Západoslovanská slova na * cud-

The article deals with West Slavonic words on cud represented by verbs such as Old Czech cúditi, Polish cudzić or adjectives such as Czech cudný, Polish cudny, czudny. These words are not etymologically clear, and the etymological dictionaries suggest different solutions, either considering these words as cognates or looking for other etymological connections. More light on the issue could be thrown by Old Church Slavonic študь ‘custom, manners, morals’ which has not been taken into account so far while reflecting the etymologies of the abovementioned words. Old Church Slavonic word corresponds to older Czech cud ‘discipline, good manners’ and this noun (in its late Proto Slavonic form) can be taken as a basis for the verb (Old Czech cúditi etc.) in the meaning ‘to clean, brush, remove’ and the adjective (Czech cudný etc.) in the meaning ‘chaste, modest, moral’. The Proto Slavonic root of the word can be reconstructed as * tjud from Pre Slavonic * teud which can be traced back to Indo European * teuH ‘to protect, friendly give one’s mind to sb.’. Nominal derivatives of this root offer striking semantic parallels in Germanic: Old English geđiede ‘good, decent, chaste’, đēaw ‘custom, manners, morals’, Old High German, Old Saxon thau ‘discipline’.