Noch einmal aksl. бракъ
Once Again on the Old Church Slavonic brakъ

Summary/Abstract: The topic of the article is the flexion of the paradigm OChSl. brakъ, for which the dictionaries, besides the regular nom. pl. браци, give a form бракы, which is not a phonetic development of the nom.pl. of an Indo-European o-stem. brakы exists only in the text of the oldest type of Slavonic translation of the gospel, in the OChSl. tradition in Ass., Achr., Joh. 2,1, in the post OChSl. tradition in Vat., Matth. 22,8. In every position, brakы functions in the Slav. text in the evidence of the corresponding predicate as nom.pl. In every position, however, it translates a nom.sg. γάμος of the Greek original. In the Vat. passage it is attested through the following predicate complement as feminine. The evidence of the singular speaks for the plural value of the form as secondary, the feminine genus of the form speaks for the assignment of the form to the m. paradigm brakъ as being wrong. Indeed there is in the post OChSl. tradition the proof of a case form which presupposes brakы as the equivalent case form of a paradigm continuing the Indo-European f. uh2-stems. The data therefore allows to recognize for the Slav. translation of the gospel an original side by side of f. brakы and m. brakъ in that the m. rival has already won its place.

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