Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/skoba

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 origin. The lemma exhibits semantic and phonetic parallels with Lithuanian kabė (“hook”), Lithuanian kablỹs (“cramp”) (both from Lithuanian kabėti (“to hang”)), Latvian kablis (“clasp”), which generally point towards an origin from pre-Balto-Slavic **(s)kebʰ-. Indo-European data outside of Balto-Slavic, however, alludes an origin from a nasal root with glottalic coda *(s)kemb- (“to bend”), which gave Lithuanian kìbti (“to hang up”), Proto-Germanic *humpaz (“hump”) (0-grade), Proto-Germanic *hampą (“happiness”) (o-grade), Latin scamnum (“bench”) (and its diminutive Latin scabellum), Ancient Greek κόμβος (kómbos, “node”), Proto-Celtic *kambos (“twisted, crooked”), Sanskrit स्कम्भ (skambhá, “pole”), and plausibly Proto-Germanic *skup- (“barn, shop”).

It is possible that the Slavic root was denasalized under the same conditions as *voda < proto-Balto-Slavic *wandō, which blocked the effect of Winter's law.

Noun

*skobà f

1. bracket

Inflection

Declension of *skobà (hard a-stem, accent paradigm c)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*skobà	*skȍbě	*skȍby
genitive	*skobý	*skobù	*skòbъ
dative	*skobě̀	*skobàma	*skobàmъ
accusative	*skȍbǫ	*skȍbě	*skȍby
instrumental	*skobojǫ́	*skobàma	*skobàmi
locative	*skȍbě	*skobù	*skobàsъ, *skobàxъ*
vocative	*skobo	*skȍbě	*skȍby

^* -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.

Related terms

• *kobь (“fate”)
• *prokoba (“doom”)

Descendants

• Old East Slavic: скоба (skoba)
  • Belarusian: скоба (skóba)
  • Russian: скоба (skoba)
    • Russian: скобка (skobka) (diminutive)
• South Slavic:
  • Old Church Slavonic:

    Old Cyrillic script: скоба (skoba)

    Glagolitic script: ⱄⰽⱁⰱⰰ (skoba)

  • Bulgarian: скоба́ (skobá)
  • Macedonian: ско́ба (skóba)
  • Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic script: ско̏ба

    Latin script: skо̏ba

  • Slovene: skȯ́bа (tonal orthography)
• West Slavic:
  • Czech: skoba
  • Polish: skobel

References

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