Kopijka

[Roman Koropeckyj]

>At 00:58 21/09/96 EDT, Loren A. BILLINGS wrote:
>>I don't believe that anybody mentioned the etymology of this word on the
>>list during the recent discussion of it.  I really don't know about the
>>Ukrainian _kopijka_, but the Russian word _kopejka_ 'penny' (1/100 rouble)
>>is supposedly derived from _kop'e_ 'spear'.  One person tells me that the
>>Russian coin had a depiction of St. George and the Dragon.  Who's to say if
>>this is a Russianism in Ukrainian?  At worst, it seems, _kopijka_ is the
>>Ukrainian variant of a word that arose within the Russian Empire while much
>>of _Ukra(j)ina_ 'the Ukraine' was part of it.  Can anyone clarify the
>>picture with more accurate details?

To which R_L responded:

>Well, I dare to address your once again to Vasmer (Fasmer. 'Etimologicheskij
>slovar' russkogo jazyka' (any edition)). The word 'kopejka' appears in
>Russian after the victory over Novgorod (the end of XV cent.).I could send a
>precise excerpt, if Vasmer's dictionary is not available at Cornell.
>
>>Ironically, if inflation continues the way it has in that country, there
>Ironically, inflation does not continue in (the) Ukraine for last half-year
>period. I guess it was one of the reasons of this monetary reform.
>
Inflation aside, according to O. S. Mel'nychuk et al.'s "Etymolohichnyj
slovnyk ukr. movy" (Kiev, 1982-), 'kopijka' is indeed a borrowing from the
Russian, first attested (as one would expect) in the 18th c., the term
probably deriving from the depiction on the coin of "the grand prince
(tsar) on horseback with a spear in his hand."

RK