Etymology and History
The Russian verb "propisat'" (Russian: прописа́ть) is formed by adding the prefix "pro~" ("про~") to the verb "писа́ть" ("to write"). Here this prefix emphasizes the completion of the action, which supposes permission (like in Russian: "пусти́ть – пропусти́ть", "let " – "yield ") or other related formal action (like in Russian: "дать – прода́ть", "give" – "sell").
Originally, the noun propiska meant the clerical procedure of registration, of enrolling the person (writing his name) into the police records of the local population. Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary describes this procedure as "to enroll in a book and stamp it". Page 20 of the internal passport of the Russian Empire (see illustration) was entitled: Russian: "Место для пропи́ски ви́довъ поли́цiею" ("Space for registration of vids by police"). Five blank pages (20 to 24) were gradually filled with stamps with the residential address written in. It allowed a person to reside in his/her relevant locality. Article 61 of the Regulations adopted on February 7, 1897 (see p. 18–19 of the passport) imposed a fine for those found outside the administrative unit (as a rule, uezd) in which they were registered to live.
As a clerical term, the noun vid (Russian: "вид"; literally, "view") is a short for Russian: "вид на жи́тельство". Although translated into English as a "residential permit", in Russian, this combination of words also conveys a presence of a right of a resident to live somewhere. In the sense of " right" the word vid also appears in the phrase Russian: "иметь на неё виды" ("planning to gain husband's rights with her"). Among many explanations of "вид" the Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary indicates a "certificate of any kind for free passage, travel and living", mentioning "passport" as its synonym.
Propiska stamps (handwritten texts as an exception) in the passports of the Russian Empire used one of two verbs to describe the civil act committed: Russian: "яви́ть or заяви́ть" (to present or to claim). Their non-reflexive form (no postfix "~ся") clearly rules out the binding of this act to the owner of the document so it is not the person who appeared (presented himself) in a police department but the passport itself. Vladimir Dahl mentions both verbs in his description of "propiska" procedure as related to passport. Presenting a passport to the officer implieed a claim of a person to stay at a designated location.
Read more about this topic: Propiska
Famous quotes containing the words etymology and/or history:
“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)
“False history gets made all day, any day,
the truth of the new is never on the news
False history gets written every day
...
the lesbian archaeologist watches herself
sifting her own life out from the shards she’s piecing,
asking the clay all questions but her own.”
—Adrienne Rich (b. 1929)