как

Forms

как (kak)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old East Slavic како (kako), from Proto-Slavic *kako.^[1][2] Old Russian, like Old Church Slavonic како (kako), had the longer form, which translates Ancient Greek πῶς (pôs, “how”) and ὅπως (hópōs, “how, so that”).^[3][4] The short ⟨как⟩ arose when the unstressed final vowel was dropped.^[5][6] Vasmer, after Sobolevsky, finds it first in a charter of about 1330,^[3] and Chernykh in the treaty charter of Grand Prince Dmitry Donskoy of 1375, where it stands four times, while the earlier 14th-century charters of the princes have only ⟨како⟩.^[4][7]

The same adverb is Bulgarian как (kak), Serbo-Croatian како (kako) and Slovene kako.^[4][2] Ukrainian як (jak), Belarusian як (jak) and Czech jak express the same sense with a form in ⟨j-⟩, while Upper Sorbian kak serves in questions beside jako.^[4]

The adverb is formed from the interrogative pronoun stem *ka- with the suffix ⟨-ко⟩, as так is formed from ⟨та-⟩.^[2][5] The stem appears with another vowel in кто, когда and куда.^[2] It continues Proto-Indo-European *kʷo- (“who, which”).^[7][4] The sources compare Lithuanian koks (“what kind of”), Latin quālis (“of what kind”), Old Irish cách (“each”) and Welsh pawb (“everyone”).^[8][2] The adjective какой was made from the same base.^[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Sreznevsky's materials record the Old Russian како as an interrogative and a relative conjunction, and also in the senses “as” and “when”.^[10] The short form как first appears in 14th-century charters: about 1330 according to Vasmer,^[3] and in Dmitry Donskoy's treaty charter of 1375, as a conjunction, according to Chernykh.^[4]

Semantic evolution

In the 18th century как asked about manner and circumstances, while како was kept as a Church Slavonic and rhetorical form.^[11] The phrase как рукой сняло “gone as if lifted off by a hand” comes from folk healing and the belief in charms: in Maykov's poem Elisei (1771) an old fortune-teller uses it.^[12]

The dialects use как to mean “than” after a comparative (поболе, как триста “more than three hundred”, recorded near Klin in 1910) and “as if”.^[13]

Timeline

• c. 1330 – the short form как in a charter, as Sobolevsky dated it.^[3]
• 1375 – как four times, as a conjunction, in the treaty charter of Dmitry Donskoy.^[4]
• 1771 – the phrase как рукой сняло in Maykov's Elisei.^[12]
• 1910 – the dialect sense “than” near Klin, Moscow province.^[13]

Meanings

Adverb

1. how, in what way: как вы туда попали? “how did you get there?”.^[14][15]
2. How much, to what degree: как далеко до станции? “how far is it to the station?”.^[14]
3. (exclamatory) How, to such a degree: как тут тихо! “how quiet it is here!”.^[14]

Particle

1. Expresses surprise: как! ты всё ещё здесь? “what! are you still here?”.^[14]
2. (colloquial) With a perfective verb, marks a sudden action in the past: он как вскочит! “and up he jumped!”.^[14][1]

Conjunction

1. like, as: introduces a comparison, as in лёгкий как пух “light as down”.^[14][1]
2. As, in the role of: говорю тебе как врач “I am telling you as a doctor”.^[14][1]
3. In parenthetical phrases such as как известно “as is well known”.^[14]
4. When, whenever, or since: прошло два года, как он уехал “two years have passed since he left”.^[14][1]
5. After a negative or a question: except, other than: кому ещё, как не ему? “who else but him?”.^[14][1]

Word family

• как будто
• как-нибудь
• как-то
• никак
• кое-как
• какой

Related words

• так
• кто
• когда
• куда
• Old East Slavic како (kako)

Usage notes

Как combines into many fixed conjunctions and particles: как будто “as if”, как бы “as it were”, как бы то ни было “be that as it may”.^[14] A slang noun как “backside” is a separate word, which Epishkin lists among the borrowings from French caca.^[16][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 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. 8, s.v. как
3. ^ a b c d Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress, p. 2, 162
4. ^ a b c d e f g 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. как
5. ^ 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. как
6. ^ 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. как
7. ^ a b Shaposhnikov, A. K. (2010), Ètimologičeskij slovar' sovremennogo russkogo jazyka [Этимологический словарь современного русского языка], 2 vols., Moskva: Flinta / Nauka, p. 1, 371
8. ^ a b Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress, p. 2, 163
9. ^ Tsyganenko, G. P. (1989), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka [Этимологический словарь русского языка], 2nd ed., Kiev: Radjans'ka škola, p. s.v. как
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. 1, s.v. како
11. ^ 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. 9, 201
12. ^ a b Vinogradov, V. V. (1999), Istorija slov [История слов], Moskva: Institut russkogo jazyka RAN (online edition, etymolog.ruslang.ru), p. s.v. как
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. 12, 327
14. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Ozhegov, S. I.; Shvedova, N. Yu. (1997), Tolkovyj slovar' russkogo jazyka [Толковый словарь русского языка], 4th ed., Moskva: Azbukovnik, p. s.v. как
15. ^ 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. как
16. ^ Epishkin, N. I. (2010), Istoričeskij slovar' gallicizmov russkogo jazyka [Исторический словарь галлицизмов русского языка], Moskva: ÈTS, p. s.v. как
17. ^ Elistratov, V. S. (2000), Slovar' russkogo argo [Словарь русского арго], Moskva: Russkie slovari, p. s.v. как