Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/ǫpyrь

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

Uncertain. Skok gives two hypotheses:

1. From a northern Turkic language, in the form ubyr or ubyrly (“witch”). Compare Tatar убыр (ubır, “vampiric witch”), Chuvash вупӑр (vup̬ăr, “vampire”), Turkish obur (“glutton”), all from Proto-Turkic *ōpur, possibly from Proto-Turkic *ōp- (“to swallow, gulp down”). Vasmer finds this phonetically doubtful.
2. A Slavic construction, from *u- +‎ *pyřь, “flyer” with a privative prefix. Compare *netopyřь. According to this hypothesis *ǫpyrь could have originated as a taboo for *vьlkolakъ (cf. vukodlak).

Mel’nyčuk offers a different explanation, a Slavic construction from *ǫ- +‎ *pyr-, “not burned”, with a privative prefix attached to a root meaning “fire”. The word would then indicate an uncremated corpse. He also lists alternative suggestions that others had proposed: a possible connection with *pyřь (“flyer”), as above; or from *vъ- +‎ *pěrь as a coinage related to vrěpiti (“to cling”), supposedly because a vampire bites and clings to its victims.

Mel’nyčuk further proposes that the forms with initial vam- were derived by way of Old Church Slavonic *вѫпиръ (*vǫpirŭ) with prothetic *в-, borrowed into Byzantine Greek as βαμπύρος (bampúros) and then borrowed back into the South Slavic languages.

Noun

*ǫpyrь m

1. vampire

Declension

Declension of *ǫpyrь (i-stem)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*ǫpyrь	*ǫpyri	*ǫpyrьje, *ǫpyře*
genitive	*ǫpyri	*ǫpyrьju, *ǫpyřu*	*ǫpyrьjь, *ǫpyri*
dative	*ǫpyri	*ǫpyrьma	*ǫpyrьmъ
accusative	*ǫpyrь	*ǫpyri	*ǫpyri
instrumental	*ǫpyrьmь	*ǫpyrьma	*ǫpyrьmi
locative	*ǫpyri	*ǫpyrьju, *ǫpyřu*	*ǫpyrьxъ
vocative	*ǫpyri	*ǫpyri	*ǫpyrьje, *ǫpyře*

^* 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).

Descendants

• East Slavic:
  • Old East Slavic: упирь (upirĭ) (as a given name)
    • Belarusian: ўпір (ŭpir), упір (upir), упир (upir) (obsolete), вупар (vupar) (obsolete)
    • Russian: упырь (upyrʹ)
    • Ukrainian: упир (upyr)
• South Slavic:
  • Bulgarian: вампир (vampir), въмпиръ (vǎmpir) (dialectal), въпиръ (vǎpir) (dialectal), вепир (vepir) (dialectal)
  • Macedonian: вампир (vampir), вопер (voper) (dialectal), јапер (japer) (dialectal)
  • Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic script: вампир, упир (archaic)

    Serbo-Croatian: vampir, upir (archaic)

    • → Albanian: vampir
    • → Albanian: dhampir (uncertain)
    • → German: Vampir (see there for further descendants)
    • → Greek: βάμπιρας (vámpiras), βόμτηρας (vómtiras)
    • → Polish: wampir
  • Slovene: vampir
• West Slavic:
  • Czech: upír
  • Polish: upiór, wąpierz (archaic)
  • Slovak: upír

Further reading

• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “упы́рь”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress
• Skok, Petar (1973) “Proto-Slavic/ǫpyrь”, in Etimologijski rječnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika [Etymological Dictionary of the Croatian or Serbian Language] (in Serbo-Croatian), volumes 3 (poni² – Ž), Zagreb: JAZU, page 564
• Melnychuk, O. S., editor (1982–2012), “Proto-Slavic/ǫpyrь”, in Етимологічний словник української мови [Etymological Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language] (in Ukrainian), Kyiv: Naukova Dumka