Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/bogъ

This Proto-Slavic entry contains reconstructed words 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

Privative adjectives *ubogъ (“poor, miserable”) and *nebogъ (“poor, miserable”), as well as the later derivation *bogatъ (“rich”) prove that *bogъ was originally also an adjective meaning "earthly wealth/well-being; fortune", with a semantic shift to "dispenser of wealth/fortune" and finally "god". Semantic parallel can be drawn to Indo-Iranian languages: compare Old Persian 𐏎 (BG /baga/, “god”), Avestan 𐬠𐬀𐬖𐬀‎ (baγa, “god”) (but also 𐬠𐬀𐬔‎ (bag, “apportion”)), as well as Sanskrit epithet often applied to gods भग (bhága, “dispenser, gracious lord, patron”), proving that Slavic noun had both abstract and concrete meanings, and therefore possibly from Proto-Iranian *bagáh, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *bʰagás. The same Iranian source, but via a Turkic language, also probably gave Proto-Slavic *banъ. Compare also Avar бакъ (baq̇̄, “sun”), which, however, is unrelated.

This convincing parallel has led some linguists (e.g. Roman Jakobson) to claim that *bogъ is an Iranian borrowing. Slavic-Iranian parallelism can be further extended to the expressions of Slavic mythology: Dažbog, Belobog and Chernobog, which suggest an existence of Iranian-type dualism in Proto-Slavic mythology.

On a more formal level, absence of Winter's law (if held to apply in open syllables) precludes derivation from hypothetical Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂gós, *bʰagós.

Some connect it to Ancient Greek ἔφαγον (éphagon, “to eat, devour”) via a semantic shift "I received a share" > "I consumed" > "I ate". This would in turn all derive from the Proto-Indo-European root *bʰeh₂g- (“to distribute, divide”).

Noun

*bȍgъ m

1. god

Declension

Declension of *bȍgъ (hard o-stem, accent paradigm c)

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	*bȍgъ	*bȍga	*bȍdzi
Accusative	*bȍgъ	*bȍga	*bȍgy
Genitive	*bȍga	*bogù	*bògъ
Locative	*bȍdzě	*bogù	*bodzě̃xъ
Dative	*bȍgu	*bogomà	*bogòmъ
Instrumental	*bȍgъmь, *bȍgomь*	*bogomà	*bogý
Vocative	*bože	*bȍga	*bȍdzi

^* -ъmь in North Slavic, -omь in South Slavic.

Derived terms

• *bogatъ (“rich, wealthy”)
  • *bogatěti (“to get rich, wealthy”)
  • *bogatiti (sę)
  • *bogatьstvo (“richness, wealth”)
• *bogačь (“wealthy man”)
• *Bogodanъ / *Bogъdanъ
• *Bogomilъ / *Bogumilъ
• *bogovati
• *bogovъ (“divine”)
• *Boguxvalъ
• *Boguslavъ / *Boguslava / *Bogoslavъ / *Bogoslava
• *bogyni (“goddess”)
• *Daďьbogъ
• *nebogъ (“poor, miserable”)
• *ubogъ (“poor, miserable”)
• *božьnъ (“divine”)
  • *božьnica (“church”)
• *božurъ (“peony”)
• *sъbožьje (“goods; grains, cereals”)
• *božьjь (“divine”)

Related terms

• *banъ

Descendants

• East Slavic:
  • Old East Slavic: богъ (bogŭ)
    • Belarusian: бог (boh)
    • Russian: бог (box)
    • Rusyn: бог (boh)
    • Ukrainian: бог (boh), біг (bih) (rare)
  • Old Novgorodian: бого (bogo)
• South Slavic:
  • Old Church Slavonic:

    Old Cyrillic: богъ (bogŭ)

    Glagolitic: ⰱⱁⰳⱏ (bogŭ)

  • Bulgarian: бог (bog)
  • Macedonian: бог (bog)
  • Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic: бо̑г

    Latin: bȏg

    • Slavomolisano: bog
  • Slovene: bọ̑g (tonal orthography)
• West Slavic:
  • Old Czech: bóh
    • Czech: bůh
  • Kashubian: bóg
  • Polabian: büg
  • Polish: bóg
  • Slovak: boh
  • Sorbian:
    • Lower Sorbian: bog
    • Upper Sorbian: bóh

Further reading

• Trubachyov, Oleg, editor (1975), “*bogъ”, in Этимологический словарь славянских языков [Etymological Dictionary of Slavic Languages] (in Russian), volume 2: (*bez – *bratrъ), Moscow: Nauka, page 161
• Skok, Petar (1971) Etimologijski rječnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika (in Serbo-Croatian), volume I, Zagreb: JAZU, page 178ff
• Mallory, J. P.; Adams, D. Q., editors (1997) Encyclopedia of Indo-European culture, London, Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, page 161
• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), volume II, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 1543
• Rix, Helmut, editor (2001) Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben [Lexicon of Indo-European Verbs] (in German), 2nd edition, Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, →ISBN, page 65
• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), “бог”, in Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), translated from German and supplemented by Oleg Trubachyov, Moscow: Progress
• Brückner, Aleksander (1927) Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego [Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language] (in Polish), Warsaw: Wiedza Powszechna, published 1985