< Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic
Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/žaba
 | 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 an earlier *žěba, of uncertain origin.
Comparison has been drawn with Old Prussian gabawo (“toad”) and Latin būfo (“toad”), however, neither of these lemmas agree on the quality of the root vowel. It's been proposed[1] that only the Slavic and Prussian words are actually related, ultimately descending from *gʷh₂béh₂ ~ *gʷh₂bowéh₂. The hypothesis goes that the proto-Indo-European laryngeal was reflected as *-h₂- > *-ə- > *-e- in pre-Slavic and eventually lengthened by the following -b- due to Winter's law. Suggested cognates under this etymology are Proto-Germanic *kwappō (“type of fresh-water fish”) and Ancient Greek βάβακος (bábakos, “type of frog”).
Noun
*žàba f[2][3][4]
- frog, toad
Declension
Declension of *žàba (hard a-stem, accent paradigm a)
| Singular | Dual | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | *žàba | *žàbě | *žàby |
| Accusative | *žàbǫ | *žàbě | *žàby |
| Genitive | *žàby | *žàbu | *žàbъ |
| Locative | *žàbě | *žàbu | *žàbasъ, *žàbaxъ* |
| Dative | *žàbě | *žàbama | *žàbamъ |
| Instrumental | *žàbojǫ, *žàbǭ** | *žàbama | *žàbamī |
| Vocative | *žàbo | *žàbě | *žàby |
* -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).
** 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: жа́ба (žába)
- Old Ruthenian: жа́ба (žába)
- Belarusian: жа́ба (žába)
- Rusyn: жа́ба (žába)
- Ukrainian: жа́ба (žába)
- Russian: жа́ба (žába)
- Old Ruthenian: жа́ба (žába)
- Old East Slavic: жа́ба (žába)
- South Slavic:
- Old Church Slavonic:
- Glagolitic: ⰶⰰⰱⰰ (žaba)
- Old Cyrillic: жаба (žaba)
- Bulgarian: жа́ба (žába)
- Macedonian: жаба (žaba)
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: жа̏ба
- Latin: žȁba
- Slovene: žába
- Old Church Slavonic:
- West Slavic:
- Old Czech: žába
- Czech: žába
- Moravian (Mistřice): žaba
- Czech: žába
- Old Polish: żaba
- Polish: żaba
- Slovak: žaba
- Kashubian: żaba
- Polabian: zobo
- Sorbian:
- Upper Sorbian: žaba
- Lower Sorbian: žaba
- Old Czech: žába
- Non-Slavic:
- → Albanian: zhabë
- → Yiddish: זשאַבע (zhabe)
- → Friulian: 'save
Further reading
- Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), “жаба”, in Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), transl. and suppl. by Oleg Trubachyov, Moscow: Progress
- Georgiev V. I., editor (1971), “жаба”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volume 1, Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, page 519
References
- K. Witczek (2006), Two phonological curiosities of the Thracian language, page 490
- Derksen, Rick (2008), “*žàba”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 4), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 553: “f. ā (a) ‘frog, toad’”
- Olander, Thomas (2001), “žaba žaby”, in Common Slavic accentological word list, Copenhagen: Editiones Olander: “a (SA 166; PR 132; RPT 107, 109)”
- Snoj, Marko (2016), “žába”, in Slovenski etimološki slovar3 (in Slovene), https://fran.si: “*ža̋ba”