Etymologically
Log in

слышать

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 17:41. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • [ˈsɫɨʂətʲ], [ˈsɫɨʂat͡sʲ][1]
  • Russia, Southern: [ˈsɫɨʂətʲ], [ˈsɫɨʂɨtʲ][1]
  • Eastern, Russia, Southern: [ˈsɫɨʂtʲ][1]
  • Ukraine: [ˈsɫɪʃɐtʲ][1]

Forms

слы́шать (slýšatʹ) impf (perfective услы́шать)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old East Slavic слышати (slyšati), from Proto-Slavic *slỳšati (“to hear”).[1][2][3] Its relatives in the other Slavic languages include Old Church Slavonic слꙑшати (slyšati), Czech slyšeti, Polish słyszeć and Serbo-Croatian slȉšati.[3]

Shaposhnikov explains the Proto-Slavic verb and its by-form *slyxati (Russian слыхать) as verbs made from a lengthened grade of the stem of *sluxъ, Russian слух “hearing”.[2] Vasmer derives both this verb and слушать from that noun.[4] The base is *k’lū-s-, an extension of the root Proto-Indo-European *ḱlew- (“to hear”).[2][1] Wiktionary reconstructs an earlier *slyxěti, from *ḱléwseti, originally “to want to hear, to stay listening”.[1] Cognates named by Shaposhnikov are Lithuanian paklùsti (“to obey”), Ancient Greek κλύω (klúō, “to hear”) and Old High German hlūt (“loud”);[2] Vasmer adds Avestan sraōša- (“hearing, obedience”) and klausà (“hearing”), cognate with the Russian noun.[4] слава, слово and слыть belong to the same root.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Ostromir Gospel of 1056–1057 has „слыша пѣния и ликы” “he heard music and dancing” (the elder son in the parable of the prodigal son, Luke 15:25), and the Izbornik of 1076 speaks of birdsong “heard from earth to heaven”.[5] The Novgorod First Chronicle notes under 1138 a great thunder „яко слышахомъ чисто” “so that we heard it clearly”.[5]

Semantic evolution

Already in Old Russian the verb meant not only “to perceive with the ear” but also “to pay attention” and “to know from what others say”.[6] The Lay of Igor's Campaign uses it of bells heard from afar and of Yaroslavna's voice heard on the Danube.[5] SDRJa also records слышати in the sense “to listen to”.[7] Dictionaries list слышу from 1704 and слышать from 1762.[2]

The modern language extends the verb to understanding a performance and to sensing something: one may слышать a smell or a mood.[8][1] In Siberia слышать also meant “to understand a language”: Anikin suggests a model in Yakut, where one verb means both “to hear” and “to understand”.[9] Other dialects use it for “to listen to” singing or music.[10]

Timeline

  • 1056–1057 – слыша “he heard” in the Ostromir Gospel.[5]
  • 1076 – слышяну “heard” in the Izbornik of 1076.[5]
  • 1138 – слышахомъ “we heard” in the Novgorod First Chronicle (13th-century manuscript).[5]
  • 1704 – the first person слышу in a dictionary.[2]
  • 1762 – the infinitive слышать in a dictionary.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To hear: to perceive sounds with the ear.[8][11][1]
  2. To be able to hear, to have the sense of hearing: an old man who не слышит is deaf.[8]
  3. To hear a performance or a performer, an opera or a singer.[8]
  4. To learn of something, to have heard about it: я слышал, что… “I've heard that…”.[8][12]
  5. (figurative, colloquial) To sense, to feel or notice; also to smell.[8][1]

Word family

  • услышать
  • расслышать
  • прослышать
  • послышаться
  • ослышаться
  • наслышаться
  • недослышать
  • заслышать
  • слышаться
  • слышимость
  • слышный
  • слушать
  • слышно
  • слыхать
  • Old East Slavic слышати (slyšati)

Usage notes

The perfective partner is услышать.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Shaposhnikov, A. K. (2010), Ètimologičeskij slovar' sovremennogo russkogo jazyka [Этимологический словарь современного русского языка], 2 vols., Moskva: Flinta / Nauka, p. 2, 337
  3. ^ a b Derksen, Rick (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 4, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 455
  4. ^ a b Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress, p. 3, 678–679
  5. ^ a b c d e f Vinogradova, V. L. (1965–1984), Slovar'-spravočnik «Slova o polku Igoreve» [Словарь-справочник «Слова о полку Игореве»], 6 vols., Moskva / Leningrad: Nauka, p. s.v. слышати
  6. ^ 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. 3, s.v. слышати
  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. 11, 383
  8. ^ a b c d e f Ozhegov, S. I.; Shvedova, N. Yu. (1997), Tolkovyj slovar' russkogo jazyka [Толковый словарь русского языка], 4th ed., Moskva: Azbukovnik, p. s.v. слышать
  9. ^ Anikin, A. E. (2000), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkix dialektov Sibiri. Zaimstvovanija iz ural'skix, altajskix i paleoaziatskix jazykov [Этимологический словарь русских диалектов Сибири], 2nd ed., Moskva / Novosibirsk: Nauka, p. 496
  10. ^ 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. 38, 325
  11. ^ 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. слышать
  12. ^ Ushakov, D. N. (ed.) (1935–1940), Tolkovyj slovar' russkogo jazyka [Толковый словарь русского языка], 4 vols., Moskva: Sovetskaja ènciklopedija / OGIZ, p. s.v. слышать