Open AccessOnce again about the Semantics of CS adjective *mǫdrъ
Author(s) -
Mariola Jakubowicz
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
slavânskoe i balkanskoe âzykoznanie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2658-3372
DOI - 10.31168/2658-3372.2019.2.5
Subject(s) - adjective , meaning (existential) , contradiction , root (linguistics) , linguistics , subject (documents) , semantics (computer science) , philosophy , synonym (taxonomy) , psychology , epistemology , computer science , noun , programming language , botany , library science , genus , biology
The subject of the article is the semantic development of CS adjective *mǫdrъthat comes from the proto-European root *men-dh- and has equi-valents in other language groups. The meaning of the Lituanian adjective mandras is ‘cheerful, lively' while the OHG muntar means‘ardent, cheer-ful'. In the etymological dictionaries the meaning ‘cheerful' is recon structed as a primary meaning. The basis for such a reconstruction is the rule that specifi c meanings precede abstract ones. However, it is in contradiction with the semantics of the derivative base, because for the root *men-dh- the meaning ‘to put one's mind to some-thing' is reconstructed. It seems logical that the meaning of the adjective *mon-dhro- should also be connected with the concept of thinking. This leads us to the conclusion that the meaning ‘wise' of the CS adjective *mǫdrъis an inherited one.