къща

Bulgarian

Alternative forms

• кѫ́ща (kǫ́šta) (Pre-reform orthography (1945))
• ка́ща (kášta) – dialectal
• ку́кя (kúkja) – dialectal

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *kǫťa. Compare dialectal Bulgarian кът (kǎt, “seating area around a fireplace”). Cognates include Serbo-Croatian ку̏ћа/kȕća, Russian ку́ща (kúšča, “tent”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈkɤʃtə]

Noun

къ́ща • (kǎ́šta) f

1. house
2. home

   Ра́ботя от къ́щи.

   Rábotja ot kǎ́šti.

   I am working from home.

3. household, family

Usage notes

Modern Bulgarian has preserved the locative form къщи in combination with prepositions, even though it has lost most of its grammatical cases elsewhere:

• вкъ́щи (vkǎ́šti, “at home”)
• от къ́щи (ot kǎ́šti, “from home”)
• към къ́щи (kǎm kǎ́šti, “towards home”)

Declension

Declension of къ́ща

	singular	plural
indefinite	къ́ща kǎ́šta	къ́щи, къщя́1 kǎ́šti, kǎštjá1
definite	къ́щата kǎ́štata	къ́щите, къщя́та1 kǎ́štite, kǎštjáta1
vocative form	къ́що kǎ́što	къ́щи, къщя́1 kǎ́šti, kǎštjá1

¹Collective dialectal.

Derived terms

• закъ́щя се (zakǎ́štja se, “to acquire home”)
• разкъ́щя се (razkǎ́štja se, “to divorce”) (dialectal, obsolete)
• къ́щичка (kǎ́štička), къ́щица (kǎ́štica), къщу́рка (kǎštúrka), къще́ (kǎšté) (diminutive)
• къ́щен (kǎ́šten, “home-related, domestic”)
  • къ́щнина (kǎ́štnina, “house work”)
• къ́щник m (kǎ́štnik, “host”), къ́щница f (kǎ́štnica, “hostess, housewife”)
• къ́щовник m (kǎ́štovnik), къ́щовница f (kǎ́štovnica, “one who put efforts on their home”)

References

• къща in Rečnik na bǎlgarskija ezik (Institut za bǎlgarski ezik)
• къща in Rečnik na bǎlgarskija ezik (Čitanka.Info)
• Georgiev V. I., editor (1986), “къща”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volume 3, Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, page 239