The Origin and Etymology of the Russian Word "Dozhd": An Analysis of Hypotheses and Phonosemantic Correspondences

This article is dedicated to the etymological study of the Russian word "dozhd" (rain) and its dialectal variant "doshch". The paper examines existing hypotheses on the word's origin, as presented in M. Vasmer's etymological dictionary, and proposes an alternative concept. The latter links the origin of "dozhd" to the socio-symbolic correspondence with expectation ("do+zhdati+sya" – to wait for), while "doshch" is connected to the phonosemantic imitation of the sound of falling drops. Morphological and phonetic features of the word in various Slavic languages are analyzed, as well as its connection to ancient Indo-European roots. Special attention is paid to the role of phonetic associations and imitative bases in the formation of lexical units.