Well, I have not been here for
a long, but now I'm back... :-)
> Could anybody help me with OCz lada
"virgin, girl", S-Cr lada "wife", R/Ukr lada "wife,
mistress", please? Any cognates? Any etymological attempts?
> If it is a loan, does it have something to do
with Gr. Léda, Letó, Lat. La:to:na??? Thanks for any help or
advice.
In (archaic) Russian
<lada> is more frequently not "wife, mistress", but
"beloved, dear" (and therefore one may use it as denoting not only a
woman, but a male too). This seems to be a primary meaning; "virgin,
wife" etc. must be secondary. I think, here we have an obvious link with R.
<lad> "a proper order", <ladnyj> "fine, good",
<ladno> "well". Although <lad> have not got any good
etymology yet (Goth. le:tan "to let"?), it does not seem to be a
loan...
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Vadim
Ponaryadov