Etymologically
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слыть

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Pronunciation

Forms

слыть (slytʹ) impf (perfective прослы́ть)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old East Slavic слути (sluti), present слову (slovu), from Proto-Slavic *sluti, present *slovǫ;[2][3] Wiktionary and Derksen give the Proto-Slavic infinitive as *slyti (“to have a reputation”).[1][4] The verb is shared with Old Church Slavonic слоути (slouti, “to be called”), Ukrainian слити (slyty), Belarusian слыць (slycʹ), Slovene sluti (“to be famous, to sound”), Czech slout (“to be called”) and Slovak sluť; slynout and Polish słynąć have a nasal suffix.[5]

The present stem ⟨слыв-⟩ is a Russian innovation: Vasmer dates ⟨слыву⟩ from the 16th century, after Sobolevsky,[5] while Chernykh finds словутъ (slovutŭ) still usual in the 17th century and the new stem established mainly in the 18th; the infinitive, made like плыть, may have come in somewhat earlier.[2]

The root is Proto-Indo-European *ḱlew- (“to hear”), and the cognates include Latvian sluvēt (“to be reputed”), Ancient Greek κλύω (klúō, “to hear”) with κλυτός (klutós, “famous”), Latin clueō (“to be called”) with inclutus (“famous”), and Old High German hlūt (“loud”).[5][3][1] слово, слава, слух and слышать come from the same root.[5][3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Chernykh finds слути, слову from the beginning of Old Russian writing, mostly in the senses “to be called, to bear a name, to be famous”.[2] A 13th-century manuscript of the Pandects of Nikon of the Black Mountain has „от всѣхъ слути добру” “to be called good by everyone”.[6] The Laurentian Codex of 1377 says of the Black Sea „еже море словеть Руское” “which sea is called the Russian Sea”.[6]

Semantic evolution

In the 11th–17th centuries слути meant “to be reputed”, “to be called, to bear a name”, “to mean” (of a word) and “to be famous”.[6] The form слыти “to be called” appears already in the Prologue of 1383,[7] and in 17th-century texts it is common: a proverb sets горду быть against глупымъ слыть, and the Razin documents of 1670 ask what a village слывет “is called”.[8] It also meant “to spread, go about” of rumours.[8] Shaposhnikov dates the replacement of слути, слову by слыти, слыву to the 17th–18th centuries, and finds по чиему имени слыти in the dictionary of 1731.[3]

Modern Russian keeps “to be known as, to pass for”, with the perfective прослыть, and colloquially “to be known by a nickname”;[9][10] Ushakov also records a substandard “to circulate” of a saying.[11]

Timeline

  • 13th century – слути добру “to be called good” in a manuscript of Nikon's Pandects.[6]
  • 1377 – словеть “is called” in the Laurentian Codex of the Primary Chronicle.[6]
  • 1383 – слыти “to be called” in the Prologue of 1383.[7]
  • 1647 – the old present словутъ still in a book on military formation.[2]
  • 1670 – слывет “is called” in the documents of the Razin uprising.[8]
  • 1731 – слыти in a dictionary.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To pass for, to have the reputation of (кем-чем or за кого-что): слыть знатоком is to be thought an expert.[9][10][1]
  2. (colloquial) To be known by a nickname.[10]
  3. (substandard, dated) To go about, to circulate (of a saying or rumour).[11]

Word family

  • прослыть

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Chernykh, P. Ya. (1993), Istoriko-ètimologičeskij slovar' sovremennogo russkogo jazyka [Историко-этимологический словарь современного русского языка], 2 vols., Moskva: Russkij jazyk, p. 2, s.v. слыть
  3. ^ 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, 337
  4. ^ Derksen, Rick (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 4, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 456
  5. ^ 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, 680
  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. 25, 137
  7. ^ 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. 11, 373
  8. ^ a b c 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. 25, 146
  9. ^ a b Ozhegov, S. I.; Shvedova, N. Yu. (1997), Tolkovyj slovar' russkogo jazyka [Толковый словарь русского языка], 4th ed., Moskva: Azbukovnik, p. s.v. слыть
  10. ^ a b c 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. слыть
  11. ^ a b Ushakov, D. N. (ed.) (1935–1940), Tolkovyj slovar' russkogo jazyka [Толковый словарь русского языка], 4 vols., Moskva: Sovetskaja ènciklopedija / OGIZ, p. s.v. слыть