Etymologically
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ты

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Pronunciation

Forms

ты (ty)[1] The oblique cases are тебя́, тебе́, тобо́й (тобо́ю), о тебе́.[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old East Slavic тꙑ (ty), from Proto-Slavic *ty (“you (singular)”).[1][3][4] Every Slavic language has it: Old Church Slavonic тꙑ (ty), Ukrainian ти (ty), Belarusian ты (ty), Bulgarian ти (ti), Polish ty and Czech ty.[5]

Vasmer derives the Slavic pronoun from Indo-European ⟨*tū⟩ beside ⟨*tu⟩, which Wiktionary writes Proto-Indo-European *túh₂.[5][1][6] Its cognates include Lithuanian tù, Latvian tu, Old Prussian tou, Ancient Greek σύ (sú) (whose ⟨σ⟩ comes from the ⟨tv-⟩ of the other cases) with Doric τύ (tú), Latin tū, Old Irish tú and Albanian ti.[5][6] Chernykh adds Old High German dū, modern German du.[4]

From ты comes тыкать “to address someone as ты”, with тикати (tykaty), tykać and tykati;[5] Smolensk dialect has тыка́лка, literally “one who says ты”, for a person who shifts the blame onto others.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old Russian and Old Church Slavonic both have ты;[4] Sreznevsky's materials record it.[7] The Lay of Igor's Campaign uses it 17 times, as in „Одинъ братъ, одинъ свѣтъ свѣтлыи — ты, Игорю!” “One brother, one bright light — you, Igor!”[8]

Semantic evolution

The pronoun has always addressed a single person, above all someone close.[4][2] Shaposhnikov notes it in Russian from the 11th to the 17th century and in the dictionaries from 1627 and 1704.[6]

To be на ты with someone is to be on familiar terms; colloquially one can also be на ты with a subject one knows well.[2] The dative тебе has become a colloquial particle, as in куда тебе!, and вот тебе (и) раз! expresses surprise and displeasure.[2]

Timeline

  • end of the 12th century – ты 17 times in the Lay of Igor's Campaign.[8]
  • 1627 – in a dictionary.[6]
  • 1704 – in a dictionary again.[6]

Meanings

Pronoun

  1. you, thou (singular, familiar): the person spoken to, usually someone close.[2][6][1]
  2. (colloquial) The dative тебе as a particle, stressing that something is out of the question: куда тебе![2]

Word family

  • тыкать
  • твой
  • вы
  • Old East Slavic тꙑ (ty)

Usage notes

Быть на ты with someone is to say ты to each other rather than вы.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Ozhegov, S. I.; Shvedova, N. Yu. (1997), Tolkovyj slovar' russkogo jazyka [Толковый словарь русского языка], 4th ed., Moskva: Azbukovnik, p. s.v. ты
  3. ^ Derksen, Rick (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 4, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 502
  4. ^ a b c d 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. ты
  5. ^ 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. 4, 130
  6. ^ a b c d e f Shaposhnikov, A. K. (2010), Ètimologičeskij slovar' sovremennogo russkogo jazyka [Этимологический словарь современного русского языка], 2 vols., Moskva: Flinta / Nauka, p. 2, 436
  7. ^ 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. ты
  8. ^ a b 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. ты