Thread: душа vs. дух

are these basically the same?

yes.

But also:

душа - soul
дух - spirit

душа, дух - spirit (like the ghost)
дух is also smell

человек без души, бездушный - heartless
слабый духом, малодушный - fainthearted
великодушный - heartful

душевный - heartly
духовный - spiritual

also the verb дышать is related. Note that 'spirit' and 'breath' are not to far apart in meaning! Cf. inspire, expire.

The underlying stem is something like /d/-vowel-/x/-
with a sound rule that X converts to Ш before certain consonants (there was a /j/ there at one time, I think).

drug-:
historically drug-j#k- becomes друж#к-

Дух also = noob in army slang.

Originally Posted by Leof

yes.

But also:

душа - soul
дух - spirit

душа, дух - spirit (like the ghost)
дух is also smell

человек без души, бездушный - heartless
слабый духом, малодушный - fainthearted
великодушный - heartful

душевный - heartly
духовный - spiritual

I had wondered about душа/дух also. Thanks for the info!