Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/medvědь

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 earlier *medu-ēdis, equivalent to *medъ (“honey”) +‎ *(j)ěsti (“to eat”), hence literally the epithet "honey-eater". Cognate with Sanskrit मध्वद् (madhuv-ád-, “eating sweetness”) (RV I 164,22). Presumably came into use as taboo avoidance of an earlier word, possibly something like *rьstъ (compare Lithuanian irštvà (“bear's den”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ŕ̥tḱos).

There is a folk etymology from *medъ and *věděti (“to know, to manage”), hence "one who knows honey" or "honey master".

Noun

*medvě̀dь m

1. bear

Declension

Reconstructed as a jo-stem in Derksen 2008, since no descendants reflect an i-stem. But may have originally been an i-stem based on the lack of iotation of the final *d.

Declension of *medvě̀dь (soft o-stem, accent paradigm a)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*medvě̀dь	*medvě̀da	*medvě̀di
genitive	*medvě̀da	*medvě̀du	*medvě̀dь
dative	*medvě̀du	*medvě̀dema	*medvě̀dēmъ
accusative	*medvě̀dь	*medvě̀da	*medvě̀dę̇
instrumental	*medvě̀dьmь, *medvě̀demь*	*medvě̀dema	*medvě̀dī
locative	*medvě̀di	*medvě̀du	*medvě̀dīxъ
vocative	*medvě̀du	*medvě̀da	*medvě̀di

^* -ьmь in North Slavic, -emь in South Slavic.

Declension of *medvě̀dь (i-stem, accent paradigm a)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*medvě̀dь	*medvě̀di	*medvě̀dьjē, *medvě̀ďē*
genitive	*medvě̀dī	*medvě̀dьju, *medvě̀ďu*	*medvě̀dьjь, *medvě̀dī*
dative	*medvě̀di	*medvě̀dьma	*medvě̀dьmъ
accusative	*medvě̀dь	*medvě̀di	*medvě̀di
instrumental	*medvě̀dьmь	*medvě̀dьma	*medvě̀dьmī
locative	*medvě̀dī	*medvě̀dьju, *medvě̀ďu*	*medvě̀dьxъ
vocative	*medvědi	*medvě̀di	*medvě̀dьjē, *medvě̀ďē*

^* 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:
  • Old East Slavic: медвѣдь (medvědĭ)
    • Belarusian: мядзве́дзь (mjadzvjédzʹ)
    • Russian: медве́дь (medvédʹ)
    • Carpathian Rusyn: медві́дь (medvídʹ)
    • Ukrainian: ведмі́дь (vedmídʹ)
• South Slavic:
  • Old Church Slavonic:

    Cyrillic: медвѣдь (medvědĭ)

    Glagolitic: [Term?]

  • Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic script: мѐдвед, мѐдвјед

    Latin: mèdved, mèdvjed

    • Chakavian : medvȉd
    • Chakavian : medvȅd
    • Chakavian : medvȉd
    • Kajkavian: médved
  • Slovene: médved (tonal orthography)
• West Slavic:
  • Old Czech: medvěd, nedvěd
    • Czech: medvěd; nedvěd (dialectal)
  • Kashubian: miedzwiédz
  • Old Polish: niedźwiedź, miedźwiedź
    • Polish: niedźwiedź; miedźwiedź (archaic or dialectal)
  • Slovak: medveď
  • Slovincian: ńìe̯dvjeʒ
  • Sorbian:
    • Lower Sorbian: mjadwjeź
    • Upper Sorbian: mjedwjedź, mjedźwjedź
• → Hungarian: medve

Further reading

vol=1 Please see Module:checkparams for help with this warning.Chernykh, P. Ja. (1993) “медве́дь”, in Историко-этимологический словарь русского языка [Historical-Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), 3rd edition, Moscow: Russian Lang., →ISBN

• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “медве́дь”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress
• Trubachyov, Oleg, editor (1992), “*medvědь”, in Этимологический словарь славянских языков [Etymological dictionary of Slavic languages] (in Russian), numbers 18 (*matoga – *mękyšьka), Moscow: Nauka, →ISBN, page 65