The official etymology suggests that "bog-" (as in "bogatiy", meaning "wealthy") is the root of "ubogiy". However, the meaning of "ubogiy" is the exact opposite—"poor."
This negative meaning is achieved specifically by adding the Kartvelian negative prefix "u-" to the root "bog-", resulting in "ubogiy"—meaning "not rich," or "poor."
The claim that the "у-" in "убогий" functions as a negative prefix has solid evidence to support it.
In Czech, the equivalent of "убогий" is "nebohý." However, Slavic languages do not have a negative prefix "у-"!
So where does this "у-" come from? The answer lies in Georgian, where "u-" is indeed a negative prefix.
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