Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/kopanь

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

Deverbial action noun of *kopati (“to dig”) +‎ *-nь, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kep-. Akin to Ancient Greek κόπανος m (kópanos, “bat”), κόπανον n (kópanon, “vessel for braying”), whence comes the Late Balkan Slavic loanword копанъ (kopanŭ, “bat for laundry; poultry leg”) encountered in Bulgarian and Macedonian.

Noun

*kȍpanь f

1. digging

   Synonyms: *oranь, *rovenьje

2. ditch

   → (by extension) hollow, pit, trough

   Synonyms: *хorlupa, *dьgna, *jama, *dupa

Declension

Declension of *kȍpanь (i-stem, accent paradigm c)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*kȍpanь	*kȍpani	*kȍpani
genitive	*kopaní	*kopanьjù, *kopaňu*	*kopanь̀jь
dative	*kȍpani	*kopanьmà	*kȍpanьmъ
accusative	*kȍpanь	*kȍpani	*kȍpani
instrumental	*kopanьjǫ́	*kopanьmà	*kopanьmì
locative	*kopaní	*kopanьjù, *kopaňu*	*kȍpanьxъ
vocative	*kopani	*kȍpani	*kȍpani

^* 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).

Related terms

• *kopъ m (“earthwork, act of digging”)
• *kopьna (“plowed land”)

Derived terms

• *kopanьje (“digging”)
• *kopaňa (“trough”)
• *kopanъka (“vessel”)
• *kopanica (“engraving, ditch”)

Descendants

• East Slavic:
  • Old East Slavic: копань (kopanĭ)
    • Russian: ко́пань (kópanʹ, “pit”) (obsolete)
    • Ukrainian: ко́пань (kópanʹ, “earthwork”) (obsolete)
• South Slavic:
  • Old Church Slavonic: копань (kopanĭ)

    ⇒ Romanian: copaie

  • Bulgarian: ко́пан (kópan), копа́не (kopáne)

    → копа́нка (kopánka) (diminutive)

  • → Macedonian: копанка (kopanka) (diminutive)
  • Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic script: ко̀па̄њ (obsolete, dialectal)

    Latin script: kòpānj (obsolete, dialectal)

• West Slavic:
  • Polish: kopań (obsolete)

Further reading

• Trubachyov, Oleg, editor (1984), “*kopanь”, in Этимологический словарь славянских языков [Etymological dictionary of Slavic languages] (in Russian), numbers 11 (*konьcь – *kotьna(ja)), Moscow: Nauka, page 16
• Georgiev, Vladimir I., editor (1986), “копан¹ (bat for laundry)”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volumes 3 (крес¹ – мѝнго¹), Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Pubg. House, page 608
• Georgiev, Vladimir I., editor (1986), “копаня”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volumes 3 (крес¹ – мѝнго¹), Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Pubg. House, page 609