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In any textbook of the Russian language there is a section telling about prepositions called ancient or the most ancient. We have many scientific works about prepositions and their properties and we will try to understand how these prepositions appeared and what meanings they were endowed with. Someday, ignorance of these basics put one of the leaders of the Institute of the Russian language in an awkward situation. Therefore, understanding the meaning of ancient prepositions should be treated with great attention.

It is believed that there are quite a lot of prepositions. One scientific work quotes the figure 127. But usually the following prepositions are included in the textbook list: “v” (in/into), “bez” (without), “do” (before), “iz” (from), “k” (to), “na” (on/onto), “po” (along), “o” (about), “ot” (from), “pered” (in front of), “pri” (near), “cherez” (through), “s” (with), “y” (near/next to), “za” (for/behind), “nad” (over), “ob” (about), “pod” (under), “pro” (about) and"dlya” (for). I think that readers who have read the previous pages will immediately determine that prepositions are protoroots, some of which we have already considered.

For example, the simplest ancient preposition is “k” (to). If the sounds “x”, “g” and “k” went back to human breathing, then the ancient preposition “k” belongs to this group. Its meaning is close to the meaning of “way” or “direction” – where to go, what we will come to.

The ancient preposition (protoroot) “o” and its sound most likely got its meaning from the shape of the lips. It is a circle, around. It is that surrounds something.

There are a number of prepositions, phonemes, protoroots that are associated with a person’s action, with his contact with the environment and his/her penetration into it. In this regard, the preposition “v” is interesting; it denotes effort, tension, desire to get inside something. It is directly related to the extraction of insects or small animals from hidden places: whether it is the stem of a plant, or the trunk of a tree, or a hole in the ground. An ancient man needed not only to look for food, but also to be able to extract it by looking inside. This explains why both in the Russian word “zhivot” (belly) and in the Latin word “vita” the sound “v” is the main one.

We can make out one of the forms of the preposition “v” (in) – the basic word “vnutr’” (inside). The sound “n” denotes the taste of food, the protoroots “tr-dr” go back to “aggressive poking”, or, in other words, piercing something/making a hole. The root “dr” is a hole in which delicious food is hidden and which you need to get to.

For a long time, I could not determine how the sound “s” got the values “vmeste” (together), “soedinyat’” (connect), “sootnosit`sya” (relate) and others. The assumptions were different. However, as a result I concluded that the meaning of the ancient root “s” comes from the properties of water to “razmyahchat’” (soften), “rastvoryat’” (dissolve), “skleivat’” (stick).

The ancient preposition “u”, being the sound of breathing, had a special connotation – it attracted the attention of tribesmen to some circumstance, phenomenon or object. It is the sound of moaning, the sound of crying. This is an “invitation” to come closer, to share your pain. Its later meanings are “vozle” or “okolo” that somehow denoted “souchastie/complicity”, closeness, belonging to someone, involvement. It was impossible to go far from the place where the children were, where there was a hearth that needed to be guarded. Therefore, the ancient protoroot “du” (do-u) is the limit beyond which it was impossible to move away. Duga (arc), a curve, a habitat around a house. How do people check how far they have moved away from home? You can remember what they are shouting: “A-u!”

Some prepositions are paired. For example, the prepositions “ot” and “to” [tɒ]. “Ot” is a kind of space in the circle of the place “t”, the starting point. “To” not only indicates this place, but also speaks about its boundaries. The ringing “do” is especially significant; it is the limit beyond which it is impossible to go. Therefore, it turns out that you can only move “ot and do”.

In a pair of “po” (along) and “ob” (about) are the same principle. “Po” is along and “ob” is what this “po” surrounds.

The pair “nad” (over) and “pod” (under) is also quite understandable. “Pod” is along the “do”. Along some limit or obstacles. For example, if a city was built on a hill, the district around the city was called “podol”. The ancient preposition “nad” has a different meaning. Literally from above “do”, beyond the limit. Overcoming some obstacle. In English, the word “need” has retained the full range of meanings, but the spelling and pronunciation were distorted.

In the pair “an” and “na”, the proroot “an” is almost lost. Although sometimes you can hear a phrase: “an net” (Russian exclamation with the meaning “no”) “An” is what should appear and “on” is what is already there.

In the same way as in the pair “az” and “za” (for). To better understanding the meaning of these roots, imagine a stream. What floats from above and should come to you is “az” or “as” – before. But when it comes level with you and swims on – it’s already “za” or “sa”. “Z” (s) is water. “Za” is something that has already floated or flowed away.

Anticipating and waiting for the sunrise and its appearance is “raz” (ra-az). Then the sun has already appeared, it is “za – ra” or “zarya” (dawn). Everything is extremely simple. It is surprising that the heads of the Institute of the Russian language, who have all kinds of academic degrees and titles, do not know such simple things. I happened to meet the rising of the sun on Shamanka (Shaman Rock) in the ancient settlement of Arkaim on the day of the summer solstice. It is an extraordinary feeling when it is already light, but the sun is not visible. And suddenly the first ray, and hundreds of joyful people which hands are raised. It is not bad that the ritual of meeting the sun has been revived, even in such a modest form.

The preposition “s” (without) indicates the absence of something. It is not easy to determine how this preposition appeared in colloquial speech. There is a version that the preposition “s” is related to the roots “bezh” and “beg” (running). Could it be related to hunting when the prey ran away? Of course, the version is not very convincing. There is also a regular version. The preposition consists of two protoroots: “po” and “za”. In this case, we are talking about something unattainable, which is “za” (beyond) the limits of the possible.

The preposition “cherez” (through) can help us to understand the meaning of the preposition “s”. Despite the apparent complexity, it is quite simple to understand. Let us divide the preposition into protoroots: “che-re-za”. “Che” is “water”, a slightly modified protorootroot of “s”. The aggressive root “r” is what cuts. For example, “reka” (river) is a way cut by water: “re-ka”(ga), “bereg” (shore) is “po-re-ga”, “along the river”. Well, we already know the preposition “za” (behind). What happens? Something and somewhere, behind something cut, separated by water? Something beyond the water, beyond the river, beyond the puddle? Moreover, the ancient preposition is constructed in the same way as the word “seredina” (middle). Only in the “seredina” instead of the “za” root, the “dono” root. “s” is water, “re” is to cut or divide and “dono” is a deep channel or depth. The seredina (middle) is a synonym for the words “mezha” and “messo” and appeared with the participation of the same “voda” (water). If you think a little, you can understand that the whole line of single-root words: Greek “καρδιά”, Latin “cordia”, English “heart”, German “Herz” – it is all from our “seredina”, from our “serdtse” (heart). Even when we are idly strolling along Jerusalem’s Cardot Street, we can remember that the origins of the name are in our great and mighty, amazing and native Russian language.

However, such a seemingly simple preposition “pered” (in front of) is both easy and difficult to explain. I can assume that the meaning-forming ones are the protoroots “po”, “p” and “do”. “Pr” is “along some kind of aggression.” For example, the thresholds in the toponym Dnipro (dono-pr). “Do” is a kind of insurmountable obstacle. That is, “pr-do” is “along an aggressive and insurmountable obstacle.” But that would be too easy. It is impossible not to take into account the combination of the roots “re” and “do”. To cut, “redit’” or “ryadit’”, “to row”, divide into parts. Therefore, I can propose the following version. “Pr-do” is overcoming an obstacle. If “to-do” is overcoming the obstacle “from above”, then “to-do” is “aggressive overcoming”. The words “predshevstvuushchiy” (preceding), “perviy” (first) and others are of the same root. The one who paves the way. The one who follows, he already passes through the punched dyru (hole), “v-tr”. He is the second. It is a very curious version. Moreover, in terms of meanings, it is completely consistent with the ancient Indian vitaras – “leading on”. But, as the outstanding Russian linguist Alexander NikolaevichDragunkin once wrote to me, we can never be absolutely sure that this is how the language sounded thousands of years ago. However, do not be discouraged. At one time, Titus Lucretius Kar in the book “De rerum natura” also operated with guesses, but the desire to understand the processes of being, to establish cause-and-effect relationships was very useful for those who followed, for the “second”. Therefore, I suggest readers to think independently at their leisure about the meaning and origin of the ancient preposition “pered”.

Well, the preposition “dlya” is a combination of the words “do” and the soft “l”. “Do-lya” is the distance to something desired, loved or moving towards it. The Russian word “dolya” (fate) came out of this ancient notion.