4 ms·

A sorta-weird thing about Slavic languages is, they evolved different meanings from the same roots—though related. So you constantly have your recognition of wo

by aasasd 7y ago

A sorta-weird thing about Slavic languages is, they evolved different meanings from the same roots—though related. So you constantly have your recognition of words misfiring. E.g. Old East Slavic ‘недѣлꙗ’ (‘nedělja’), meaning ‘Sunday’, somehow come to mean ‘a week’ with Russian ‘неделя’, while even close Belarusian and Ukrainian have ‘нядзеля’ and ‘неділя’ for Sunday, same with Bulgarian ‘неделя’ or Czech ‘neděle’.

babuskov 7y ago
In Serbian "nedelja" is a homonym - both "Sunday" and "week".
- p1esk 7y ago
  “Hey boss, I worked 20 days in a row, I’m gonna take Sunday off!” :)
xixixao 7y ago
Also for non-slavic speakers' interest: “ne” is No, and “dělat" is Work, so Sunday is literally the day of "Nowork".
- mv4 7y ago
  I am Russian, and you just blew my mind with that piece of info.
  - p1esk 7y ago
    Same! :)
- gpvos 7y ago
  So, in Russia they don't work at all during the week? This explains so much.
pvg 7y ago
This isn't specific to Slavic languages, it's the norm for all sorts of related languages or even the same language evolving over time. Think of the etymology of 'nice' or 'guest'/'host'/'hostile'/'hospital'.
- lacampbell 7y ago
  Words derived from the same source as 'Loft' seem to universally mean 'sky' or 'air' in almost all germanic languages... except English where it means 'small room near the ceiling'.
  - pvg 7y ago
    At least it's still in the ballpark! Compare with 'gift' or 'worry'.
    - lacampbell 7y ago
      TIL German 'gift' and English 'gift' are actually the same word! I had assumed it was a coincidence.
      - ozzmotik 7y ago
        im pretty sure that Gift in German means poison, so i can't help but wonder what exactly you think an English gift is :^)
        aasasd 7y ago
        Well, the word apparently has a bit unusual etymology: > The word has been used as a euphemism for "poison" since Old High German, influenced by Late Latin dosis (“dose”), from Ancient Greek δόσις (dósis, “something given; dose of medicine”). The original meaning "gift" has disappeared in contemporary Standard German. So yeah, the word is the same, it just became divorced from the former meaning.
        7y ago

by aasasd 7y ago

babuskov 7y ago

In Serbian "nedelja" is a homonym - both "Sunday" and "week".

p1esk 7y ago
“Hey boss, I worked 20 days in a row, I’m gonna take Sunday off!” :)

xixixao 7y ago

Also for non-slavic speakers' interest: “ne” is No, and “dělat" is Work, so Sunday is literally the day of "Nowork".

mv4 7y ago
I am Russian, and you just blew my mind with that piece of info.
- p1esk 7y ago
  Same! :)
gpvos 7y ago
So, in Russia they don't work at all during the week? This explains so much.

pvg 7y ago

This isn't specific to Slavic languages, it's the norm for all sorts of related languages or even the same language evolving over time. Think of the etymology of 'nice' or 'guest'/'host'/'hostile'/'hospital'.

lacampbell 7y ago
Words derived from the same source as 'Loft' seem to universally mean 'sky' or 'air' in almost all germanic languages... except English where it means 'small room near the ceiling'.
- pvg 7y ago
  At least it's still in the ballpark! Compare with 'gift' or 'worry'.
  - lacampbell 7y ago
    TIL German 'gift' and English 'gift' are actually the same word! I had assumed it was a coincidence.
    - ozzmotik 7y ago
      im pretty sure that Gift in German means poison, so i can't help but wonder what exactly you think an English gift is :^)
      - aasasd 7y ago
        Well, the word apparently has a bit unusual etymology: > The word has been used as a euphemism for "poison" since Old High German, influenced by Late Latin dosis (“dose”), from Ancient Greek δόσις (dósis, “something given; dose of medicine”). The original meaning "gift" has disappeared in contemporary Standard German. So yeah, the word is the same, it just became divorced from the former meaning.
        7y ago