Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/čьrtъ
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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
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Unclear. Usually two theories are proposed:
- Past passive participle of unattested verb (nouns: *čarъ, *čara (“magic, sorcery”)) that is the exact equivalent of the Lithuanian kerė́ti (“to bewitch”). This etymology is supported by analogies, cf. *vȏrgъ (“foe, enemy; evil spirit”) > *voržiti (“to divine”). Cognate with Sanskrit कृत्या (kṛtyā, “female demon, sorceress”).
- Past passive participle of *čerti (“to cut”). This etymology is supported by the fact that in many beliefs, evil spirits were often mutilated, cf. Polish kusy (“devil”), Bulgarian къ́с (kǎ́s, “devil”) from Proto-Slavic *kǫsъ (“bitten off; short; tailless”). Relation with *čьrta, *čara (“line”), *čersti, *čьrtiti (“to cut”) is also possible.
Other propositions include:
- Berneker: past passive participle of unattested verb that is the exact equivalent of the Lithuanian kyrė́ti (“to take revenge”) from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to turn, to cross”) (or *ker- (“to assault”)) with literal meaning “avenger”. Bezlaj derives it from the same root, but through a different semantic shift: “astride, askew” → “evil, treacherous”.
- From Proto-Indo-European *(s)kerH- (“to swing, to skip, to jump”) though a semantic development “quick” → “scary, freakish”.
Modern descendants are sometimes associated through folk etymology with (descendants of) Proto-Slavic *čьrnъ (“black”).
Noun
[edit]Inflection
[edit]Declension of *čь̑rtъ (hard o-stem, accent paradigm c)
| singular | dual | plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | *čь̑rtъ | *čь̑rta | *čь̑rti |
| genitive | *čь̑rta | *čьrtù | *čь̃rtъ |
| dative | *čь̑rtu | *čьrtomà | *čьrtòmъ |
| accusative | *čь̑rtъ | *čь̑rta | *čь̑rty |
| instrumental | *čь̑rtъmь, *čь̑rtomь* | *čьrtomà | *čьrtý |
| locative | *čь̑rtě | *čьrtù | *čьrtě̃xъ |
| vocative | *čьrte | *čь̑rta | *čь̑rti |
* -ъmь in North Slavic, -omь in South Slavic.
Derived terms
[edit]- *čьrtiti, *čьrtovati (“to carouse, to do evil”)
- *čьrtьcь (diminutives)
- *čьrtovъ, *čьrtьjь (relative adjectives)
Descendants
[edit]- East Slavic:
- South Slavic:
- Slovene: čȓt (“hostile spirit; animosity”)
- West Slavic:
Further reading
[edit]- Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “чёрт”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка (in Russian), Moscow: Progress
- “skėrys”, in Lietuvių kalbos etimologinio žodyno duomenų bazė, 2007–2012
- Melnychuk, O. S., editor (1982–2012), “чорт”, in Етимологічний словник української мови (in Ukrainian), Kyiv: Naukova Dumka
- Марр, Н. Я. (1924) “Название этрусского бога смерти Kalu и термины ‘писать’, ‘петь’, ‘чорт’, 'поэт' и ‘слепец’”, in Известия Российской Академии Наук. VI серия[2] (in Russian), volume 18, numbers 1–11, page 188 of 183–194, compares to Old Georgian ჭორტი (č̣orṭi, “stone statue; cairn”), which appears to be connected to Old Ossetic τζηρθε (tzērthe, “stele, monument”)
References
[edit]- ^ Olander, Thomas (2001) “čьrtъ”, in Common Slavic Accentological Word List[1], Copenhagen: Editiones Olander: “c djævel (PR 137)”
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Snoj, Marko (2016) “črtiti”, in Slovenski etimološki slovar (in Slovene), 3rd edition, https://fran.si: “izpeljano iz *čь̑rtъ ‛vrag’”
- ^ * Trubachyov, Oleg, editor (1977), “*čьrtъ”, in Этимологический словарь славянских языков (in Russian), numbers 4 (*čaběniti – *děľa), Moscow: Nauka, page 164
- ^ Sławski, Franciszek, editor (1976), “cŕ̥tъ”, in Słownik prasłowiański (in Polish), volume 2 (caca – davьnota), Wrocław: Ossolineum, page 256