Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/nětu

Clipping of *ne (“not”) +‎ *(j)e (“short form of *estь (“is”)”) +‎ *tu (dat. of *tъ (“that”)) (as per Sobolevskij). Some descendants reflect the acc. formation *nětъ (literally: not so).

*nětu

1. not, nohow (literally: it is not/there is not)

• *nětъ

• *nětoli (“neither, in no way”)

• *ne (“not”)
  • *ne esti/*něsti (“not to be”) (colloquial)
• *ni (“neither, nor”)
  • *ni to (“neither, nor so”)
• *niščь (“destitute, negligible”)

• East Slavic:
  • Old East Slavic: нѣту (nětu), нѣтъ (nětŭ)
    • Old Ruthenian: нѣтъ (nět), нѣту (nětu)
      • Belarusian: нет (njet) (dialectal)
      • Carpathian Rusyn: нїт (njit)
      • Ukrainian: ніт (nit), ніту (nitu)
    • Russian: нет (net); не́ту (nétu) (colloquial); не́тути (nétuti) (dialectal)
  • Old Novgorodian: нѣту (nětu), нѣту ть (nětu tĭ), нѣтъ (nětŭ), нѣть (nětĭ)
• South Slavic:
  • Bulgarian: не́то (néto), не́ту (nétu) (dialectal)
• West Slavic:
  • Old Polish: nietu
    • Polish: niet
  • Slovak: niet

• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “нет”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress
• Trubachyov, Oleg, editor (1997), “*ne (j)e tu/*nětu”, in Этимологический словарь славянских языков [Etymological dictionary of Slavic languages] (in Russian), numbers 24 (*navijati (sę)/*navivati (sę) – *nerodimъ(jь)), Moscow: Nauka, →ISBN, page 94
• Georgiev, Vladimir I., Duridanov, I. V., editors (1995), “нето¹”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volumes 4 (мѝнго² – па̀дам), Sofia: Prof. Marin Drinov Pubg. House, →ISBN, page 626