тот

Forms

тот (tot) m (demonstrative, feminine та, neuter то, plural те)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old East Slavic тътъ (tŭtŭ), a reduplication of the pronoun тъ (tŭ), from Proto-Slavic *tъ.^[1][2][3] Old Russian had ⟨тъ, та, то⟩ and the long form ⟨тыи⟩.^[4][5] The doubled ⟨тътъ⟩ is frequent from the 12th–13th centuries.^[4] The modern form arose when the jers fell: the strong ⟨ъ⟩ became /o/ and the weak final one was lost.^[2][3]

Other Slavic forms are Old Church Slavonic тъ (tŭ), Ukrainian той (toj), Belarusian той (toj), Serbo-Croatian тај (taj), Slovene ta, Czech ten (“this”) and Polish ten (“this”).^[4][5] In West Slavic the pronoun means “this”.^[5]

Proto-Slavic ⟨*tъ, *ta, *to⟩ is related to Lithuanian tas (“that”), Latvian tas, Ancient Greek τό (tó, “the (neuter)”) and Gothic 𐌸𐌰𐍄𐌰 (þata, “that”).^[4][2] The parent language had Proto-Indo-European *só in the masculine nominative but *tód in the neuter and a stem ⟨*to-⟩ in the other cases.^[1][4][5] Balto-Slavic spread the ⟨t-⟩ forms to the whole paradigm, while Gothic keeps 𐍃𐌰 (sa, “that”).^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Ostromir Gospel of 1056–1057 has the simple pronoun: „Тъгда въсташѧ вьсѧ дѣвы ты” “then all those virgins arose” (Matthew 25:7).^[6] The reduplicated form is recorded from the 12th century.^[3][4] In Old Russian the pronoun meant both “that” and “this”.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Old Russian used the pronoun to point to something just mentioned or known: a 12th-century birchbark letter speaks of въ ту татьбу “in that theft”, and a Polotsk charter of 1407 of тое смиренье “that peace”.^[6] Modern Russian sets it against этот, for the more distant of two things.^[5][7]

Folk speech used тот and тот-то as a taboo word for the devil, and Ukrainian той likewise.^[4] The dialects use it in the sense “the one just spoken of”.^[8]

Timeline

• 1056–1057 – ты “those” in the Ostromir Gospel.^[6]
• 12th century – ту татьбу in a Novgorod birchbark letter.^[6]
• 12th–13th centuries – the reduplicated тътъ becomes frequent.^[4][3]
• 1407 – тое смиренье “that peace” in a Polotsk charter.^[6]

Meanings

Pronoun

1. that: points to something distant in space or time, or already mentioned: в тот день “on that day”.^[7][9]
2. In a main clause, points to what a relative clause describes: тот, кто знает “the one who knows”.^[7]
3. With самый, же or alone: the right one, the same: тот же “the same”, не то “not the right thing”.^[7]
4. (colloquial) With же: such as the one being talked about, for instance.^[7]
5. Opposed to этот, другой: the one… the other: ни тот ни другой “neither one nor the other”.^[7]
6. (neuter то) That, something earlier; also this, it: то был мой брат “that was my brother”.^[7]
7. (neuter) Part of compound conjunctions such as после того как “after”, для того чтобы “in order to”.^[7]

Word family

• тотчас
• притом
• тот-то

Related words

• этот
• Old East Slavic тъ (tŭ)

Usage notes

The genitive того is pronounced тово.^[10] A taboo use of тот for the devil is recorded in folk speech.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Shansky, N. M.; Bobrova, T. A. (2004), Škol'nyj ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka [Школьный этимологический словарь русского языка], 7th ed., Moskva: Drofa, p. s.v. тот
3. ^ a b c d Tsyganenko, G. P. (1989), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka [Этимологический словарь русского языка], 2nd ed., Kiev: Radjans'ka škola, p. s.v. тот
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress, p. 4, 88–89
5. ^ a b c d e f g 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. тот
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. 30, 69
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Ozhegov, S. I.; Shvedova, N. Yu. (1997), Tolkovyj slovar' russkogo jazyka [Толковый словарь русского языка], 4th ed., Moskva: Azbukovnik, p. s.v. тот
8. ^ 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. 44, 297
9. ^ 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. тот
10. ^ Ushakov, D. N. (ed.) (1935–1940), Tolkovyj slovar' russkogo jazyka [Толковый словарь русского языка], 4 vols., Moskva: Sovetskaja ènciklopedija / OGIZ, p. s.v. тот