Etymologically
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который

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Pronunciation

  • [kɐˈtorɨj][1]

Forms

кото́рый (kotóryj) m[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old East Slavic которꙑи (kotoryi), from Proto-Slavic *kotorъjь, the long (definite) form of an adjective pronoun *kotorъ, beside *koterъjь.[1][2][3] It is common Slavic: Old Church Slavonic которꙑи (kotoryi, “which, who”), Ukrainian котрий (kotryj), Belarusian каторы (katory), Slovene kateri, Czech který and Polish który.[4][5] Bulgarian has it only in dialects;[2] Serbo-Croatian has a dialect form ⟨котери⟩.[4]

The pronoun goes back to Proto-Indo-European *kʷóteros (“which of two”), formed from the interrogative stem *kʷo- with the comparative suffix ⟨*-tero-⟩.[1][3][2] Its cognates include Lithuanian katras (“which of two”), Latvian katrs, Gothic 𐍈𐌰𐌸𐌰𐍂 (ƕaþar, “which of two”), Old High German hwedar, German weder (“neither”) and Ancient Greek πότερος (póteros, “which of two”).[4][5] Vasmer, after Vaillant, explains that ⟨*kotorъ⟩ first meant which of two, as against ⟨*kъjь⟩, which of many.[4] кто has the same stem.[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Izbornik of 1076 has the interrogative который: „которааго же отъ трии тѣхъ боле боите ся” “which of these three do you fear the most?”.[6] Chernykh dates it in Old Russian from the 11th century.[2]

Semantic evolution

The pronoun asked “which?” and, in later texts, “who exactly?”: in 1688 an emperor asks those at table which of the two of them is emperor (который из дву насъ).[6] In the 18th century it was still common as a question word (которой ты земли? “what land are you from?”).[7] The dialects use the neuter которое for “some things” and котору for “why so long?”.[8]

Timeline

  • 1076 – которааго “which (of three)” in the Izbornik of 1076.[6]
  • 1555 – которово еси закона? “of what faith are you?”, a metropolitan's question to a Lithuanian envoy.[6]
  • 1688 – который из дву насъ “which of the two of us”.[6]
  • 1858 – dialect которое… а которое “some things… and others”, Perm.[8]

Meanings

Pronoun

  1. which, which one, in questions about order or choice: который час? “what time is it?”.[9][10]
  2. Relative: who, which, that, introducing a clause about a noun: дом, в котором я вырос “the house I grew up in”.[9]
  3. (colloquial) Not the first, many a: который раз тебе говорю “how many times have I told you”.[9]
  4. (colloquial) Some, a certain: the same as некоторый.[9]

Word family

  • некоторый
  • который-нибудь

Usage notes

In the relative use the pronoun agrees in gender and number with its noun, while its case depends on its own clause.[9][11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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. который
  3. ^ a b Shaposhnikov, A. K. (2010), Ètimologičeskij slovar' sovremennogo russkogo jazyka [Этимологический словарь современного русского языка], 2 vols., Moskva: Flinta / Nauka, p. 1, 433
  4. ^ 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, 353–354
  5. ^ 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. 8, s.v. который
  6. ^ a b c d e 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. 7, 385
  7. ^ 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. 10, 208
  8. ^ 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. 15, 112
  9. ^ 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. который
  10. ^ 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. который
  11. ^ Ushakov, D. N. (ed.) (1935–1940), Tolkovyj slovar' russkogo jazyka [Толковый словарь русского языка], 4 vols., Moskva: Sovetskaja ènciklopedija / OGIZ, p. s.v. который