русьскаꙗ землꙗ

Old East Slavic

Wikipedia

Etymology

From the full form of the adjective рѹсьскъ (rusĭskŭ, “of the Rus”) and the noun землꙗ (zemlja, “earth, land”) f (modern Russian земля). Firstly mentioned in the 12th-century "Primary Chronicle".

Noun

русьскаꙗ землꙗ f

1. land of the Rus, East Slavic lands
   • и ѿ тѣхъ Варѧгъ . прозвасѧ Рускаꙗ землѧ s.a. 6370 (862)
     • "From these Varangians (the Rus), the Rus land received its name"
   • Русину не звати Латина на поле бится у Русской земли, а Латинину не звати Русина на поле битося у Ризе и на Готском березе. Смоленская торговая Правда, 1229.
     • A Russian should not call a German for a battle in the Russian land, a German should not call a Russian for a battle in Riga or in Gotland. Smolensk Trade Law, 1229.
   • Здѣ яз божиею помочию почину писат кую рѣце как надобъ немьчину с русиномь порускы говорит от домовьню дѣле и всяких дѣлех говоря. Б(ог)ъ даи мнѣ здараво ѣхат на рускую землю да рускому языку на учитса. Тоннис Фенне, Русский разговорник, 1607.
     • Here I begin with God's help to explain how a German should speak Russian with a Russian concerning house and other business. Lord, let me go to the Russian land without problems and study the Russian language. Tonnis Fenne, Russian phrasebook, 1607.

Usage notes

The main orthographic divergence was in the usage of the ѹ digraph or simply у, double or single с, the absence or presence of the soft sign, and also the feminine ending in ꙗ or ѧ. These in sum gave many spelling variants such as русьскаꙗ, рѹсьска, рѹсьскаѧ, рускаѧ, рускаꙗ, рѹсскаѧ etc. and землꙗ or землѧ. But the etymologically right form is рѹсьскаꙗ землꙗ.

Descendants

• Russian: русская земля