Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/zajęcь
Proto-Slavic
Etymology
From an earlier *zajękъ (still reflected in Bulgarian and Macedonian), via progressive palatalization. Possibly inherited from Proto-Balto-Slavic *źṓˀjinkas,[1] cognate[2] with dial. Lithuanian zuĩkis < *zuojįkas (however, not Latvian zaķis, which looks like a Slavic borrowing). Further origin uncertain:
- Mladenov, Vasmer, Snoj: Perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰey-, *ǵʰeh₂y- (“to dash, to hurtle, to hop”), akin to Lithuanian žaĩsti (“to play around”) and Old Armenian ձի (ji, “horse”), Proto-Indo-Iranian *ȷ́ʰáyas (< Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰéyos). From the same root may also be Proto-Germanic *gaits (“goat”), Latin haedus (“buck”).
- Löwenthal: From Proto-Indo-European *ǵeh₂- (“to nourish, earth”) whence Ancient Greek γῆ (gê, “Earth”) (possibly Ancient Greek γᾰ́λᾰ (gála)). Dismissed by Vasmer.
Shares ending with Proto-Slavic *měsęcь (“month”), *koręcь (“root”), probably resultant from a k-extension over an older n-stem[3]. Further attested in animal names: e.g. Bulgarian пуяк ~ пуек (pujak ~ puek, “male fowl”), суяк ~ суек (sujak ~ suek, “ground squirrel”), dial. козяк ~ козек (kozjak ~ kozek, “buck”); and in diminutives: e.g. Bulgarian ма́лечко (málečko), па́лечко (pálečko) < мале (male), пале (pale) + *-ęč-ьko.
Alternative forms
It is likely that such a form did not exist, where a morphological replacement of the suffix simply took place.
Declension
singular | dual | plural | |
---|---|---|---|
nominative | *zàję̄cь | *zàję̄ca | *zàję̄ci |
genitive | *zàję̄ca | *zàję̄cu | *zàję̄cь |
dative | *zàję̄cu | *zàję̄cema | *zàję̄cēmъ |
accusative | *zàję̄cь | *zàję̄ca | *zàję̄cę̇ |
instrumental | *zàję̄cьmь, *zàję̄cemь* | *zàję̄cema | *zàję̄cī |
locative | *zàję̄ci | *zàję̄cu | *zàję̄cīxъ |
vocative | *zàję̄če | *zàję̄ca | *zàję̄ci |
Derived terms
- *zajęcevъ
- *zajęčь
- *zajęčьskъ
- *zajęčьstъ
- *zajęčařь
Descendants
- East Slavic:
- South Slavic:
- Old Church Slavonic:
- Old Cyrillic script: заѩць (zajęcĭ)
- Glagolitic script: ⰸⰰⱗⱌⱐ (zajęcĭ)
- Bulgarian: за́ец (záec) (obsolete), за́ек (záek); dial. зо́ек (zóek), зо́як (zójak) (Torlak dialects), за́енц (záenc) (dialectal)
- Macedonian: зајак (zajak)
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Slovene: zȃjəc, zẹ̑c (tonal orthography)
- Old Church Slavonic:
- West Slavic:
References
- Chernykh, P. Ja. (1993) “за́яц”, in Историко-этимологический словарь русского языка [Historical-Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), 3rd edition, volumes 1 (а – пантомима), Moscow: Russian Lang., →ISBN, page 318
- T. Skikevich, 2007: Балто-славянский период в формировании лексики русского языка (на примере наименований диких животных) at Materials from International Linguistic Conference at Ryazan State University, May 2007, , page 183
- Sławski, Franciszek, editor (1974), “Suf. -cь, -ce”, in Słownik prasłowiański [Proto-Slavic Dictionary] (in Polish), volumes 1 (a – bьzděti), Wrocław: Ossolineum, page 97: “zajęcь < *ǵhāi̯-en-ko-”
- Snoj, Marko (2016) “zȃjec”, in Slovenski etimološki slovar [Slovenian Etymology Dictionary] (in Slovene), 3rd edition, https://fran.si: “*za̋jęcь”
- Olander, Thomas (2001) “zajęcь”, in Common Slavic Accentological Word List, Copenhagen: Editiones Olander: “a (PR 132)”
Further reading
- Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “заяц”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress
- Brückner, Aleksander (1927) “zając”, in Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego [Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language] (in Polish), Warsaw: Wiedza Powszechna, page 643
- Georgiev, Vladimir I., editor (1971), “заек”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volumes 1 (А – З), Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Pubg. House, →ISBN, page 587