Proto-Slavic language
Proto-Slavic is the
proto-language from which
Old Church Slavonic and all the other
Slavic languages later emerged. It was spoken before the
7th century. No Proto-Slavic writings have been found, so the language has been reconstructed from applying the
comparative method to all the attested Slavic languages and other
Indo-European languages.
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Historical distribution of the Slavic languages. The area shaded in light purple is the Prague-Penkov-Kolochin complex of cultures of the 6th to 7th c. AD, likely corresponding to the spread of Slavic tribes at the time. The area shaded in darker red indicates the core area of Slavic river names (after EIEC p. 524ff.) |
There is much debate whether pre-Proto-Slavic branched off directly from
Proto-Indo-European, or whether it passed through a
Proto-Balto-Slavic stage.
Proto-Slavic proper developed during the early
1st millennium AD, and was separated into dialects in the
5th or
6th century, as
Slavic tribes began to migrate in the wake of the
Germanic migration period.
In the second half of the
9th century, the dialect spoken north of
Thessaloniki became the basis for first written Slavic language, created by the brothers
Cyril and Methodius who translated portions of the Bible and other church books. The language they recorded is known as
Old Church Slavonic. Old Church Slavonic is not identical to Proto-Slavic, having been recorded at least two centuries after the breakup of Proto-Slavic, and it shows features that clearly distinguish it from Proto-Slavic. However, it is still reasonably close, and the mutual intellegibility between Old Church Slavonic and other Slavic dialects of those days was proved by Cyril's and Methodius' mission to
Great Moravia and
Pannonia. There, their early
South Slavic dialect used for the translations was clearly understandable to the local population which spoke an early
West Slavic dialect.
Vowels
There were 11
vowels in Late Proto-Slavic:
i, ь, e, ę, ě, a, o, , ъ, y, u.Explanations:
*
ь, ъ -
yers, or ultrashort vowels, probably close to IPA [] respectively, and sometimes written
ĭ, ŭ;
*
ę, - nasal e, o;
*
ě -
yat, long vowel pronounced probably like [];
*
y - long vowel pronounced probably like []; according to some scholars, it was the diphthong [] instead;
*
i, a, u were long vowels;
*
e, o were short vowels;
* existence of syllabic
sonorants in Proto-Slavic is not generally accepted, they may have developed only in individual Slavic dialects (as many believe, no syllabic sonorants were in East Slavic dialects); many scholars postulate the group
ъl, ьl, ъr, ьr instead of the syllabic sonorants .
Consonants
Remarks:
*
x means a velar fricative, similar to Scottish
ch;
*
v must have been labial and similar to English
w; the symbol
v, however, is widely used;
*
s is reconstructed on the basis of West Slavic š
= East and South Slavic s
;
* c
means the affricate [], therefore not the same as the IPA [c];
* ' means its voiced counterpart [],
* š
, č
, ž
and '' mean IPA [], [], [] and [] respectively; all these symbols are in common use in Slavistics.
Origin of vowels
*
i1 < PIE
*ī, *ei;
*
i2 < reduced
*ai (
*ăi or
*ui) < PIE
*ai, *oi;
*
ь <
*i < PIE
*i;
*
e < PIE
*e;
*
ę < PIE
*en, *em;
*
ě1 < PIE
*",
*
ě2 <
*ai < PIE
*ai, *oi;
*
a <
*ā < PIE
*ā, *ō;
*
o <
*a < PIE
*a, *o, *ə;
*
<
*an, *am < PIE
*an, *on, *am, *om;
*
ъ <
*u < PIE
*u;
*
y < PIE
*ū;
*
u <
*au < PIE
*au, *ou.
* The vowels
i2, ě2 developed later than
i1, ě1. In Late Proto-Slavic there were no differences in pronunciation between
i1 and
i2 as well as between
ě1 and
ě2. They had caused, however, different changes of preceding velars, see below.
* Late Proto-Slavic yers
ь, ъ < earlier
i, u developed also from reduced PIE
*e, *o respectively. The reduction was probably a morphologic process rather than phonetic.
* We can observe similar reduction of
*ā into
*ū (and finally
y) in some endings, esp. in closed syllables.
* The development of the Proto-Slavic
i2 was also a morphologic phenomenon as it originated only in some endings.
* Another source of the Proto-Slavic
y is
*ō in Germanic loanwords - the borrowings took place when Proto-Slavic had not
ō in native words any longer, as PIE
*ō had already changed into
*ā.
* PIE
*ə disappeared without traces when in a non-initial syllable.
* PIE
*eu probably developed into
*jau in Early Proto-Slavic (or: during the Balto-Slavic epoch), and eventually into Proto-Slavic
*ju.
* According to some authors, PIE long diphthongs
*"i, *āi, *ōi, *"u, *āu, *ōu had twofold development in Early Proto-Slavic, namely they shortened in endings into simple
*ei, *ai, *oi, *eu, *au, *ou but they lost their second element elsewhere and changed into
*", *ā, *ō with further development like above.
Other vocalic changes
*
*jo, *jъ, *jy changed into
*je, *jь, *ji;
*
*o, *ъ, *y also changed into
*e, *ь, *i after
*c, , *s' which developed as the result of the 3rd palatalization;
*
*e, *ě changed into
*o, *a after
*č, , *š, *ž in some contexts / words;
* a similar change of
*ě into
*a after
*j seems to have occurred in Proto-Slavic but next it can have been modified by analogy.
Origin of consonants
*
p < PIE
*p;
*
b < PIE
*b, ;
*
t < PIE
*t;
*
d < PIE
*d, ;
*
k < PIE
*k, ;
*
g < PIE
*g, ;
*
s < PIE
*s, ;
*
z < PIE
*s [z] before a voiced consonant;
*
x < PIE
*s before a vowel when after
*r, *u, *k, *i, probably also after
*l; see
Ruki;
*
m < PIE
*m;
*
n < PIE
*n;
*
l < PIE
*l;
*
r < PIE
*r;
*
v < PIE
*w;
*
j < PIE
*j.
In some words the Proto-Slavic
x developed from other PIE phonemes, like
*kH, *ks, *sk.
Moreover:
*
c <
k in the 2nd palatalization;
*
' < g in the 2nd palatalization;
* s < x
in the 2nd palatalization;
* č
< kj
and k
in the 1st palatalization;
* šč
< stj, skj
and sk
in the 1st palatalization;
* < zdj, zgj
and zg
in the 1st palatalization;
* š
< sj, xj
and x
in the 1st palatalization;
* ž
< zj, gj
and g
in the 1st palatalization;
* initial j
originated before the front vowels e, ě, ę
(and before ь, i'' in some dialects).
* The 1st
palatalization:
*k, *g, *x > *č, , *š before
*i1, *ě1, *e, *ę, *ь;: next
changed into
ž everywhere except after
z;:
*kt, *gt > *tj before
*i1, *ě1, *e, *ę, *ь (there are only examples for
*kti).
* The 2nd
palatalization:
*k, *g, *x > *c, , *s' before
*i2, *ě2;:
*s' mixed with
s or
š in individual Slavic dialects;:
simplified into
z, except Polish;: also
*kv, *gv, *xv > *cv, , *s'v before
*i2, *ě2 in some dialects (not in West Slavic and probably not in East Slavic - Russian examples may be of South Slavic origin);: as it seems, the 2nd palatalization did not occur in old northern Russian dialects.
* The 3rd
palatalization:
*k, *g, *x > *c, , *s after front vowels (*i, *ь, *ě, *e, *ę
) and *ьr'' (= '), before a vowel;: it was progressive contrary to the 1st and the 2nd palatalization;: it occurred inconsistently, only in certain words, and sometimes it was limited to some Proto-Slavic dialects;: sometimes a palatalized form and a non-palatalized one existed side-by-side even within the same dialect (ex.
Old Church Slavonic sikъ ¦¦ sicь 'such');: in fact, no examples are known for the 3rd palatalization after
*ě, *e, and (few) examples after
are limited to
Old Church Slavonic.
* Consonants +
j:
*sj, *zj > *š, *ž;:
*stj, *zdj > *šč, ;:
*kj, *gj, *xj > *č, , *š (next
> *ž);:
*skj, *zgj > *šč, ;:
*tj, *dj had been preserved and developed variously in individual Slavic dialects;:
*rj, *lj, *nj had been preserved until the end of the Proto-Slavic epoch, next developed into palatalized
*ŕ, *ĺ, *ń;:
*pj, *bj, *vj, *mj had been preserved until the end of the Proto-Slavic epoch, next developed into
*pĺ, *bĺ, *vĺ, *mĺ in most Slavic dialects (except Western Slavic).
The lexical stock of Proto-Slavic also includes a number of
loanwords from the languages of various tribes and peoples that the Proto-Slavs came into contact with. However, the list of the borrowings, their sources and other details are under discussion. According to most sources, the earliest traceable lexical or semantic borrowings were loans from the
Northeastern Iranian languages spoken by the
Scythian,
Alanian, and
Sarmatian tribes. Most of these borrowings appertain to the religious sphere:
*bogъ 'God',
*gatati 'to divine' ,
*divъ 'demon',
*rajь 'paradise',
*svętъ 'saint, holy' . Yet non-religious terms such as
*(j)aščerъ 'serpent',
*patriti 'to look after',
*radi 'for the purpose of',
*sobaka 'dog',
*toporъ 'axe',
*xvala 'glory' and (at least according to some scholars)
*xata 'hut, house' are also of Iranian origin.
Some words may be of
Celtic origin:
*bagno 'bog',
*jama 'cave',
*korsta 'canker',
*sěta 'grief',
*sluga 'servant'
*tragъ 'foot(step)'.
It is generally acknowledged that of the various languages which left their mark on the early lexical stock,
Germanic occupies a pivotal position, and many early Germanic loanwords into Proto-Slavic are known.
Examples of early Germanic loanwords:
*xlěbъ 'bread',
*xlěvъ 'pigsty',
*měčь 'sword',
*stьklo 'glass',
*šelmъ 'helmet',
*xъlmъ 'hill',
*plugъ 'plough',
*skotъ 'cattle', possibly also
*melko 'milk',
*xyzъ/*xyzja 'hut' (<
PGmc. *hūs). The words
*lěkъ 'medicine' and
*tynъ 'fence' were borrowed from Germanic (cf.
Goth. l"keis 'physician';
PGmc. *tūnaz), but are believed to be originally of
Celtic origin.
Later Germanic (
Gothic and
Old High German) borrowings are
' 'penny, money', ' 'king, prince, priest' (<
OHG kuning),
*istъba 'room, apartment' (<
OHG stuba),
*bjudo 'bowl, basin; table',
*bukъ 'beech-tree',
*tjudjь 'foreign, stranger, somebody else's' (< Gothic
*þiuda 'people'),
*smoky 'fig',
*opica 'monkey' (<
OHG affo).
Germanic also transmitted some Latin and Greek loans into Slavic:
*
Latin:
*kupiti 'to buy' (
Goth. kaupōn from Lat.
caupō 'merchant', ultimately from
Etruscan),
*dъska 'board' (< Lat.
discus through
OHG tisk),
*kotьlъ 'kettle',
*cěsarjь 'king, imperator',
*krьstъ 'cross' (< Lat.
Chrīstus through
OHG Krist),
*čeršn'a 'cherry' (
Popular Lat. ceresia, Old Bavarian
chersia),
*osьlъ 'ass, donkey' (Lat.
asinus, Goth.
asilus);
*
Greek (with
Gothic mediation):
*cьrky 'church',
' 'camel' (< Gk. elephas 'elephant' through Goth. ulbandus);
Some Latin (including words from Balkan Romance) and Greek words entered Late Proto-Slavic even without Germanic mediation:
* Latin: *konopja (< Popular Lat. *canapis), *vino 'wine' (< Lat. vīnum), *poganъ 'pagan' (< pagānus), *kоlęda 'carol' (< Lat. calendae);
* Greek: *korabjь 'ship' (Byzantine Gk. karábion), *polata 'abode' (Byzantine Gk. palátion 'palace', *popъ 'priest', ' 'Sabbath' (
Byzantine Gk. sámbaton).
There is a number of local Slavic words which are suspected to be of
Turkic origin:
*kobyla 'mare',
'horse's yoke',
*gatь 'dam',
*kъnęga/*kъniga 'book',
*kovъčegъ 'box',
*kolpakъ/klobukъ 'hat/cowl'.
Some words may also have originated from
Dacian/
North Thracian languages [1]; e.g.,
*mogyla 'kurgan, tomb, grave' is considered etymologically uncertain but has been compared to Albanian
magulë 'hill' and Romanian
măgură 'hill, elevation'.
Loanwords in Proto-Slavic lexical stock are outlined in Schenker (1996): 159-160.
* Moszyński, Leszek.
Wstęp do filologii słowiańskiej. PWN. Warszawa, 1984.
* Paliga, Sorin. Phd linguistics. Lexicon Etymologum Elementorum Thraecorum. [1]
* Schenker, Alexander M.
The Dawn of Slavic. Yale Language Series,
1995.
* Snoj, Marko.
Slovenski etimološki slovar. Ljubljana: Modrijan, 2003.
* Vasmer, Max.
Russisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. Heidelberg, 1950-1958.
*
Balto-Slavic languages*
Old Church Slavonic*
The Indo-European Etymological Dictionary (IED)*
Türkic, Slavic and Iranian*
From Proto-Indo-European to Slavic
