Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/sabľa

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

Of Eastern origin, probably from Turkic language (compare Turkish sap (“handle, stalk, stem”)) or less likely from Hungarian szablya (“sabre”), from szabni (“to tailor”).

Noun

*sabľa f

sabre

Declension

Declension of *sabľa (soft a-stem)
	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*sabľa	*sabľi	*sabľę̇
genitive	*sabľę̇	*sabľu	*sabľь
dative	*sabľi	*sabľama	*sabľamъ
accusative	*sabľǫ	*sabľi	*sabľę̇
instrumental	sabľejǫ, sabľǫ^**	*sabľama	*sabľami
locative	*sabľi	*sabľu	sabľasъ, sabľaxъ^*
vocative	*sabľe	*sabľi	*sabľę̇

^* -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

East Slavic
- Old East Slavic: саблꙗ (sablja)
  - Russian: са́бля (sáblja)
South Slavic
- Bulgarian: са́бя (sábja)
  - → Romanian: sabie
- Macedonian: сабја (sabja)
- Serbo-Croatian:
  Cyrillic script: са̏бља
  
  Latin script: sȁblja
  - →? Hungarian: szablya
    - Old Polish:
      - → Polish: szabla (mazurzenie dialects)
        → Belarusian: ша́бля (šáblja)
        → Italian: sciabola
        → Ukrainian: ша́бля (šáblja)
      - →? Middle High German: sabel
        German: Säbel
        → Danish: sabel
        → Dutch: sabel
        Afrikaans: sabel
        → Japanese: サーベル (sāberu)
        → Papiamentu: sabel (dated)
        → Indonesian: sabel
        → French: sabre
        → English: sabre
        → Norwegian: sabel
        → Swedish: sabel
- Slovene: sȃblja (tonal orthography)
West Slavic
- Czech: šavle (š is from Polish influence)
- Slovak: šabľa (š is from Polish influence)
- Sorbian
  - Lower Sorbian: zabla

References

“Proto-Slavic/sabľa”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025
"сабля" in П. Я. Черных (1999), Историко-этимологический словарь современного русского языка
Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “сабля”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress
Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “шабля”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress