слон

Belarusian

Elephant

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *slonъ, possibly a deverbative from Proto-Slavic *sloniti sę (“to lean against”), relating to а medieval story of а sleeping elephant who leaned against a tree. According to some other sources, it is related to the Turkish arslan (“lion”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [sɫon]

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

слон • (slon) m animal (genitive слана́, nominative plural сланы́, genitive plural слано́ў)

1. elephant
2. (chess) bishop

Declension

Declension of слон (anml hard masc-form accent-b)

	singular	plural
nominative	слон slon	сланы́ slaný
genitive	слана́ slaná	слано́ў slanóŭ
dative	слану́ slanú	слана́м slanám
accusative	слана́ slaná	слано́ў slanóŭ
instrumental	слано́м slanóm	слана́мі slanámi
locative	слане́ slanjé	слана́х slanáx
count form	—	сланы́1 slaný1

¹Used with the numbers 2, 3, 4 and higher numbers after 20 ending in 2, 3, and 4.

See also

Chess pieces in Belarusian · ша́хматныя фігу́ры (šáxmatnyja fihúry) (layout · text)
каро́ль (karólʹ)	ферзь (fjerzʹ)	ладдзя́ (laddzjá)	слон (slon)	конь (konʹ)	пе́шка (pjéška)

Bulgarian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [sɫɔn]

Etymology 1

From Proto-Slavic *slonъ, possibly a deverbative from Proto-Slavic *sloniti sę (“to lean against”), relating to а medieval story of а sleeping elephant who leaned against a tree. According to some other sources, it is related to the Turkish arslan (“lion”).

Noun

слон • (slon) m (feminine слони́ца)

1. elephant (usually a male one)

Declension

Declension of слон

	singular	plural
indefinite	слон slon	сло́нове slónove
definite (subject form)	сло́нът slónǎt	сло́новете slónovete
definite (object form)	сло́на slóna
count form	—	сло́на slóna
vocative form	сло́не slóne	сло́нове slónove

References

• слон in Rečnik na bǎlgarskija ezik (Institut za bǎlgarski ezik)
• Todorov T., editor (2010), “слон²”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volume 7, Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, page 113

Etymology 2

From Proto-Slavic *slonъ (“offset”).

Noun

слон • (slon) m

1. (dialectal) shelter, offset (used for protection)

   Synonyms: стряха (strjaha), навес (naves)

2. (dialectal) pen, sheepfold

   Synonyms: кошара (košara), котец (kotec)

Declension

This entry needs an inflection-table template.

Derived terms

• заслон (zaslon, “cover, screen”)
• подслон (podslon, “shelter, refuge”)

References

• Todorov T., editor (2010), “слон¹”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volume 7, Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, page 112

Macedonian

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *slonъ, possibly a deverbative from Proto-Slavic *sloniti sę (“to lean against”), relating to а medieval story of а sleeping elephant who leaned against a tree. According to some other sources, it is related to the Turkish arslan (“lion”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [sɫɔn]
• Rhymes: -ɔn

Noun

слон • (slon) m (plural слонови, feminine слоница, related adjective слонов, diminutive слонче, augmentative слониште)

1. elephant

Declension

Declension of слон

	singular	plural
indefinite	слон	слонови
definite unspecified	слонот	слоновите
definite proximal	слонов	слоновиве
definite distal	слонон	слоновине
vocative	слону	слонови
count form	—	слона

Russian

Alternative forms

• слонъ (slon) – Pre-reform orthography (1918)

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *slonъ, possibly a deverbative from Proto-Slavic *sloniti sę (“to lean against”), relating to а medieval story of а sleeping elephant who leaned against a tree. According to some other sources, it is related to the Turkish arslan (“lion”).

Vovin (2011) proposes that Slavic slonъ reflects Old Chinese 象 (*ljaŋʔ /*slaŋ/, “elephant”), an etymology previously suggested by Ivanov (1977: 156–57) albeit with an incorrect Old Chinese reconstruction *sðaŋ. As Vovin notes, contact between Slavic and Old Chinese is out of the question, so the solution might arise from an intermediary source. Ivanov (1977:154) believes that the Chuvash forms слон (slon), сӑлан (sălan, “elephant”) are Russian loans, with the latter being called into question by Vovin on phonetic grounds. According to him, Russian /o/ (phonetically a diphthong [uo] with a mid-high syllabic element [o]) is unlikely to be borrowed as Chuvash low vowel /a/. The reverse, namely the borrowing of Bulgar slightly labialised /a/ as Slavic /o/ is more than likely. Chuvash сӑлан (sălan, “elephant”) is exactly the expected outcome of the Old Chinese *slaŋ with the insertion of ⟨ă⟩ breaking the OC initial cluster /sl-/ and typical Bulgar shift of Proto-Turkic *ŋ to /n/. The presence of this word in Chuvash places proto-Bulgar speakers in the vicinity of Northern China no later than first century BCE, because approximately after that date the initial clusters in Old Chinese underwent the process of simplification.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [sɫon]

• audio

  (file)

Noun

слон • (slon) m anim (genitive слона́, nominative plural слоны́, genitive plural слоно́в, feminine слони́ха, related adjective слоно́вый or слоно́вий, diminutive сло́ник, augmentative слони́ще or слоня́ра)

1. elephant
2. (chess) bishop

Declension

Declension of слон (anim masc-form hard-stem accent-b) 

	singular	plural
nominative	сло́н slón	слоны́ sloný
genitive	слона́ sloná	слоно́в slonóv
dative	слону́ slonú	слона́м slonám
accusative	слона́ sloná	слоно́в slonóv
instrumental	слоно́м slonóm	слона́ми slonámi
prepositional	слоне́ sloné	слона́х slonáx

Abbreviations

• (chess piece): С (S)

Synonyms

• (chess piece): офице́р (oficér) (informal)

Derived terms

• слонёнок (slonjónok)
• слони́ха (sloníxa)
• слоно́вник (slonóvnik)
• слонопота́м (slonopotám)

Descendants

• → Ingrian: slona
• → Kildin Sami: слонн (slonn)
• → Komi-Zyrian: слӧн (slön)

See also

• морско́й слон (morskój slon)

Chess pieces in Russian · ша́хматные фигу́ры (šáxmatnyje figúry) (layout · text)
коро́ль (korólʹ)	ферзь (ferzʹ)	ладья́ (ladʹjá)	слон (slon)	конь (konʹ)	пе́шка (péška)

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *slonъ, possibly a deverbative from Proto-Slavic *sloniti sę (“to lean against”), relating to а medieval story of а sleeping elephant who leaned against a tree. According to some other sources, it's related to the Turkish arslan (“lion”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /slôn/

Noun

сло̏н m (Latin spelling slȍn)

1. elephant

Declension

Declension of слон

	singular	plural
nominative	сло̏н	сло̀нови
genitive	слона	слонова
dative	слону	слоновима
accusative	слона	слонове
vocative	слоне	слонови
locative	слону	слоновима
instrumental	слоном	слоновима

Ukrainian

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *slonъ, possibly a deverbative from Proto-Slavic *sloniti sę (“to lean against”), relating to а medieval story of а sleeping elephant who leaned against a tree. According to some other sources, it's related to the Turkish arslan (“lion”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [sɫɔn]

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

слон • (slon) m animal (genitive слона́, nominative plural слони́, genitive plural слоні́в, related adjective слоно́вий)

1. elephant

   Synonyms: слін (slin), елефант (elefant)

2. (chess) bishop

Declension

Declension of слон (animal hard masc-form accent-b)

	singular	plural
nominative	слон slon	слони́ sloný
genitive	слона́ sloná	слоні́в slonív
dative	слоно́ві, слону́ slonóvi, slonú	слона́м slonám
accusative	слона́ sloná	слони́, слоні́в sloný, slonív
instrumental	слоно́м slonóm	слона́ми slonámy
locative	слоно́ві, слоні́ slonóvi, sloní	слона́х slonáx
vocative	сло́не slóne	слони́ sloný

See also

Chess pieces in Ukrainian · шахові фігури (šaxovi fihury) (layout · text)
король (korolʹ)	ферзь (ferzʹ)	тура (tura)	слон (slon)	кінь (kinʹ)	пішак (pišak)

References

• Bilodid, I. K., editor (1970–1980), “слон”, in Словник української мови: в 11 т. [Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language: in 11 vols] (in Ukrainian), Kyiv: Naukova Dumka