Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/dьržava

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 *dьržati (“to hold”) +‎ *-ava.

Noun

*dьržava f

power, rule, kingdom

Usage notes

Most of the modern descendants have developed the meaning of country, state

Declension

Declension of *dьržava (hard a-stem)

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	*dьržava	*dьržavě	*dьržavy
Accusative	*dьržavǫ	*dьržavě	*dьržavy
Genitive	*dьržavy	*dьržavu	*dьržavъ
Locative	*dьržavě	*dьržavu	dьržavasъ, dьržavaxъ^*
Dative	*dьržavě	*dьržavama	*dьržavamъ
Instrumental	dьržavojǫ, dьržavǫ^**	*dьržavama	*dьržavami
Vocative	*dьržavo	*dьržavě	*dьržavy

^* -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:
- Belarusian: дзяржа́ва (dzjaržáva)
- Russian: держа́ва (deržáva)
- Ukrainian: держа́ва (deržáva)
South Slavic:
- Old Church Slavonic: дръжава (drŭžava)
- Bulgarian: държава (dǎržava)
- Macedonian: држава (država)
- Serbo-Croatian:
  Cyrillic: држава
  Latin: država
- Slovene: država
West Slavic:
- Czech: država (“dependency”)
- Polish: dzierżawa (“lease”)
- Slovak: dŕžava (“dependency”) (archaic)

References

Georgiev V. I., editor (1971), “държава”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volume 1, Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, page 461