Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/tьmьnica

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 substantivized *tьmьnъ (“dark”) +‎ *-ica, from *tьma (“dark”) +‎ *-ьnъ.

Noun

*tьmьnica f

dungeon (< "something dark")

Inflection

Declension of *tьmьnica (soft a-stem)

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	*tьmьnica	*tьmьnici	*tьmьnicę̇
Accusative	*tьmьnicǫ	*tьmьnici	*tьmьnicę̇
Genitive	*tьmьnicę̇	*tьmьnicu	*tьmьnicь
Locative	*tьmьnici	*tьmьnicu	tьmьnicasъ, tьmьnicaxъ^*
Dative	*tьmьnici	*tьmьnicama	*tьmьnicamъ
Instrumental	tьmьnicejǫ, tьmьnicǫ^**	*tьmьnicama	*tьmьnicami
Vocative	*tьmьnice	*tьmьnici	*tьmьnicę̇

^* -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: тьмьница (tĭmĭnica)
  - Belarusian: цямні́ца (cjamníca)
  - Russian: темни́ца (temníca)
  - Ukrainian: темни́ця (temnýcja)
South Slavic:
- Old Church Slavonic: тьмьница (tĭmĭnica)
- Bulgarian: тъмни́ца (tǎmníca)
- Macedonian: темница (temnica)
- Serbo-Croatian:
  Cyrillic: та̀мница
  Latin: tàmnica
- Slovene: temnica
West Slavic:
- Czech: temnice
- Polish: ciemnica
- Slovak: temnica

Other:
- → Middle Low German: temenitze (“prison, jail”)
- → Romanian: temniță (“prison, jail”)
  - → Sathmar Swabian: Temitz (“prison”)

References

Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), “темница”, in Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), transl. and suppl. by Oleg Trubachyov, Moscow: Progress
Melnychuk, O. S., editor (1982–2012), “темний”, in Етимологічний словник української мови [Etymological Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language] (in Ukrainian), Kyiv: Naukova Dumka