# Greek loanwords in Slavic languages



## jadeite_85

Are these from Greek or Turkish? Or are these Slavic loanwords in Greek? Or do they have just the same indoeuropean root?

Bulgarian
*липсвам *"to miss" - *λειπω *(lipo) "to miss"
*кокало *"bone" - *κοκαλο *(kokalo) "bone"
*като *"like, as" - *καθως *(kathos) "like, as"
*хора *"people" - *χωρα *(hora) "country"
*харесвам *"to like" - *αρεσω *(areso) "to like"

BCS
*jeftin *"cheap" - *φτηνος *(ftinos) "cheap"
*komad *"piece" - *κομματι *(komati) "piece"
*krevet *"bed" - *κρεβατι *(krevati) "bed"
*talas *"wave" - *θαλασσα *(thalassa) "sea"
*hiljada *"thousand" - *χιλιαδα *(hiliadha) "thousand"

Russian
*хорошо *"good" - *χαιρω *(hiero) "to be pleased"
*хорошо *"good" - *χαρα *(hara) "joy"
*кровать *"bed" - *κρεβατι *(krevati) "bed"
*кукла *"doll" - *κουκλα *(kukla) "doll"
*тетрадь *"notebook" - *τετραδιο *(tetradhio) "notebook"
*каждый *"every" - *καθε *(kathe) "every"
*корабль *"ship" - *καραβι *(karavhi) "ship"


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## rusita preciosa

Russian (from Vasmer):

*хорошо *"good" - proto-Slavic *хоrbrъ (now has the meaning of "brave"), it says it is unlikely to have come into Russian from either ancient Indian kharas (hard, sharp) or Greek κάρχαρος (sharp)
*кровать *"bed" - Greek κράββατος (mattress, pallet). It says that it is phonetically impossible that it came from the Turkic käräwät
*кукла *"doll" - Greek κοῦκλα (doll) that in turn is a borrowing from Latin cuculla. Vasmer does not believe it came from a Turkic source
*тетрадь *"notebook" - Greek τετράς (1/4 of a page)
*каждый *"every" - proto-Slavic *kъžьdо или *kъžьdе (a word that had elements of "who", "where')
*корабль *"ship" - Greek καράβιον, κάραβος (vessel)


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## Милан

jadeite_85 said:


> Are these from Greek or Turkish? Or are these Slavic loanwords in Greek? Or do they have just the same indoeuropean root?
> 
> BCS
> *jeftin *"cheap" - *φτηνος *(ftinos) "cheap"
> *komad *"piece" - *κομματι *(komati) "piece"
> *krevet *"bed" - *κρεβατι *(krevati) "bed"
> *talas *"wave" - *θαλασσα *(thalassa) "sea"
> *hiljada *"thousand" - *χιλιαδα *(hiliadha) "thousand"


Yes, these words are all from Greek. 
 krevet <--Ottoman Turkish<-- Greek<--Ancient Greek
 talas<--Turkish<--Ancient Greek
komad, hiljada from Ancient Greek
jeftin<--Greek<--Byzantine Greek

Talas is val [slavic form], hiljada is tisuća [slavic form].


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## jadeite_85

Милан said:


> Yes, these words are all from Greek.
> krevet <--Ottoman Turkish<-- Greek<--Ancient Greek
> talas<--Turkish<--Ancient Greek
> komad, hiljada from Ancient Greek
> jeftin<--Greek<--Byzantine Greek
> 
> Talas is val [slavic form], hiljada is tisuća [slavic form].



I guess also

BCS
*olovo *"lead", olovka "pencil" - *μολυβι *"lead, pencil"

Russian
*сахар *"sugar" - *ζαχαρη *"sugar"
*стихия *"natural element" - *στοιχειο *"element"
*стих *"verse", *стихотворение*"poem" - *στιχος *"verse"
*доска *"board" - *δασκαλος *"teacher"

Slovene
*rjuha *"sheet" - *ρουχο *"cloth"


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## Милан

jadeite_85 said:


> I guess also
> 
> BCS
> *olovo *"lead", olovka "pencil" - *μολυβι *"lead, pencil"
> 
> Russian
> *сахар *"sugar" - *ζαχαρη *"sugar"
> *стихия *"natural element" - *στοιχειο *"element"
> *стих *"verse", *стихотворение*"poem" - *στιχος *"verse"
> *доска *"board" - *δασκαλος *"teacher"



Olovo is a Slavic word.
In Serbian we also have стихија, стих, сахар*оза**; *all from Greek.

Russian доска and Serbian даска<--Slavic<--Latin discus


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## rusita preciosa

jadeite_85 said:


> IRussian
> *сахар *"sugar" - *ζαχαρη *"sugar"
> *стихия *"natural element" - *στοιχειο *"element"
> *стих *"verse", *стихотворение*"poem" - *στιχος *"verse"
> *доска *"board" - *δασκαλος *"teacher"


Again from Vasmer.(you may make a note of that resource, it is one of the most reputable etymological dictionaries for Russian, it is available online).
*олово *- slavis/baltic source; could be a cognate of albus, yellow. Unlikely to come from the greek μόλυβδος, 
*сахар *- from the Greek σάκχαρον 
*стихия - *from the Greek στοιχεῖον
*стих - *from the Greek στίχος 
*доска - *came from the Germanic disc, which was a borrowing from Latin discus, which in turn was a borrowing from Greek δίσκος. It says there is no possibility that it came directly from Greek.


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## jadeite_85

Serbian
*drum *- _dromos _(road)
*temelj *- _themelioo _(foundation)


O.T. I find interesting that Bulgarian pop singers like to include parts in Greek in their Bulgarian songs, often in duets with Greek singers.


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## DarkChild

jadeite_85 said:


> Serbian
> *drum *- _dromos _(road)
> *temelj *- _themelioo _(foundation)
> 
> 
> O.T. I find interesting that Bulgarian pop singers like to include parts in Greek in their Bulgarian songs, often in duets with Greek singers.



Yes, they think they're super impressive that way   But they're not pop singers, but pop-folk/chalga.


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## Ben Jamin

Polish *majcher* *Greek *Μαχαίρι *: knife

*The word came first into Polish criminal slang, later spread to standard language, but used only in stories about criminals.
It is a riddle, what way the word came into Polish. All other Greek loans in Polish are scholarly words or loans through other languages (like *kukla*).


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## jadeite_85

Ben Jamin said:


> Polish *majcher* *Greek *Μαχαίρι *: knife
> 
> *The word came first into Polish criminal slang, later spread to standard language, but used only in stories about criminals.
> It is a riddle, what way the word came into Polish.



This is a very interesting example. Has this word replaced the slavic word _nož_?

Other loanwords in BCS (they are used in all three languages, are they?)
*malaksati *(_to become exhausted_), *malaksalost *(_tiredness ?, _synonym of_ umor ?_) - μαλακος (_soft_). In Modern Greek it is a also a bad word nowadays
*miris *(_smell_), *mirisati *(_to smell_) - Modern Greek μυρωδια (smell), from Ancient Greek _μυρον_ (perfume)
*kamata *(_interest in finance_) - from καματος (_fatigue_)

*kutija *(_box_), *podrum *(_basement_) and I think also *patika *(_sneaker_) came from Greek via Turkish. Even if I suspect *kutija *returned even to Modern Greek via Turkish (since there was no transformation u --> i)


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## iobyo

jadeite_85 said:


> Even if I suspect *kutija *returned even to Modern Greek via Turkish (since there was no transformation u --> i)



Turkisms borrowed during Ottoman times usually reflect the (learned) pronunciation of the time:
Gr. κουτί > Ott. Turk. قوطی (kûtî) → Turkish   _kutu_, South Slavic  _kutija_; 
Gr. αυλή > Ott. Turk. آولی (âvlî) → Turkish  _avlu_, South Slavic _avlija_. ​


jadeite_85 said:


> I guess also
> 
> BCS
> *olovo *"lead", olovka "pencil" - *μολυβι *"lead, pencil"



BCS _olovo _is a native word (Proto-Slavic *olovo).



jadeite_85 said:


> Slovene
> *rjuha *"sheet" - *ρουχο *"cloth"



The Greek word is actually a borrowing from Slavic (Proto-Slavic *ruxo).


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## Ben Jamin

jadeite_85 said:


> This is a very interesting example. Has this word replaced the slavic word _nož_?


By no means! It is used only in special contexts, as I wrote, related to criminality, to the use of knife as a murder weapon, or to stories about gangsters. The English counterpart is *shiv*.


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