Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/suka

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

*suka i ščenęta

Alternative reconstructions

*sǫ̀ka

Etymology

Unknown. There are several proposals:

from Proto-Balto-Slavic *śwṓ (“dog”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱwṓ (“dog”) possibly with suffix *-ka.
from Proto-Indo-European *ḱowk-eh₂ (literally “she who howls”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱewk- (“to cry, shout, howl”)[1]
from Proto-Indo-European *sewH- (“to give birth”) with original meaning “female”, possibly with suffix *-ka, compare Czech fena (“bitch”), from French fenne (“woman”)[2]

Less likely related to *cu (interjection, used to call out the dogs) > *cucьkъ (“dog”). Borrowing from Old Persian *𐏂𐎣 (*çaka-) (see Persian ‎ (sag)) is also unlikely.

For the suffix *-(ъ)ka, *-(ь)ka forming female animal names cf. *aščerъka, *kotъka, *lišьka, *jalovъka.

Reconstruction notes

The word is sometimes reconstructed as *sǫka, but most linguists reject this (Polish *sęka, Polabian *sǫko expected). This reconstruction assumes that Polish suka is borrowed from Old Ruthenian *сука (*suka), which is unlikely. Even if the Polish word is a loanword, the Polabian word still clearly indicates *suka.

Noun

*sùka f[3][4][5][6]

(North Slavic) bitch (female dog)

Declension

Declension of *sùka (hard a-stem, accent paradigm a)

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	*sùka	*sùcě	*sùky
Accusative	*sùkǫ	*sùcě	*sùky
Genitive	*sùky	*sùku	*sùkъ
Locative	*sùcě	*sùku	sùkasъ, sùkaxъ^*
Dative	*sùcě	*sùkama	*sùkamъ
Instrumental	sùkojǫ, sùkǭ^**	*sùkama	*sùkamī
Vocative	*sùko	*sùcě	*sùky

^* -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:
- Old East Slavic: су́ка (súka) (15ᵗʰ c.)
  - Belarusian: су́ка (súka), сука́ (suká)
  - Middle Russian: су́ка (súka)
    - Russian: су́ка (súka)
  - Rusyn: су́ка (súka)
  - Ukrainian: су́ка (súka)
West Slavic:
- Czech: suka (dialectal, archaic)
- Kashubian: sëka
- Polabian: sau̯ko, sai̯ko
- Polish: suka; sula (17ᵗʰ c.)
- Silesian: suka
- Slovak: suka
- → German: Zauke (dialectal)

Non-Slavic:
- → Latvian: suka
- → Hungarian: szuka
- → Urum: сука

References

Wodtko, Dagmar S.; Irslinger, Britta; Schneider, Carolin (2008) Nomina im indogermanischen Lexikon [Nouns in the Indo-European Lexicon] (in German), Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter, page 439
Králik, Ľubor (2016), “suka”, in Stručný etymologický slovník slovenčiny (in Slovak), Bratislava: VEDA, Jazykovedný ústav ĽŠ SAV, →ISBN
Boryś, Wiesław (2005), “suka”, in Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego (in Polish), Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie, →ISBN
Melnychuk, O. S., editor (2006), “су́ка”, in Етимологічний словник української мови [Etymological Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language] (in Ukrainian), volume 5 (Р – Т), Kyiv: Naukova Dumka, →ISBN, page 469
Tsykhun, G. A., editor (2010), “су́ка”, in Этымалагічны слоўнік беларускай мовы [Etymological Dictionary of the Belarusian Language] (in Belarusian), volume 13 (су- – трапка́ч), Minsk: Belaruskaia navuka, →ISBN
Trubachyov, Oleg (1960) Происхождение названий домашних животных в славянских языках [The origin of pet names in Slavic languages] (in Russian), Moscow: USSR Academy of Sciences Publishing House, page 21: “Слав. suka”

Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), “су́ка”, in Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), transl. and suppl. by Oleg Trubachyov, Moscow: Progress
Vasmer, Max (1958), “сука́”, in Russisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch [Russian Etymological Dictionary] (Indogermanische Bibliothek; 2) (in German), volume 3 (Sta – Ÿ), Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Carl Winter, →ISBN, page 42
Shaposhnikov, A. K. (2010), “сука”, in Этимологический словарь современного русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Contemporary Russian Language] (in Russian), volume 2: (Начать – Я), Moscow: Flinta; Nauka, →ISBN, page 394
Chernykh, P. (1993), “су́ка”, in Историко-этимологический словарь русского языка [Historical-Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), volume 2 (панцирь – ящур), 3rd edition, Moscow: Russian Lang., →ISBN, page 217
Brückner, Aleksander (1927), “suka”, in Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego [Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language] (in Polish), Warsaw: Wiedza Powszechna, page 525
Kazimierz Polański (1993), “sau̯ko || sai̯ko”, in Słownik etymologiczny języka Drzewian połabskich [Etymological dictionary of the Polabian Drevani language] (in Polish), volume 5: Sahi – T́üzəc, Warszawa: Energeia, page 677

[1] Wodtko, Dagmar S.; Irslinger, Britta; Schneider, Carolin (2008) Nomina im indogermanischen Lexikon [Nouns in the Indo-European Lexicon] (in German), Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter, page 439

[2] Králik, Ľubor (2016), “suka”, in Stručný etymologický slovník slovenčiny (in Slovak), Bratislava: VEDA, Jazykovedný ústav ĽŠ SAV, →ISBN

[3] Boryś, Wiesław (2005), “suka”, in Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego (in Polish), Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie, →ISBN

[4] Melnychuk, O. S., editor (2006), “су́ка”, in Етимологічний словник української мови [Etymological Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language] (in Ukrainian), volume 5 (Р – Т), Kyiv: Naukova Dumka, →ISBN, page 469

[5] Tsykhun, G. A., editor (2010), “су́ка”, in Этымалагічны слоўнік беларускай мовы [Etymological Dictionary of the Belarusian Language] (in Belarusian), volume 13 (су- – трапка́ч), Minsk: Belaruskaia navuka, →ISBN

[6] Trubachyov, Oleg (1960) Происхождение названий домашних животных в славянских языках [The origin of pet names in Slavic languages] (in Russian), Moscow: USSR Academy of Sciences Publishing House, page 21: “Слав. suka”