Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/mečь

This Proto-Slavic entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Slavic

Alternative forms

*mь̀čь (newer form)[1]

Etymology

Unknown. In the past usually believed to be borrowed from Gothic 𐌼𐌴𐌺𐌴𐌹𐍃 (mēkeis), from Proto-Germanic *mēkijaz. However, this idea is rejected by modern etymologists e.g. Pronk-Tiethoff,[2] Boryś,[1] ESSJa,[3] because the vowels don't match (*měčь expected). Only Derksen recognizes the possibility of borrowing.[4]

Relation with Georgian მახვილი (maxvili, “sword”), Udi мех (meχ, “sickle”), Lezgi мaх (maχ, “iron”) was also suggested, but vowels are still problematic. Relation with Tsez мачӏа (mač’a, “sword”) or Middle Persian [script needed] (magēn) is also unlikely.[5]

Per Pronk-Tiethoff and Boryś: borrowing from unknown source. Per Petri Kallio Germanic and Slavic words are Wanderworts.[6]

Per ESSJa: Slavic and Germanic words are borrowed from Celtic, ultimately from Proto-Celtic *mik-n- (“to sparkle, shine”) (cf. Proto-Celtic *mikneti > Old Irish domeiccethar (“to despise”), Welsh dirmygu (“to disdain, scorn, spurn”)), from Proto-Indo-European *meyk- (“to twinkle, blink”).

Other propositions include: back-formation from Proto-Slavic *metati (“to throw”), relation with Latin mactō (“to kill, slaughter”), or with Ancient Greek μᾰ́χη (mákhē, “battle, combat”), μάχαιρα (mákhaira, “large knife, short sword, dirk, dagger”).

Noun

*mèčь m[1][2][3][4][7]

sword

Declension

Declension of *mèčь (soft o-stem, accent paradigm b)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*mèčь	*mečà	*mečì
genitive	*mečà	*mečù	*mèčь
dative	*mečù	*mečèma	*mèčemъ
accusative	*mèčь	*mečà	*mečę̇̀
instrumental	mečь̀mь, mečèmь^*	*mečèma	*mèči
locative	*mečì	*mečù	*mèčixъ
vocative	*meču	*mečà	*mečì

^* -ьmь in North Slavic, -emь in South Slavic.

Derived terms

nouns

*mečikъ m
*mečišče n
*mečьnica f
*mečьnikъ m

adjectives

*mečevъ
*mečьnъ

Descendants

East Slavic:
- Old East Slavic: мечь (mečĭ)
  - Belarusian: меч (mječ)
  - Russian: меч (meč)
  - Ukrainian: меч (meč); міч (mič) (dialectal)
South Slavic:
- Old Church Slavonic:
  Cyrillic: мечь (mečĭ)
  
  Glagolitic: ⰿⰵⱍⱐ (mečĭ)
- Bulgarian: меч (meč)
- Macedonian: меч (meč)
- Serbo-Croatian:
  - Chakavian Serbo-Croatian: meč
- Slovene: mȅč (tonal orthography)
West Slavic:
- Old Czech: meč
  - Czech: meč
- Kashubian: miecz
- Old Polish: miecz
  - Polish: miecz
- Slovak: meč
- Sorbian:
  - Lower Sorbian: mjac
  - Upper Sorbian: mječ

References

Boryś, Wiesław (2005) “miecz”, in Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego (in Polish), Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie, →ISBN, page 323
Pronk-Tiethoff, Saskia E. (2013) The Germanic loanwords in Proto-Slavic‎, Amsterdam - New York: Rodopi, →ISBN
Trubachyov, Oleg, editor (1992), “mečь/mьčь”, in Этимологический словарь славянских языков [Etymological dictionary of Slavic languages] (in Russian), numbers 18 (*matoga – *mękyšьka), Moscow: Nauka, →ISBN, page 38
Derksen, Rick (2008) “*mèčь; *mь̀čь”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 4), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 305: “m. jo (b) ‘sword’”
Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “меч”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress
Petri Kallio (2015) “The stratigraphy of the Germanic loanwords in Finnic”, in John Ole Askedal, Hans Frede Nielsen, editors, Early Germanic Languages in Contact, John Benjamins Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 27
Olander, Thomas (2001) “mečь (?mьčь)”, in Common Slavic Accentological Word List‎, Copenhagen: Editiones Olander: “b sværd (PR 134)”