Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/žena

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

From Proto-Balto-Slavic *génāˀ, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷḗn.

Noun

*ženà f

1. woman
2. wife

Inflection

Declension of *ženà (hard a-stem, accent paradigm b)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*ženà	*žèně	*ženỳ
genitive	*ženỳ	*ženù	*žènъ
dative	*ženě̀	*ženàma	*ženàmъ
accusative	*ženǫ̀	*žèně	*ženỳ
instrumental	*ženòjǫ, *žènǫ**	*ženàma	*ženàmī
locative	*ženě̀	*ženù	*ženàsъ, *ženàxъ*
vocative	*ženo	*žèně	*ženỳ

^* -asъ is the expected Balto-Slavic form but is found only in some Old Czech documents; -axъ is found everywhere else and is formed by analogy with other locative plurals in -xъ.
^** 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).

Descendants

• East Slavic:
  • Belarusian: жо́нка (žónka), жана́ (žaná) (dated)
  • Russian: жена́ (žená)
  • Carpathian Rusyn: жона́ (žoná)
  • Ukrainian: жі́нка (žínka), жона́ (žoná) (dated)

• South Slavic:
  • Old Church Slavonic:

    Cyrillic: жена (žena)

    Glagolitic: ⰶⰵⱀⰰ (žena)

  • Bulgarian: жена́ (žená)
  • Macedonian: жена (žena)
  • Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic script: жѐна

    Latin script: žèna

  • Slovene: žéna (tonal orthography)

• West Slavic:
  • Czech: žena
  • Kashubian: żona (rare)
  • Polabian: zenă
  • Polish: żona
  • Slovak: žena
  • Sorbian:
    • Lower Sorbian: žona
    • Upper Sorbian: žona

See also

Proto-Slavic family terms

*sěmьja, *rodina (“family”)	Male	Female
parent	*otъ, *otьcь (“father”) nursery: *tata	*mati (“mother”) nursery: *mama
sibling	*bratrъ (“brother”)	*sestra (“sister”)
child	*synъ (“son”)	*dъťi (“daughter”)
grandparent	– (“grandfather”) nursery: *dědъ; *nana	*ova (“grandmother”) nursery: *baba; *nena
grandchild	*vъnukъ (“grandson”)	*vъnuka (“granddaughter”)
stepparent	*otьčimъ (“stepfather”)	*maťexa (“stepmother”)
stepchild	*pastorъkъ (“stepson”)	*pastorъka (“stepdaughter”)
father's sibling	*strъjь (“paternal uncle”) nursery: *dada; *lola	– (“paternal aunt”) nursery: *teta; *lelja
mother's sibling	*ujь (“maternal uncle”) nursery: *dada; *lola	– (“maternal aunt”) nursery: *teta; *lelja
sibling's child	*netьjь (“nephew”)	*nestera (“niece”)
spouse	*mǫžь (“husband”)	*žena (“wife”)
parent of wife	*tьstь (“father-in-law (wife's father)”)	*tьšča (“mother-in-law (wife's mother)”)
parent of husband	*svekrъ (“father-in-law (husband's father)”)	*svekry (“mother-in-law (husband's father)”)
sibling of wife	*šurь (“brother-in-law (wife's brother)”)	*svěstь, *svьstь (“sister-in-law (wife's sister)”)
sibling of husband	*děverь (“brother-in-law (husband's brother)”)	*zъly (“sister-in-law (husband's sister)”)
spouse of child	*zętь (“son-in-law (daughter's husband)”)	*snъxa (“daughter-in-law (son's wife)”)
spouse of husband's brother	–	*ętry (“sister-in-law (husband's brother's wife)”)

Further reading

• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “жена”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress
• Derksen, Rick (2008) “*žena”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 4), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 558