Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/širь

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

Etymology

Uncertain. Speculated to be a borrowing from Proto-Indo-Iranian *ćšáytram (“land, country”) (likely via Scythian), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tḱey- (“to settle, to cultivate”).

Alternatively, it could be a dialectal derivative of Proto-Indo-European *sḱēy- (“to shine”), cognate with Proto-Slavic *ščirъ (“sincere, honest”) and Proto-Germanic *skīriz (“sheer, pure”).

Noun

*šȋrь f

1. expanse, stretch, extent

   Synonym: *prostorъ

Inflection

Declension of *širь (i-stem, uncountable)

	singular
nominative	*širь
genitive	*širi
dative	*širi
accusative	*širь
instrumental	*širьjǫ, *šiřǫ*
locative	*širi
vocative	*širi

^* The second form occurs in languages that contract early across /j/ (e.g. Czech), while the first form occurs in languages that do not (e.g. Russian).

Related terms

• *širъ (“vast, broad”)
• *širokъ (“wide”)

Descendants

• East Slavic:
  • Russian: ширь (širʹ)
  • Ukrainian: шир (šyr)
• South Slavic:
  • Old Church Slavonic: ширь (širĭ)
  • Bulgarian: шир (šir)
  • Macedonian: шир (šir)
  • Slovene: šȋr (tonal orthography)
• West Slavic:
  • Czech: šíř, šíře
  • Old Polish: szyrz
    • Polish: szerz (obsolete)
  • Slovak: šir
  • Sorbian:

    Lower Sorbian: šěŕ

    Upper Sorbian: šуŕ

Further reading

• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “ширь”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress