Etymologically
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не

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Pronunciation

  • Unstressed: [nʲɪ][1]
  • Stressed: [ˈnʲe][1]

Forms

не (ne)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old East Slavic не (ne), from Proto-Slavic *ne.[1][2][3] All the Slavic languages have it, now and in the past: Old Church Slavonic не (ne), Ukrainian не (ne), Bulgarian не (ne), Polish nie and Czech ne.[2][3]

Its cognates include Lithuanian nè (“no”), Latvian ne, Latin ne- (in nesciō (“I do not know”)), Gothic 𐌽𐌹 (ni), Old English ne and German nicht, from Proto-Indo-European *né.[3][1] Beside it stood a long ⟨*nē⟩, as in nē, and a zero grade ⟨*n̥⟩, in the prefixes Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-), in- and un-.[3] Shaposhnikov puts both ⟨*ne⟩ and ⟨*nē⟩ in Proto-Slavic.[4]

In folk poetry the word also means “like, as”;[5] Vasmer compares ne (“than”) and derives нежели from it, and since negatives serve as comparative particles in several Indo-European languages he thinks it probably the same word, though others take it from the pronoun stem of он.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

SDRJa counts more than 20,000 examples.[6] The first is from the Izbornik of 1076: „дѹховьна˫а помышлѧи а не земльна˫а” “think of the spiritual, and not of the earthly”.[6] A Novgorod charter of 1189–1199 rules „нѣмчина не сажати в погребъ” “a German is not to be put in the cellar”.[6]

Semantic evolution

Old Russian joined не to the present of быти: нѣсмь “I am not”, нѣсть “is not”, as in the Izbornik of 1076.[7] It also had a particle нѣ “about, some”, used with numbers in the Novgorod chronicle: нѣ въ тысѧщи “some thousand strong”.[8][9]

As a prefix не- makes opposites (неприятель “enemy”), softened qualities (неплохой “not bad”), names of people who cannot do something (неуч), and negative or indefinite pronouns (некого, нечего).[10]

Timeline

  • 1076 – не in the Izbornik of 1076.[6]
  • 1149 – the particle нѣ “about” in the Novgorod First Chronicle.[8]
  • 1189–1199 – не сажати “not to put” in a Novgorod charter.[6]

Meanings

Particle

  1. not: negates the word or phrase it stands before.[11][4][1]
  2. Between two contrasted clauses, denies the situation named in the first.[11][4]
  3. Between two repetitions of a word, marks a state that is neither one thing nor the other, or indifference to the outcome: хочешь не хочешь “like it or not”.[11][4]
  4. (colloquial) no, the same as нет.[4][1]

Prefix

  1. не-: forms words of opposite or weakened meaning, and negative or indefinite pronouns and adverbs (негде, некогда).[10][1]

Word family

  • нежели
  • некий
  • неприятель
  • нечего
  • ни
  • нет
  • Old East Slavic нѣ (ně)

Usage notes

With the pronouns некого and нечего a preposition comes between the parts: не у кого, не с кем.[10] The не of Old Russian понеже “because” and Church Slavonic занеже is a different element, from the relative pronoun.[12]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b 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. не
  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. 3, 52
  4. ^ a b c d e Shaposhnikov, A. K. (2010), Ètimologičeskij slovar' sovremennogo russkogo jazyka [Этимологический словарь современного русского языка], 2 vols., Moskva: Flinta / Nauka, p. 2, 3
  5. ^ a b Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress, p. 3, 52–53
  6. ^ a b c d e 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. не
  7. ^ 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. нѣсмь
  8. ^ a b 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. нѣ
  9. ^ 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. 2, s.v. нѣ
  10. ^ a b c Ozhegov, S. I.; Shvedova, N. Yu. (1997), Tolkovyj slovar' russkogo jazyka [Толковый словарь русского языка], 4th ed., Moskva: Azbukovnik, p. s.v. не...
  11. ^ a b c Ozhegov, S. I.; Shvedova, N. Yu. (1997), Tolkovyj slovar' russkogo jazyka [Толковый словарь русского языка], 4th ed., Moskva: Azbukovnik, p. s.v. не
  12. ^ Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress, p. 3, 53