miškas
Lithuanian
Etymology
Of unclear origin.
While the dialectal term mẽdžias (“forest”) is cognate with Latvian mežs (“forest”) and thus from Proto-Balto-Slavic *medja- (“boundary”) (compare Old Prussian median (“forest”), Russian межа́ (mežá, “boundary-strip”), Czech meze (“between”)), mi̇̀škas cannot be connected with such certainty on phonetic grounds.
A connection with Ancient Greek μίσχος (mískhos, “stalk of a flower or leaf”) and μίσκος (mískos, “pod, shell”) is difficult semantically, unless we posit an original meaning of "trunk, bar" for the Lithuanian word.[1]
As a solution to problems such as the above, Smoczynski proposes a hypothetical earlier meaning of "mixed forest (with both deciduous and coniferous trees)", and tentatively derives the word from Proto-Indo-European *meyḱ- (“to mix”), via the verb sumi̇̀šti (“to mingle”).[2]
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈmɪʃ.kɐs/
Noun
mi̇̀škas m (plural miškai̇̃) stress pattern 4 [3]
Declension
| singular (vienaskaita) |
plural (daugiskaita) | |
|---|---|---|
| nominative (vardininkas) | mi̇̀škas | miškai̇̃ |
| genitive (kilmininkas) | mi̇̀ško | miškų̃ |
| dative (naudininkas) | mi̇̀škui | miškáms |
| accusative (galininkas) | mi̇̀šką | miškùs |
| instrumental (įnagininkas) | miškù | miškai̇̃s |
| locative (vietininkas) | miškè | miškuosè |
| vocative (šauksmininkas) | mi̇̀ške | miškai̇̃ |
Synonyms
- (forest): giria; (dialectal, Southern Aukštaitian) mẽdžias
Hyponyms
Derived terms
- miškakirtys
- miškelis
- miškingas
- miškininkas
- miškinis
- pamiškė
References
- ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), volume II, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 958
- ^ Smoczyński, Wojciech (2007) “mi̇̀škas”, in Słownik etymologiczny języka litewskiego[1] (in Polish), Vilnius: Uniwersytet Wileński, pages 406-7
- ^ “miškas” in Balčikonis, Juozas et al. (1954), Dabartinės lietuvių kalbos žodynas. Vilnius: Valstybinė politinės ir mokslinės literatūros leidykla.