj slovar' russkogo jazyka [Толковый словарь русского языка], 4 vols., Moskva: Sovetskaja ènciklopedija / OGIZ, p. s.v. другой
15. ^ 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. другой