Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/mačьka

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 edit

Etymology edit

Most likely from *maca (“pussycat, kitty”) +‎ *-ьka (diminutive suffix); however, note that *maca is only attested in South Slavic. Possibly it used to have a wider distribution. Alternatively perhaps from the same onomatopeic form that gave rise to *maca independently suffixed with *-ьka; compare Serbo-Croatian mac (“utterance used to summon cats”).

Noun edit

*mačьka f

cat

Inflection edit

Declension of *mačьka (hard a-stem)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*mačьka	*mačьcě	*mačьky
genitive	*mačьky	*mačьku	*mačьkъ
dative	*mačьcě	*mačьkama	*mačьkamъ
accusative	*mačьkǫ	*mačьcě	*mačьky
instrumental	mačьkojǫ, mačьkǫ^**	*mačьkama	*mačьkami
locative	*mačьcě	*mačьku	mačьkasъ, mačьkaxъ^*
vocative	*mačьko	*mačьcě	*mačьky

^* -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 edit

East Slavic:
- Carpathian Rusyn: ма́чка (máčka)
South Slavic:
- Bulgarian: мацка (macka)
- Macedonian: мачка (mačka)
- Serbo-Croatian:
  Cyrillic script: ма̏чка
  
  Latin script: mȁčka
- Slovene: mȃčka
West Slavic:
- Czech: mačka
- Slovak: mačka

Non-Slavic:
- → Hungarian: macska