Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/zaraza

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

Formed as *za- +‎ *raziti (“to pound, to bounce”) + *-a.

Noun

*zaraza f

1. thrust

   → (by extension) obstacle, hindrance

2. (by abstraction) infection, contagion

   Synonym: *kuga

Inflection

Declension of *zaraza (hard a-stem)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*zaraza	*zarazě	*zarazy
genitive	*zarazy	*zarazu	*zarazъ
dative	*zarazě	*zarazama	*zarazamъ
accusative	*zarazǫ	*zarazě	*zarazy
instrumental	*zarazojǫ, *zarazǫ**	*zarazama	*zarazami
locative	*zarazě	*zarazu	*zarazasъ, *zarazaxъ*
vocative	*zarazo	*zarazě	*zarazy

^* -asъ is the expected Balto-Slavic form but is found only in some Old Czech documents; -axъ is found everywhere else and is formed by analogy with other locative plurals in -xъ.
^** 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

• *rězъ (“cut”)
• *rězati (“to cut”)
• *razъ (“tact, dash”)
• *porazina (“contagion”) (regional)

Derived terms

• *zaraziti (“to infect”)
• *zarazenъ (“infected”)

Descendants

• East Slavic:
  • Old Ruthenian: зара́за (zaráza)
    • Belarusian: зара́за (zaráza)
    • ⇒ Ukrainian: зараження (zaražennja)
  • Russian: зара́за (zaráza)
• South Slavic:
  • Old Church Slavonic: зараза (zaraza, “hindrance”)
  • Bulgarian: зара́за (zaráza)
  • Macedonian: зараза (zaraza)
  • Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic script: за̑раза

    Latin script: zȃraza

• West Slavic:
  • Polish: zaraza

Further reading

• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “зараза”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress
• Georgiev, Vladimir I., editor (1971), “зараза”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volumes 1 (А – З), Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Pubg. House, →ISBN, page 607