Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/puxъ

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 1

From Proto-Balto-Slavic *pausas, from Proto-Indo-European *powsos, from *pews- (“to swell, to blow”) or from an onomatopoeic origin.

Noun

*puxъ m

breath, pong
blister

Inflection

Declension of *puxъ (hard o-stem)

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	*puxъ	*puxa	*puśi
Accusative	*puxъ	*puxa	*puxy
Genitive	*puxa	*puxu	*puxъ
Locative	*puśě	*puxu	*puśěxъ
Dative	*puxu	*puxoma	*puxomъ
Instrumental	puxъmь, puxomь^*	*puxoma	*puxy
Vocative	*puše	*puxa	*puśi

^* -ъmь in North Slavic, -omь in South Slavic.

Related terms

*puxati (“to blow, to swell”)
*pušiti (“to smoke”)
*puxnǫti (“to gasp”)
*puxlъ
*puzо (“belly”)
*puz(d)ro (“gut”)
*pyžь (“fat”)

Descendants

South Slavic:
- Bulgarian: пух (puh), пуф (puf) (dialectal)
- Macedonian: пуф (puf)
West Slavic:
- Old Polish: puch (“exhalation, fume, vapor”)

References

Račeva M., Todorov T., editor (2002), “пух²”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volume 6, Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, page 13

Etymology 2

From Proto-Indo-European *pewḱs- (“fluff, tail”). Cognate with Proto-Germanic *fuhsaz (“fox”), Proto-Indo-Iranian *púsćas (“tail”).

Noun

*puxъ m

fluff, fur (of mammals)
down (of birds)

Derived terms

*puxestъ (“fluffy”)
*puxъkъ (“made of fluff”)
- *puхъkavъ (“fluffy”)

Descendants

East Slavic:
- Old East Slavic: пухъ (puxŭ)
- Belarusian: пух (pux)
- Russian: пух (pux)
- Ukrainian: пух (pux)
South Slavic:
- Bulgarian: пух (puh)
- Serbo-Croatian:
  Cyrillic: пу̏ха
  Latin: pȕha
- Slovene: puh
West Slavic:
- Czech: puch
- Polish: puch
- Slovak: puch
- Sorbian:
  - Lower Sorbian: puch

→ Lithuanian: рūkаs (“fluff, furr”)

References

Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), “пух”, in Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), transl. and suppl. by Oleg Trubachyov, Moscow: Progress
Račeva M., Todorov T., editor (2002), “пух¹”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volume 6, Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, page 13