Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/nъ

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Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/nъ

This Proto-Slavic entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Slavic

Etymology

From Proto-Balto-Slavic *nu, from Proto-Indo-European *nu; akin to Proto-Slavic *nyně (“now”). Parallel to Proto-Slavic *nu (“well, fine then”).

Probably originally an adverb, reformed into a conjunction similarly to Sanskrit नु (nu, “now then”) (typically meaning now, at once).

Conjunction

*nъ[1][2]

1. but, however

   Synonyms: *a le, *a li (West Slavic, Western South Slavic)

Descendants

• East Slavic:
  • Old East Slavic: нъ (nŭ), но (no)
    • Old Ruthenian: но (no)
      • Rusyn: но (no)
      • Ukrainian: но (no)
    • Russian: но (no) (see there for further descendants)
• South Slavic:
  • Old Church Slavonic:

    Old Cyrillic: нъ (nŭ)

    Glagolitic: ⱀⱏ (nŭ)

  • Bulgarian: нъ (nǎ) (archaic), но (no)
  • Macedonian: но (no)
  • Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic: но

    Latin: no

Further reading

• Trubachyov, Oleg, editor (1999), “*nъ”, in Этимологический словарь славянских языков [Etymological Dictionary of Slavic Languages] (in Russian), issue 26 (*novoukъ(jь) – *obgorditi), Moscow: Nauka, →ISBN, page 50
• Trubachyov, Oleg, editor (1999), “*nu”, in Этимологический словарь славянских языков [Etymological Dictionary of Slavic Languages] (in Russian), issue 26 (*novoukъ(jь) – *obgorditi), Moscow: Nauka, →ISBN, page 30
• Georgiev V. I., Duridanov I., editor (1995), “нъ¹”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volume 4, Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, page 712
• Georgiev V. I., Duridanov I., editor (1995), “но³”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volume 4, Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, page 669

References

1. Derksen, Rick (2008), “*nъ”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 4), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 360: “conj. ‘but’”
2. Olander, Thomas (2001), “nъ”, in Common Slavic accentological word list, Copenhagen: Editiones Olander: “but (PR 146)”