Reconstruction:Proto-Balto-Slavic/masgás

This Proto-Balto-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-Balto-Slavic

Etymology

With Proto-Indo-Iranian *mazgʰás and Proto-Germanic *mazgą (“marrow”)) from Proto-Indo-European *mosgʰós. This term can be related to Proto-Indo-European *mezgʷ- (“to knit”) reflected in Proto-Balto-Slavic *mezgti (“to twist, to entangle, to knit, to weave etc.”) and Proto-Germanic *maskwǭ, *mēskwǭ (“mesh”) if it is correct that the Baltic words for “knot” are the same word as the Slavic word for “brain”.

Noun

*masgás m

1. marrow
2. brain

Inflection

Declension of *masgás (o-stem, mobile accent)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*masgás	*masgai	*masgái
accusative	*masgan	*masgai	*masgōns
genitive	*masgā	*masgāu⁽ˀ⁾	*masgṓn
locative	*masgái	*masgāu⁽ˀ⁾	*masgaišú
dative	*masgōi	*masgamā́ˀ	*masgamás
instrumental	*masgōˀ	*masgamā́ˀ	*masgṓis
vocative	*masge	*masgai	*masgái

In mobile paradigms, forms without an accent marker are enclinomena, which do not have inherent lexical accent.

Alternative reconstructions

• *másgas (fixed accent)

Related terms

• *masgen (synonym)

Descendants

• East Baltic:
  • Latgalian: mozgys (“knot”) (possibly)
  • Latvian: mezgls (“knot”), dial. mezgs, mazgs (“knotty”) (possibly)
  • Lithuanian: mãzgas (“knot”) (possibly)
• Proto-Slavic: *mȍzgъ or *mòzgъ (see there for further descendants)