Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/golěnь
Proto-Slavic
Alternative reconstructions
- *gȍlenь (per ESSJa, given as an alternative by Snoj[1])
Etymology
Normally associated to *golъ (“bare, naked”) + *-ěnь, from Proto-Indo-European *gelH- (“bare, naked”). If so, the original meaning would have been “bare bone”, per Brückner, perhaps in reference to the lack of muscles on the front of the shinbone.
An origin from Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH- (“to project, to prod”) also possible, semantically analogous to Proto-Slavic *bedro (“thigh”) from Proto-Balto-Slavic *béstеi (“to prick, to stab”). Akin terms in that case would be Lithuanian gãlas (“end, extreme, tip”), Latvian gals (“tip, end”).
Berneker and Mladenov also suggest distant relation to Ancient Greek γύαλον (gúalon, “hollow structure, depression”), γυῖον (guîon, “limb”) possibly from Proto-Indo-European *gew- (“to crook, to bend”). Rejected on phonetic ground by Trubachev (ESSJa).
Noun
*gȍlěnь f[2][3][1]
- shinbone
- Synonym: *piščalь
- (by extension) shank, crus (lower part of the leg between the knee and the ankle)
- (East Slavic) lower leafless part of tree crown (between the trunk and the true crown)
Alternative forms
- *golěnъ m, *golěno n (o-stem)
- *golěna f (ā-stem)
Declension
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
---|---|---|---|
Nominative | *gȍlěnь | *gȍlěni | *gȍlěni |
Accusative | *gȍlěnь | *gȍlěni | *gȍlěni |
Genitive | *golění | *golěnьjù, *golěňu* | *golěnь̀jь |
Locative | *golění | *golěnьjù, *golěňu* | *gȍlěnьxъ |
Dative | *gȍlěni | *golěnьmà | *gȍlěnьmъ |
Instrumental | *golěnьjǫ́ | *golěnьmà | *golěnьmì |
Vocative | *golěni | *gȍlěni | *gȍlěni |
Derived terms
- *golěnъka, *golěnica (“tibia”)
- *golěnišče (augmentative)
Related terms
- *golětь, *golěja (“barren, desolate land or place”)
- *golę (“featherless bird”)
Descendants
- East Slavic:
- Old East Slavic: голѣнь (golěnĭ), голень (golenĭ)
- Belarusian: голень (hóljenʹ)
- Russian: го́лень (gólenʹ); (dialectal) го́лянь (góljanʹ), голе́нь (golénʹ)
- Old East Slavic: голѣнь (golěnĭ), голень (golenĭ)
- South Slavic:
- Old Church Slavonic: голѣнь (golěnĭ)
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: го̏лије̄н
- Latin: gȍlijēn
- Slovene: golẹ̑n (tonal orthography)
- West Slavic:
- Czech: holeň
- Polish: goleń (“shin, calf”)
- Slovak: holeň
- Slovincian: gʉ̀ɵ̯leń
Further reading
- Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), “го́лень”, in Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), transl. and suppl. by Oleg Trubachyov, Moscow: Progress
- Trubachyov, Oleg, editor (1979), “*golenь/*goleno”, in Этимологический словарь славянских языков [Etymological Dictionary of Slavic Languages] (in Russian), issue 6 (*e – *golva), Moscow: Nauka, page 201
References
- Snoj, Marko (2016), “golen”, in Slovenski etimološki slovar3 (in Slovene), https://fran.si: “Pslovan. *gȍlěnь in *gȍlenь”
- Derksen, Rick (2008), “*golěnь”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 4), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 174: “f. i ‘shin’”
- Olander, Thomas (2001), “golěnь”, in Common Slavic accentological word list, Copenhagen: Editiones Olander: “f. c skinneben (PR 138)”