Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/divizna

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

The form *divina for this plant seems secondary by relation to the suffix *-ina, somewhat interchangeable with *-izna, *divina literally meaning any animal or plant product of wild (*divъ) origin; a contamination with *devęsilъ is also evident, looking at the Slovak form. A derivation from *divъ (wild) is uncertain, though tempting. The word is recorded in Dacian as διέσεμα, a borrowing from which has been considered; it is also attested, however, in Lithuanian devynspė͂kė, devynjėgė, still meaning the same plant, but reconstructions for Proto-Indo-European are too daring because of the limited distribution of the plant name.

Noun

*divizna f

  1. mullein (Verbascum spp.)
    Synonym: *lopěnъ

Inflection

Declension of *divizna (hard a-stem)
singular dual plural
nominative *divizna *divizně *divizny
genitive *divizny *diviznu *diviznъ
dative *divizně *diviznama *diviznamъ
accusative *diviznǫ *divizně *divizny
instrumental *diviznojǫ, *diviznǫ** *diviznama *diviznami
locative *divizně *diviznu *diviznasъ, *diviznaxъ*
vocative *divizno *divizně *divizny

* -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).

Descendants

all have been checked and have the meaning Verbascum
  • East Slavic:
    • Belarusian: дзiвáнна (dzivánna), dialectally also дзiвана (dzivana), дзiвена (dzivjena)
    • Russian: дива́нка (divánka), дивена (divena), дивина (divina) (all only regionally, and the stress is not told save for the first in Даль)
    • Ukrainian: дивина́ (dyvyná) (standard stress, dialectally also диви́на (dyvýna))
  • South Slavic:
  • West Slavic:

References

  • Anikin, A. E. (2019) “дивена”, in Русский этимологический словарь [Russian Etymological Dictionary] (in Russian), issue 13 (два – дигло), Moscow: Russian Language Institute, →ISBN, page 357
  • Trubachyov, Oleg, editor (1978), “*divizna”, in Этимологический словарь славянских языков [Etymological dictionary of Slavic languages] (in Russian), numbers 5 (*dělo – *dьržьlь), Moscow: Nauka, page 33