Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/ǫtь

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

*ǫtь

Etymology

From Proto-Balto-Slavic *ánˀtis, i-stem variant of Proto-Indo-European *h₂énh₂ts (“duck”).

Baltic cognates inclde Old Prussian antis, Lithuanian ántis (“duck”). Further cognates with Ancient Greek νῆττα (nêtta), Ossetian ацц (acc), Old Irish *āti, Sanskrit आति (ātí, “aquatic bird”).

Noun

*ǫtь f

1. (originally) wild duck
2. duck (mostly domestic)

   Synonyms: *kačьka, *patica, *manica, *putъka, *šatъka

Declension

Declension of *ǫtь (i-stem)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*ǫtь	*ǫti	*ǫti
genitive	*ǫti	*ǫtьju, *ǫťu*	*ǫtьjь, *ǫti*
dative	*ǫti	*ǫtьma	*ǫtьmъ
accusative	*ǫtь	*ǫti	*ǫti
instrumental	*ǫtьjǫ, *ǫťǫ*	*ǫtьma	*ǫtьmi
locative	*ǫti	*ǫtьju, *ǫťu*	*ǫtьxъ
vocative	*ǫti	*ǫti	*ǫti

^* 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).

Derived terms

• *ǫtę (“duckling”)
  • *ǫtenъkъ (“duckling”) (diminutive, East Slavic)
  • *ǫtęťь (“duck-related”) (East Slavic)
• *ǫtica, *ǫtъka (“duck”) (diminutive)
• *ǫtìnъ (“duck-related”) (East Slavic)
• *ǫty (“duck”)

Descendants

• East Slavic:
  • Old East Slavic:
    • Belarusian: уць (ucʹ, “duck”)
      • ⇒ Belarusian: ву́ці-ву́ці-ву́ці (vúci-vúci-vúci, “call the ducks”) (interjection)
    • Russian: уть m (utʹ, “drake”), уть f (utʹ, “duck”) (dialectal)
      • ⇒ Russian: Уть (Utʹ), Ути (Uti) (river name)
      • ⇒ Russian: у́ти-у́ти (úti-úti), у́ты-у́ты (úty-úty, “call the ducks”) (interjections)
    • ⇒ Ukrainian: ву́ть-ву́ть (vútʹ-vútʹ, “call the ducks”) (interjections)
• South Slavic:
  • >? Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic script: ут (“call the ducks or poultry”) (interjections)

    Latin script: ut (“call the ducks or poultry”) (interjections)

Further reading

• Zhuravlyov, A. F., Varbot, Zh. Zh., editors (2016), “*ǫtь”, in Этимологический словарь славянских языков [Etymological dictionary of Slavic languages] (in Russian), numbers 40 (*ǫborъkъ – *pakъla), Moscow: Nauka, →ISBN, page 92