Карава й / Коровай

[Hugh Olmsted]

Natalia and colleagues,

A few words about the etymology.

The word and its direct relatives are encountered in East Slavic and  
South Slavic territories in forms descending from Common Slavic  
*korvaj- (i.e. East Slavic *korovaj-, South Slavic *kravaj-), in the  
central meaning 'large, round ritual bread prepared for holidays and  
especially for weddings'.  Trubachev (Etim. slovar' sl. iazykov  
11:112-116) takes it as derived from the Slavic 'cow' word *korva (>  
ESl korova, SoSl krava) – with *korvaj- specifically ritually  
connected with the groom as fertile bull; cf. the folk connection of  
the bride and groom as bovine coupling pair, and the frequent folk  
connection of bride with korova (and there is, of course, the modern  
use of  'тёлка').  Cf. Potebnia "korovai est' byk- 
zhenikh" (quoted in Preobrazhenskii (see below).

The word is still met in Ukrainian and in Russian okaiushchie  
dialects in the form коровай (korovai).  Каравай  
(karavai) seems to be a post-akanie modern reinterpretation.  It is  
testified in Russian documents especially from the 16th century (cf.  
Slovar' rus. iaz. XI-XVII vv., 7:333-34).  For further discussion cf.  
also Fasmer (M., 1964-73, 2:332 (s.v. korovai), P.Ia. Chernykh,  
Istoriko-etimol. slovar' sovrem. rus. iaz. (3. izd., stereot., M,  
1999, v. 1:378, s.v. karavai), and A.G. Preobrazhenskii (repr. of  
1910-14 ed., M., 1959, 2 v., v. 1:358, s.v. korovai)

Hope this is a help.

Hugh



On Apr 7, 2009, at 2:27 PM, Natalia Pylypiuk wrote:

> Colleagues,
>
> While we are on the topic, would someone direct me toward a  
> reasonable explanation of the noun's etymology?
>
> Many thanks,
> NP
>
>
> Prof. Natalia Pylypiuk, PhD
> Modern Languages & Cultural Studies  [www.mlcs.ca]
> 200 Arts, University of Alberta
> Edmonton, AB, Canada T6G 2E6
>
>
>
> On 7-Apr-09, at 12:13 PM, elizabeth ewaskio wrote:
>
>> Dear SEELANG-ers,
>>
>> What is the (American) English language equivalent to 'На  
>> чужой каравай рот не разевай'?
>>
>> Spasibo,
>>
>> Liz
>>
>>
>>
>>
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