Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/užasъ

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

Alternative forms

• *užěsъ (attested in "Psalterium Sinaiticum")
• *užastь (sporadically attested in East Slavic)

Etymology

Morphologically equivalent to *u- +‎ *žasъ (“fright”).

Further etymology is problematic:

• On morphological basis, has been linked to the root of *gasiti (“to extinguish”), which however poses semantic problems.
• An alternative proposal suggests genetic relation to *gadъ (“creep, reptile”), presumably from pre-Slavic *u- +‎ *gēd- +‎ *-sъ.
• Possibly a borrowing from Gothic 𐌿𐍃𐌲𐌰𐌹𐍃𐌾𐌰𐌽 (usgaisjan, “to frighten”), assumming that related non-prefixed forms are back-formations and that Gothic -𐌰𐌹- (-ai-) was rendered as Proto-Slavic *-ě- < *-ē- (rather than formally expected *-ai-).

Noun

*ȗžasъ m

1. (perhaps originally) awe, dismay

   → horror, fright, dread (in South, East Slavic)

   → amazement, astonishment (in West Slavic)

Declension

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

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*ȗžasъ	*ȗžasa	*ȗžasi
genitive	*ȗžasa	*užasù	*užãsъ
dative	*ȗžasu	*užasomà	*užasòmъ
accusative	*ȗžasъ	*ȗžasa	*ȗžasy
instrumental	*ȗžasъmь, *ȗžasomь*	*užasomà	*užasý
locative	*ȗžasě	*užasù	*užasě̃xъ
vocative	*užase	*ȗžasa	*ȗžasi

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

Derived terms

• *užasiti (“to awe, to amaze, to terrify”)
• *užasьnъ (“awful, stunning”)

Related terms

• *žasъ (“fright”)

Descendants

• East Slavic:
  • Old East Slavic: ужасъ (užasŭ), ужасть (užastĭ)
    • Russian: у́жас (úžas)
    • Ukrainian: ужа́х (užáx) (dialectal)
• South Slavic:
  • Old Church Slavonic:

    Old Cyrillic script: оужасъ (užasŭ)

    Glagolitic script: ⱆⰶⰰⱄⱏ (užasŭ)

  • Bulgarian: у́жас (úžas)
  • Macedonian: ужас (užas)
  • Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic script: у̏жа̄с

    Latin script: ȕžās

• West Slavic:
  • Czech: úžas
  • Old Slovak: úžas
    • Pannonian Rusyn: ужас (užas)
    • Slovak: úžas

Further reading

• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “ужас”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress