O instrumentach, narzędziach, przyrządach, przyborach w językach słowiańskich
Names for instruments, tools, devices and accessories in Slavonic languages

Summary/Abstract: This article is devoted to the names for ‘instruments’, ‘tools’, ‘devices’ and ‘accessories’ in Slavonic languages. As it was described in this paper, there is no common name, which is an equivalent of Latin ‘instrumentum’ in Slavonic languages. The name, coming from Latin instrumentum, is known in the majority of the languages (except Czech and Slovak), but its scope of the meaning is not the same. In Polish it concerns only musical and medical (mainly surgical, dental, laryngological) instruments, but for instance in Bulgarian and Macedonian it is also used in the meaning ‘tool’ (sometimes also in Serbo-Croatian). In Slovenian it is used both in the meaning ‘musical instrument’, but also ‘special device, used in medical, scientific and measurement purpose’. This name has also a wide range of meaning in the East-Slavonic languages, especially in Russian (concerns not only to musical and medical (surgical) instruments, but also to any tool, used by craftsmen). The name, continuing *pri-borъ is known in the majority of Slavonic languages, but their semantic scope is different (the largest is in Serbo-Croatian). An Old Slavonic word *orǫdьje in the majority of the Slavonic languages has the meaning ‘tool, instrument’, in some languages means ‘canon’, but in Polish it has quite different meaning (for instance, Orędzie Prezydenta RP). The noun, continuing *na-rędъ is present in each West-Slavonic language, and – with a preffix – also in the East Slavonic. The noun, coming from the *pri-rędъ, exists only in Polish, but it has an equivalent *pri-ladъ in Ukrainian and Byelorussian. The word, origins from Turkish alât is a lexical Balkanism, noticed only in the languages of Balkan Slaves (Bulgarian, Macedonian, Serbo-Croatian). Other names for ‘instruments, tools, devices, accessories’, described in this article, are not common, and exist only in separate languages.

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