себя

Forms

себя́ (sebjá)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old East Slavic себе (sebe), from Proto-Slavic *sebe, the genitive of the reflexive pronoun.^[1][2] The form is shared by the Slavic languages: Old Church Slavonic себе (sebe), Ukrainian себе (sebe), Bulgarian себе (sebe), Czech sebe and Polish siebie.^[2] The Russian ending ⟨-я⟩ arose either by sound change (Shakhmatov) or under the influence of the accusative сѧ (sę), the present -ся;^[2] Wiktionary takes it as a blend of the two Old Russian forms.^[1]

The Slavic form itself came from ⟨*seve⟩ under the influence of the dative ⟨*sebě⟩ (Russian себе).^[2] It is related to Lithuanian savęs, Ancient Greek ἑέ (heé, “himself”) in Homer and Latin suī.^[2] Wiktionary traces the dative to Proto-Indo-European *sebʰyo, the dative of *swé.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Ostromir Gospel of 1056–1057 has the dative: „Сътворите себѣ вълагалища неветъшающа” “Provide yourselves bags which wax not old” (Luke 12:33).^[3] The Izbornik of 1073 has the form собѣ: „Оже ти собѣ не лубо, то того и другу не твори” “what is not pleasing to thyself, do not do to another”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

SlRJa XI–XVII lists the word under себя with the variants собя, себе and собе; a sermon of the 12th–13th centuries has „любити друга, акы себя” “to love one's neighbour as oneself”.^[3] The Lay of Igor's Campaign has the genitive себе: the men of Kursk gallop like grey wolves „ищучи себе чти” “seeking honour for themselves”.^[4] The dialects of Oryol and elsewhere keep себе and сябе as the genitive.^[5]

The instrumental собой has developed the sense “in looks, in appearance”.^[6]

Timeline

• 1056–1057 – себѣ “for yourselves” in the Ostromir Gospel.^[3]
• 1073 – собѣ “to thyself” in the Izbornik of 1073.^[3]
• 12th–13th centuries – акы себя “as oneself” in a sermon against paganism.^[3]

Meanings

Pronoun

1. The reflexive pronoun: oneself, myself, yourself, himself and so on; it shows that the action is turned back on the doer, and has no nominative.^[6][1]
2. (instrumental собой) In looks, in appearance: good-looking, small of stature.^[6]

Word family

• про себя
• так себе
• себестоимость
• себялюбие

Related words

• свой
• -ся
• Old East Slavic себе (sebe)

Usage notes

The cases are себя, dative and prepositional себе, instrumental собой or собою.^[6] Set phrases include выйти из себя “to lose one's temper”, быть самим собой “to be oneself” and про себя “silently, to oneself”.^[6][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. 3, 588
3. ^ 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. 24, 8
4. ^ Vinogradova, V. L. (1965–1984), Slovar'-spravočnik «Slova o polku Igoreve» [Словарь-справочник «Слова о полку Игореве»], 6 vols., Moskva / Leningrad: Nauka
5. ^ Preobrazhensky, A. G. (1910–1914), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka [Этимологический словарь русского языка], 2 vols. (A–T; vol. 3, T–Ja, 1949), Moskva: Lissner & Sovko, p. 2, 267
6. ^ 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. себя