Etymologically
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сын

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Pronunciation

Forms

сын (syn) m anim (genitive сы́на, nominative plural сыновья́ or сыны́^*, genitive plural сынове́й or сыно́в^*, relational adjective сыно́вний or сыно́вий, possessive adjective сы́нов, diminutive сыни́шка or сыно́к or сыно́чек, augmentative сыни́ще, hypocorism сыну́ля or сыну́лька or сыну́лик or сыну́ша or сы́на or сы́ночка or сы́ночка-корзи́ночка, pejorative сыну́ша, expressive term сы́на-корзи́на) (* Epic verse.)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old East Slavic сꙑнъ (synŭ), from Proto-Slavic *synъ (“son”), an old ⟨u⟩-stem.[1][2][3] The other Slavic languages have Old Church Slavonic сꙑнъ (synŭ), Ukrainian син (syn), Bulgarian син (sin), Serbo-Croatian sȋn, Czech syn and Polish syn.[2]

It continues Proto-Balto-Slavic *sū́ˀnus and Proto-Indo-European *suHnús, literally “the one born”, from the root *seu- (“to give birth”).[1][4][2] Its cognates are Lithuanian sūnùs, Old Prussian souns, Avestan hūnu-, Gothic 𐍃𐌿𐌽𐌿𐍃 (sunus), Old High German sunu and, with another suffix, Ancient Greek υἱός (huiós).[2][4][5] The plural ⟨сыновья⟩ was remade from an older ⟨*сынове⟩ on the model of братья.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Ostromir Gospel of 1056–1057 has „родить сынъ” “shall bring forth a son” (Matthew 1:23) and „Иоанну Захариину сыну” “John the son of Zacharias” (Luke 3:2).[6] The Izbornik of 1076 opens a homily with “the word of a father to his son”.[6]

Semantic evolution

Old Russian formed the adjective сыновьний and the adverb сыновьскы “like a son”.[4][5] The Lay of Igor's Campaign names princes as the sons of their fathers, Игоря сына Святъславля.[7] The noun was entered in dictionaries from 1704.[4]

Modern Russian uses the plural сыны in an elevated figurative sense, “a man who embodies his people or time”: сыны Родины “sons of the homeland”.[8]

Timeline

  • 1056–1057 – сынъ “son” in the Ostromir Gospel.[6]
  • 1076 – къ сну своему “to his son” in the Izbornik of 1076.[6]
  • about 1117 – се сынъ твои “behold thy son” in the Mstislav Gospel.[6]
  • 1704 – first dictionary record.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A son, a male child in relation to his parents.[8][1]
  2. (elevated, figurative) A man as a representative of his people, country or time: верный сын народа “a loyal son of the people”.[8]

Word family

  • сынок
  • сынишка
  • сынуля
  • сыновний
  • усыновить
  • усыновление
  • пасынок
  • Old East Slavic сꙑнъ (synŭ)

Usage notes

The plural is сыновья in sense 1 and usually сыны in sense 2.[8] A homograph сынъ “tower” in Old Russian and Church Slavonic texts is a separate word: Vasmer and Shipova take it from Danube Bulgar *syn, Old Turkic syn “statue, grave monument”.[9][10][11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e 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, 817–818
  3. ^ Derksen, Rick (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 4, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 483
  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, 399
  5. ^ a b 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. сын
  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. 29, 133
  7. ^ 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. сынъ
  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. сын
  9. ^ Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress, p. 3, 818
  10. ^ Шипова, Е. Н. (1976), Словарь тюркизмов в русском языке, Alma-Ata: Nauka, p. s.v. сын
  11. ^ 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. 13, 287