Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/božiťь

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Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/božiťь

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 *bogъ (“god”) +‎ *-iťь (diminutive suffix). Later generalized as the name for Christmas among South Slavs.

Noun

*božìťь m[1]

1. (literally) juvenile god

   → God's son

Alternative forms

• *božьcь, *božikъ, *božičь

Inflection

Declension of *božiťь (soft o-stem)

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	*božiťь	*božiťa	*božiťi
Accusative	*božiťь	*božiťa	*božiťę̇
Genitive	*božiťa	*božiťu	*božiťь
Locative	*božiťi	*božiťu	*božiťixъ
Dative	*božiťu	*božiťema	*božiťemъ
Instrumental	*božiťьmь, *božiťemь*	*božiťema	*božiťi
Vocative	*božiťu	*božiťa	*božiťi

^* -ьmь in North Slavic, -emь in South Slavic.

Related terms

• *bogъ m (“god”), *bogyni f (“goddess”)
• *božьstvo (“diety”)
• *bogatъ (“rich, prosperous”)

Descendants

• South Slavic:
  • Bulgarian: Бо́жич (Bóžič, “Christmas”) (dialectal)
    • ⇒ Bulgarian: бо́жичко (bóžičko) (diminutive)
  • Macedonian: Божиќ (Božiḱ, “Christmas”)
  • Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic: Бо̀жић (“Christmas”)

    Latin: Bòžić (“Christmas”)

  • Slovene: bóžič (tonal orthography)
• West Slavic:
  • Old Czech: božic
  • Old Polish: Bożyc

Further reading

• Trubachyov, Oleg, editor (1975), “*božitjь”, in Этимологический словарь славянских языков [Etymological Dictionary of Slavic Languages] (in Russian), issue 2 (*bez – *bratrъ), Moscow: Nauka, page 228

References

1. Snoj, Marko (2016), “bóžič”, in Slovenski etimološki slovar³ (in Slovene), https://fran.si: “Slovan. *boži̋t'ь”