наш

Forms

наш (naš)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old East Slavic нашь (našĭ), from Proto-Slavic *našь (“our”).^[1][2][3] The word is common Slavic: Ukrainian наш (naš), Old Church Slavonic нашь (našĭ), Bulgarian наш (naš), Serbo-Croatian naš, Slovene naš, Czech náš, Slovak náš, Polish nasz, Upper Sorbian naš and Lower Sorbian naš.^[2]

It continues Proto-Indo-European *nōs (“us”) extended with the suffix *-yos;^[2][3] Shansky and Bobrova describe it as a derivative with ⟨-j-⟩ of the stem of Latin nōs (“we, us”).^[4] The same stem is in the oblique case нас, with the cognates Old Prussian nuson (“of us”), Ancient Greek νώ (nṓ, “we two”) and the Latin word.^[5] ваш is formed in the same way from вас.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The oldest dated record is an inscription of 1054: „ѫсъпениѥ ц҃рѧ нашго” “the dormition of our tsar”.^[7] The Izbornik of 1076 has „из ѹстъ нашихъ” “out of our mouths”.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Old Russian used the word, some 4,000 times in the texts of SDRJa, as the possessive of “we”, and also for what concerns “us”: a note of 1125 in a Gospel book asks God to save „кнѧзѧ нашего” “our prince”, and a Novgorod charter of 1270 speaks of „гости нашемѹ” “our merchant”.^[7][3]

In popular speech не наш “not ours” is a taboo name of the devil, and a 17th-century text has the folk derivative наский “our”.^[2] In the modern language наши is “our side, our people”, as in знай наших! “that's the kind we are!” and наша взяла! “we've won!”.^[8]

Timeline

• 1054 – нашго “our” in an inscription.^[7]
• 1076 – нашихъ “our” in the Izbornik of 1076.^[7]
• 1125 – кнѧзѧ нашего “our prince” in a note in a Gospel book.^[7]
• 1270 – гости нашемѹ “our merchant” in a Novgorod charter.^[7]

Meanings

Pronoun

1. our, ours: belonging or relating to us, as in наш город “our town”.^[8][9]
2. (as a noun, наши) Our people: our family, our side or our team.^[8][1]

Word family

• по-нашему
• нашенский

Related words

• мы
• нас
• ваш
• Old East Slavic нашь (našĭ)

Usage notes

Наш is also the old name of the letter н in the Cyrillic alphabet.^[10][11][1] По-нашему means “as we wish” and “in our opinion”, and наше вам! is a joking greeting.^[8]

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. 3, 51
3. ^ a b c Shaposhnikov, A. K. (2010), Ètimologičeskij slovar' sovremennogo russkogo jazyka [Этимологический словарь современного русского языка], 2 vols., Moskva: Flinta / Nauka, p. 2, 3
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. наш
5. ^ Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress, p. 3, 47
6. ^ 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. 6, 137
7. ^ a b c d e f g Avanesov, R. I. et al. (eds.) (1988–), Slovar' drevnerusskogo jazyka (XI–XIV vv.) [Словарь древнерусского языка (XI–XIV вв.)], vols. 1–13, Moskva: Russkij jazyk / Azbukovnik, p. s.v. нашь
8. ^ a b c d Ozhegov, S. I.; Shvedova, N. Yu. (1997), Tolkovyj slovar' russkogo jazyka [Толковый словарь русского языка], 4th ed., Moskva: Azbukovnik, p. s.v. наш
9. ^ 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. наш
10. ^ 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. наш
11. ^ 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. наш