Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/žьbirъ

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

Per Walde-Hofmann and Iljinsky, most likely akin to Latin gibbus (“humped, hunched”), gibber (“hump”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *geybʰ- (“to skew, to crook”). Compare Lithuanian geĩbti (“to fade away”), gìbras (“wicked”), Latvian gìbt (“to subside, to sink”).

Per Fałowski and Hojsak, descendants derive from Romanian gheb (“hill, hump”), from Old Church Slavonic жлѣбъ (žlěbŭ), from Proto-Slavic *želbъ.

Noun

*žьbirъ m

1. (North Slavic) hillock, mound

   Synonyms: *bugrъ, *xъlmъ, *mogyla

Alternative forms

• (perhaps) *žьbьrъ (Slovak)

Declension

Declension of *žьbirъ (hard o-stem)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*žьbirъ	*žьbira	*žьbiri
genitive	*žьbira	*žьbiru	*žьbirъ
dative	*žьbiru	*žьbiroma	*žьbiromъ
accusative	*žьbirъ	*žьbira	*žьbiry
instrumental	*žьbirъmь, *žьbiromь*	*žьbiroma	*žьbiry
locative	*žьbirě	*žьbiru	*žьbirěxъ
vocative	*žьbire	*žьbira	*žьbiri

^* -ъmь in North Slavic, -omь in South Slavic.

Related terms

• >? *žibьcь (“type of herb”) (origin and antiquity uncertain)
• >? *žibrьjь, *žibrьcь (“type of herb”) (origin and antiquity uncertain)

Descendants

• East Slavic:
  • Ukrainian: жбир (žbyr)
  • Carpathian Rusyn: жбир (žbyr); жбирь (žbyrʹ) (dialectal)
• West Slavic:
  • Polish: zbyrki pl, zberki pl
  • Slovak: žber, žbár (dialectal)

Further reading

• Melnychuk, O. S., editor (1985), “жбир”, in Етимологічний словник української мови [Etymological Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language] (in Ukrainian), volume 2 (Д – Копці), Kyiv: Naukova Dumka, page 189: “очевидно из псл. *žьbirъ ― očevydno yz psl. *žʹbir”
• Fałowski, Adam, Hojsak, Wiktoria (2019) “Z etymologii łemkowskich. Cz. III”, in LingVaria‎^[1] (in Polish), volume 14, number 27, pages 261–277