кеи

Old Novgorodian

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *kъjь (“which”), from *kъ (“who”) + *jь (“this”), derived from Proto-Balto-Slavic *kas, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷós (“who”). First attested in c. 1140‒1160. By surface analysis, *ке (*ke) +‎ и (i). Cognate with Old East Slavic къи (kŷi), кꙑи (kyi), Old Ruthenian кой (koj), кїй (kij), Old Church Slavonic кꙑи (kyi), Old Polish ki, Old Czech ký.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: ке‧и

Pronoun

кеи • (kei)

1. (hapax) who, which

   Synonym: кето (keto)

   • c. 1140‒1160, Берестяная грамота № 1012 [Birchbark letter no. 1012]‎^[1], Novgorod:

     … [:] (а) [къи] н[и е] …

     … [:] (a) [kŷi] n[i e] …

     … and who doesn't …

Related terms

pronoun

• кето (keto)
• никеи (nikei)
• цьто (ćĭto)

 

Further reading

• “кеи”, in Берестяные грамоты – Национальный корпус русского языка [Birchbark Letters – Russian National Corpus], https://ruscorpora.ru/, 2003–2024