Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/kostь

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

From Proto-Indo-European *kest-, supposedly connected with *h₃ost-. Compare Latin costa (“rib”).

Melnichuk prefers to derive this word from Proto-Indo-European *kes- (“to cut”) with semantic development ‘stabbed corpse’ > ‘dead body’ > ‘remnants’ > ‘bones’.^[1]

Noun

*kȍstь f^[2]^[3]

bone

Declension

Declension of *kȍstь (i-stem, accent paradigm c)
	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*kȍstь	*kȍsti	*kȍsti
genitive	*kostí	kostьjù, kosťu^*	*kostь̀jь
dative	*kȍsti	*kostьmà	*kȍstьmъ
accusative	*kȍstь	*kȍsti	*kȍsti
instrumental	*kostьjǫ́	*kostьmà	*kostьmì
locative	*kostí	kostьjù, kosťu^*	*kȍstьxъ
vocative	*kosti	*kȍsti	*kȍsti

^* 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

*kostъka (“small bone”)
*kostàtъ (“having prominent bones, bony”)
*kostra (“skeleton”)
- *kostrьcь (“tailbone, coccyx”)

Descendants

East Slavic:
- Old East Slavic: кость (kostĭ)
  - Old Ruthenian: кость (kostʹ)
    - Middle Belarusian: косць (koscʹ)
      - Belarusian: косць (koscʹ)
    - Carpathian Rusyn: кость (kostʹ), кість (kistʹ)
    - Ukrainian: кість (kistʹ)
  - Russian: кость (kostʹ)
South Slavic:
- Old Church Slavonic:
  Glagolitic script: ⰽⱁⱄⱅⱐ (kostĭ)
  
  Old Cyrillic script: кость (kostĭ)
  - Bulgarian: кост (kost)
- Serbo-Croatian:
  Cyrillic script: ко̑ст
  
  Latin script: kȏst
  - Chakavian (Vrgada): kȏst
  - Kajkavian (Bednja): kyest
  - Slavomolisano: kost m
- Slovene: kọ̑st (tonal orthography)
West Slavic:
- Old Czech: kost
  - Czech: kost
- Old Polish: kość
  - Polish: kość
  - Silesian: kość
- Old Slovak: kosť
  - Pannonian Rusyn: косц (kosc)
  - Slovak: kosť
- Polabian: ťüst
- Pomeranian:
  - Kashubian: (rare) kòsc
  - Slovincian: kôsc
- Sorbian:
  - Lower Sorbian: kósć
  - Upper Sorbian: kósć

References

^ О. С. Мельничук (1968), “Корень *kes- и его разновидности в лексике славянских и других индоевропейских языков”, in Этимология 1966: Проблемы лингвогеографии и межъязыковых контактов, Moscow, page 234
^ Derksen, Rick (2008), “*kȏstь”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 4), Leiden; Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 239: “f. i (c) ‘bone’”
^ Olander, Thomas (2001), “kostь kosti”, in Common Slavic Accentological Word List‎^[1], Copenhagen: Editiones Olander: “f. b (IRU 89, 94); c (SA 139, 199; PR 138)”