Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/basnь

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

Action noun of *bati, *bajati (“to tell, to narate”) +‎ *-snь, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- (“to speak, to tell”). Akin to Latin fābula (“narative”), Proto-Germanic *bōniz (“prayer”) and formally related to Ancient Greek φάσμα (phásma, “apparition, phantom”) (from another meaning of the same PIE root).

Noun

*bàsnь f

1. tale, poem, fable (succinct instructive story)
2. (rare) spell, incantation

Alternative forms

• *bàsňa (ja-stem)
• *basma (in Serbo-Croatian)

Declension

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

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*bàsnь	*bàsni	*bàsni
genitive	*bàsnī	*bàsnьju, *bàsňu*	*bàsnьjь, *bàsnī*
dative	*bàsni	*bàsnьma	*bàsnьmъ
accusative	*bàsnь	*bàsni	*bàsni
instrumental	*bàsnьjǫ, *bàsňǭ*	*bàsnьma	*bàsnьmī
locative	*bàsnī	*bàsnьju, *bàsňu*	*bàsnьxъ
vocative	*basni	*bàsni	*bàsni

^* 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

• *basnьnikъ (“poet, fabler”)
• *basnica (“narative”)

Related terms

• *badli (“witchdoctor, spiritual healer”)
• *bajьka (“fable”)

Descendants

• East Slavic:
  • Russian: баснь (basnʹ) (archaic), ба́сня (básnja)
  • Ukrainian: ба́сні (básni)
• South Slavic:
  • Old Church Slavonic:

    Old Cyrillic script: баснь (basnĭ)

    Glagolitic script: ⰱⰰⱄⱀⱐ (basnĭ)

  • Bulgarian: ба́сня (básnja), ба́сница (básnica)
  • Macedonian: басна (basna)
  • Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic script: ба̏сна

    Latin script: bȁsna

  • Slovene: bȃsen (tonal orthography)
• West Slavic:
  • Old Czech: básn
    • Czech: báseň
  • Old Polish: baśń
    • Polish: baśń
  • Slovak: báseň
  • Sorbian:
    • Lower Sorbian: basń
    • Upper Sorbian: basń, basnica

• Non-Slavic:
  • → Romanian: basm

Further reading

• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “ба́сня”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress
• Trubachyov, Oleg, editor (1974), “*basnь”, in Этимологический словарь славянских языков [Etymological dictionary of Slavic languages] (in Russian), numbers 1 (*a – *besědьlivъ), Moscow: Nauka, page 161
• Georgiev, Vladimir I., editor (1971), “басня”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volumes 1 (А – З), Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Pubg. House, →ISBN, page 35