Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/čuka

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-Balto-Slavic *kjaukāˀ, from Proto-Indo-European *kewk-éh₂, from *kewk- (“to elevate, to crook”), contrast with *kuča (“heap”) from *kaukjāˀ, with Proto-Germanic *haugaz (“height, hill”). But regard Albanian çukë (“hill; beak”), Romanian ciucă (“hill”), Romanian cioc (“beak”), Megleno-Romanian cĭucă (“hill”), Aromanian ciucã (“hill”). Due to the regional distribution of the term, some scholars^[1] see a Balkan substrate, though the evidence for a Germanic cognate is striking.

Noun

*čuka f^[2]

cusp, peak, rock hill

Inflection

Declension of *čuka (hard a-stem)
	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*čuka	*čucě	*čuky
genitive	*čuky	*čuku	*čukъ
dative	*čucě	*čukama	*čukamъ
accusative	*čukǫ	*čucě	*čuky
instrumental	čukojǫ, čukǫ^**	*čukama	*čukami
locative	*čucě	*čuku	čukasъ, čukaxъ^*
vocative	*čuko	*čucě	*čuky

^* -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

*čučati (“to be sitting atop”)
*čukati (“to hew, to knock”) (possibly)
*čukarjь (“hilltop”)
*kuka (“hook”)
*kuča (“heap”)

Descendants

South Slavic:
- Bulgarian: чу́ка (čúka)
- Macedonian: чука (čuka)
- Serbo-Croatian:
  Cyrillic script: чу̏ка
  
  Latin script: čȕka

References

^ Skok, Petar (1971) “Proto-Slavic/čuka”, in Etimologijski rječnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika [Etymological Dictionary of the Croatian or Serbian Language] (in Serbo-Croatian), volumes 1 (A – J), Zagreb: JAZU, page 340
^ Trubachyov, Oleg, editor (1977), “*čuka”, in Этимологический словарь славянских языков [Etymological dictionary of Slavic languages] (in Russian), numbers 4 (*čaběniti – *děľa), Moscow: Nauka, page 131

[1] Skok, Petar (1971) “Proto-Slavic/čuka”, in Etimologijski rječnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika [Etymological Dictionary of the Croatian or Serbian Language] (in Serbo-Croatian), volumes 1 (A – J), Zagreb: JAZU, page 340

[2] Trubachyov, Oleg, editor (1977), “*čuka”, in Этимологический словарь славянских языков [Etymological dictionary of Slavic languages] (in Russian), numbers 4 (*čaběniti – *děľa), Moscow: Nauka, page 131

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