An Etymological Proposition: Old Germanic Gōd-Spōd ‘Good Fortune’ As Source Of Old Church Slavonic Gospodь ‘Lord, Master’

Abstract

Abstract A thorough checking of the data provided by three etymological dictionaries, namely Georgiev et al. 1971 (s.v. gospod), Vasmer 1986 (s.v. gospod’) and Derksen 2008 (s.v. *gospodь), would be enough to raise serious doubts about the application of the label “inherited” to *gospodь and its large Slavic family. Vasmer (1986, s.v. Russian gospod’ ‘the Lord, God’), states that the putative origin of the Russian word under discussion is a Proto-Slavic compound *gostьpodь; but it is also Vasmer who mentions that some outstanding linguists (including Antoine Meillet) objected to the mainstream etymological interpretation of gospod’. More recently, Derksen has stated that there is “no convincing explanation” for at least one element of the Proto-Slavic reconstruction *gospodь. By starting from such doubts and uncertainties, the authors of the present article will propound an etymology according to which *gospodъ and its derivatives – to be found in Slavic languages as well as in Romanian – actually reflect a very early borrowing of the Old Germanic compound which is still visible in English godspeed.