Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/běka

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 reconstructions

  • *beka (per ESSJa)

Etymology

Agent noun of the onomatopoeic Proto-Slavic *běkati (“to bleat”).

Noun

*běka f

  1. sheep
    Synonym: *ovьca
  2. type of herb
    → sedge (Carex)
    → hedgenettle (Stachys)

Declension

Declension of *běka (hard a-stem)
singular dual plural
nominative *běka *běcě *běky
genitive *běky *běku *běkъ
dative *běcě *běkama *běkamъ
accusative *běkǫ *běcě *běky
instrumental *běkojǫ, *běkǫ** *běkama *běkami
locative *běcě *běku *běkasъ, *běkaxъ*
vocative *běko *běcě *běky

* -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).

  • *běkati (“to bleat”)
  • *bějьka (“sheep”)

Descendants

  • South Slavic:
    • Bulgarian: бе́ка (béka)
    • Serbo-Croatian:
      Cyrillic script: бе́ка
      Latin script: béka
    • Slovene: béka (“plant/tree with long branches”)

Further reading

  • Pokorny, Julius (1959) “bē, bā”, in Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 1, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 96
  • Trubachyov, Oleg, editor (1974), “*beka?”, in Этимологический словарь славянских языков [Etymological dictionary of Slavic languages] (in Russian), numbers 1 (*a – *besědьlivъ), Moscow: Nauka, page 183
  • Georgiev, Vladimir I., editor (1971), “бека”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volume 1 (А – З), Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Pubg. House, →ISBN, page 40
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