сиге

First attested in c. 1140‒1160. Borrowed from Finnic language, probably from Livvi siigu (compare Karelian siiga, Veps sīg, Ludian siig, Estonian siig, Finnish siika), ultimately from Proto-Finnic *siika; further origins unclear. Cognate with Latvian sīga, Lithuanian sykis, Old Norse síkr, Norwegian Bokmål sik, Swedish sik, Old Danish sig.

Middle Russian сигъ (sig), whence Russian сиг (sig), was first attested only in 1496.[1] Derivative сиговый (sigovyj, “related to whitefish”) attested since 1500,[2] сиговина (sigovina, “whitefish meat”) and сиговица (sigovica, “fishing tackle”) are attested since 1563.[3][4][5] It seems that in Middle Russian the word was borrowed from Old Novgorodian.[6]

сиге (sige) m[7]

1. whitefish (Coregonus)
   • c. 1140‒1160, Грамота № 831[8] [Birchbark letter no. 831], Novgorod:

     … сире а то гривьною крилъ есмь и дьсѧть сигово и полъть во дьсѧть коуно

     … sire a to grivĭnoju krilŭ esmĭ i dĭsętĭ sigovo i polŭtĭ vo dĭsętĭ kuno

     … cheeses ‒ I bought this for a hryvnia, and ten whitefish and half a carcass for ten kuns

   • c. 1220‒1240, Грамота № 147[9] [Birchbark letter no. 147], Novgorod:

     пу нь пожали господине про сигꙑ ѣще сигово нету а поцта тобь буде гъже

     pu nĭ požali gospodine pro sigy ěšče sigovo netu a pocta tobĭ bude gŭže

     Do not be angry, sir, because of the whitefishes ‒ there are no whitefishes yet. And you will be well respected.

   • c. 1320‒1340, Грамота № 144[10] [Birchbark letter no. 144], Novgorod:

     възми ꙋ тимоѳѣѧ ·н҃· сиговъ ѡ ·г҃· рꙋблѧ а роко на роство

     vŭzmi u timoθěę ·n:· sigovŭ o ·g:· rublę a roko na rostvo

     Take 50 whitefish from Timofey for about 3 rubles. And the payment deadline is Christmas

   • c. 1360‒1380, Грамота № 280[11] [Birchbark letter no. 280], Novgorod:

     … ·г҃· таимени ·в҃· просоле и ·е҃· сигово ·е҃· таимени ѧколихо

     … ·g:· taimeni ·v:· prosole i ·e:· sigovo ·e:· taimeni ękolixo

     … 3 taimen, 2 of them lightly salted, and 5 whitefish and 5 Yakovlev taimen

• → Middle Russian: сигъ (sig)
  • Russian: сиг (sig, “whitefish”); сига f (siga, “inconnu”) (dialectal)
    • Taimyr Pidgin Russian: сиг (sig)
    • → Armenian: սիգ (sig)
    • → Belarusian: сіг (sih), сіга f (siha)
    • → Czech: síh
    • → Polish: siga
    • → Ukrainian: сиг (syh)

• “сигово (letter no. 1063), c. 1180‒1200”, in Древнерусские берестяные грамоты [Birchbark Literacy from Medieval Rus] (in Russian), http://gramoty.ru, 2007–2024
• “сиге”, in Берестяные грамоты – Национальный корпус русского языка [Birchbark Letters – Russian National Corpus], https://ruscorpora.ru/, 2003–2024
• Vasmer, Max (1972) “сиг”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), volumes 3 (Муза – Сят), Moscow: Progress, page 617
• Chernykh, P. Ja. (1993) “сиг”, in Историко-этимологический словарь русского языка [Historical-Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), 3rd edition, volumes 2 (панцирь – ящур), Moscow: Russian Lang., →ISBN, page 160
• Preobrazhensky, A. G. (1914–1916) “сигъ”, in Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), volumes 2 (П – С), numbers 10–14, Moscow: G. Lissner & D. Sobko Publishing House, page 285
• Tsykhun, G. A., editor (2008), “сіг”, in Этымалагічны слоўнік беларускай мовы [Etymological Dictionary of the Belarusian Language] (in Belarusian), volumes 12 (свабо́да – стэ́сам), Minsk: Belaruskaia navuka, →ISBN, page 76
• Melnychuk, O. S., editor (2006), “сиг”, in Етимологічний словник української мови [Etymological Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language] (in Ukrainian), volumes 5 (Р – Т), Kyiv: Naukova Dumka, →ISBN, page 225

• IPA^(key): [sʲɪˈɡʲe]

сиге́ • (sigé) m anim

1. prepositional singular of сиг (sig)