--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "alex_lycos" <altamix@...> wrote:
> which is the etymology of bulgarian word "nevEsta"= Ehefrau, wife ?
>
> Alex
******
From Buck's "Synonyms" again:
ChSl. 'nevesta' "bride" < neg. prefix 'ne' and fem.
of 'vestu' "known", hence the "unknown", that is, the newcomer in
the husband's family. Generalized in Old Polish 'niewasta' to be
the word for "woman" in general.
Piotr, did Polish men regard all women as potential brides, or
just find them impossible to really know?
Dan