за

Forms

за (za)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old East Slavic за (za), from Proto-Slavic *za (“behind, beyond, after, for”).^[1][2] It is a preposition and a prefix throughout Slavic: Ukrainian за (za), Belarusian за (za), Old Church Slavonic за (za), Bulgarian за (za), Serbo-Croatian за (za), Slovene za, Czech za, Polish za and Upper Sorbian za.^[3][4] Chernykh notes that only the South Slavic languages also use it with the genitive, as in за бога (za boga, “for God's sake”).^[5]

Its nearest relatives are Baltic: the East Lithuanian preposition ažù, from *ažuo, and the Latvian dialect forms az beside aiz- (“behind, beyond”).^[3][4] Chernykh holds that the initial ⟨a-⟩ arose in Baltic,^[5] and Vasmer compares the relation of the Baltic form to the Slavic one with that of Ancient Greek ἄνω (ánō) to на.^[3] ESRJa, Chernykh and Shaposhnikov trace the word to Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰō (“behind, after, because of”), a preposition and particle;^[4][5][6] Wiktionary gives the chain through Proto-Balto-Slavic *źō and suggests an old instrumental of a pronominal stem.^[1] A link with prefixes in Armenian and Gothic is accepted by some scholars but doubtful to Vasmer because of the meaning,^[3][4] and Chernykh calls the word's history unclear: outside Balto-Slavic he finds no convincing match except perhaps an Armenian preposition meaning “concerning”.^[5] Tsyganenko connects it with зад and takes “behind” as its first sense.^[7]

The phrase что за “what kind of” is probably a calque of German was für ein, as is Polish co za.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A dated text of 1166, the Teaching of Ilya, asks „то за что ся буду и родилъ?” “why then was I born?”.^[8] The chronicle entry for 980, as the Laurentian Chronicle preserves it, has „Побѣгни за градъ” “flee beyond the town”.^[8] Shaposhnikov records the preposition and the prefix throughout the 11th–17th centuries.^[6]

Semantic evolution

ESRJa takes the spatial and temporal senses as the oldest; the causal sense grew out of them and is already found in Old Russian and Old Church Slavonic texts.^[4][9] Sreznevsky's Old Russian material adds duration, protection, marriage, sequence, means and price.^[10] The Russkaya Pravda fixes a payment „за голову” “for a head”, in 15th-century copies of an 11th-century text,^[8] and gives a sister in marriage „за мужь”, in a copy of 1282.^[8] The Lay of Igor's Campaign uses it 17 times, above all for what one fights for: „за землю Руськую” “for the Russian land”.^[11]

Vinogradov follows Potebnja in taking за чистую монету “at face value” for a later form of за чистую белку, from the time when squirrel pelts served as money;^[12] Polish has both phrases.^[12] In regional speech it can introduce a comparison, лучше за твою “better than yours” (Pskov, 1852), and can stand for из-за “because of”.^[13]

Timeline

• 1166 – „за что” “for what” in the Teaching of Ilya.^[8]
• end of the 12th century – „за землю Руськую” “for the Russian land” in the Lay of Igor's Campaign.^[11]
• 1282 – „за мужь” “to a husband” in a copy of the Russkaya Pravda.^[8]
• 1852 – the regional comparative use лучше за твою in the Pskov area.^[13]

Meanings

Preposition

1. (with the instrumental or accusative) behind, beyond, on the other side of;^[14][1] за городом “out of town”.^[14][1]
2. (with the instrumental or accusative) At, by, around: sitting down to or sitting at a table.^[14]
3. Marks the aim or object of an action: fighting for something, worrying about or looking after someone.^[14]
4. Marks marriage of a woman: выйти замуж за “to marry (a man)”.^[14]
5. Because of, for: praising or punishing someone for something.^[14]
6. (with the accusative) Marks what is taken hold of: taking someone by the hand.^[14]
7. (with the accusative) over a limit: someone is over forty, a frost of over thirty degrees.^[14]
8. (with the accusative) Marks a distance or a time before something: five days before the deadline.^[14]
9. (with the accusative) Within, during a period: work done in a week.^[14][1]
10. (with the accusative) instead of, as: working for someone else, taking someone for an acquaintance.^[14]
11. (with the accusative) In return for, at a price: paying for work, buying for ten roubles.^[14]
12. (with the accusative) In favour of: voting for a proposal.^[14][1]
13. (with the instrumental) After, one after another: год за годом “year after year”.^[14]
14. (with the instrumental) To fetch or get: going for water.^[14]
15. (colloquial, predicative) In favour, agreed; as an indeclinable neuter noun, an argument for: за и против “the pros and cons”.^[14]

Related words

• за-
• зад
• из-за
• Old East Slavic за (za)

Usage notes

The preposition is unstressed, but the stress of some nouns moves onto it: за́ нос, за́ морем.^[15] As a verbal prefix за- marks the start of an action (запеть), movement beyond a limit (заехать), excess (закормить) and covering (замазать).^[16]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Derksen, Rick (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 4, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 540
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. 2, 69
4. ^ 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. 6, s.v. за
5. ^ a b c d 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. за
6. ^ a b Shaposhnikov, A. K. (2010), Ètimologičeskij slovar' sovremennogo russkogo jazyka [Этимологический словарь современного русского языка], 2 vols., Moskva: Flinta / Nauka, p. 1, 277
7. ^ Tsyganenko, G. P. (1989), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka [Этимологический словарь русского языка], 2nd ed., Kiev: Radjans'ka škola, p. s.v. за
8. ^ a b c d e f 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. 5, 127
9. ^ 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. за
10. ^ Sreznevsky, I. I. (1893–1912), Materialy dlja slovarja drevne-russkago jazyka po pis'mennym pamjatnikam [Материалы для словаря древнерусского языка по письменным памятникам], 3 vols., Sankt-Peterburg: Imperatorskaja Akademija nauk, p. 3, s.v. за
11. ^ a b 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. за
12. ^ a b Vinogradov, V. V. (1999), Istorija slov [История слов], Moskva: Institut russkogo jazyka RAN (online edition, etymolog.ruslang.ru), p. s.v. за
13. ^ a b 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. 9, 235
14. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Ozhegov, S. I.; Shvedova, N. Yu. (1997), Tolkovyj slovar' russkogo jazyka [Толковый словарь русского языка], 4th ed., Moskva: Azbukovnik, p. s.v. за
15. ^ Ushakov, D. N. (ed.) (1935–1940), Tolkovyj slovar' russkogo jazyka [Толковый словарь русского языка], 4 vols., Moskva: Sovetskaja ènciklopedija / OGIZ, p. s.v. за
16. ^ Ozhegov, S. I.; Shvedova, N. Yu. (1997), Tolkovyj slovar' russkogo jazyka [Толковый словарь русского языка], 4th ed., Moskva: Azbukovnik, p. s.v. за...