Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/ǫpyrь
Proto-Slavic
editEtymology
editUncertain. Skok gives two hypotheses:
- From a northern Turkic language, in the form ubyr or ubyrly (“witch”). Compare Tatar убыр (ubır, “vampiric witch”), Chuvash вупӑр (vup̬ăr, “vampire”), Turkish obur (“glutton”), all from Proto-Turkic *ōpur, possibly from Proto-Turkic *ōp- (“to swallow, gulp down”).[1] Vasmer finds this phonetically doubtful.[2]
- A Slavic construction, from *u- + *pyřь, “flyer” with a privative prefix. Compare *netopyřь. According to this hypothesis *ǫpyrь could have originated as a taboo for *vьlkolakъ (cf. vukodlak).
Mel’nyčuk offers a different explanation, a Slavic construction from *ǫ- + *pyr-, “not burned”, with a privative prefix attached to a root meaning “fire”. The word would then indicate an uncremated corpse. He also lists alternative suggestions that others had proposed: a possible connection with *pyřь (“flyer”), as above; or from *vъ- + *pěrь as a coinage related to vrěpiti (“to cling”), supposedly because a vampire bites and clings to its victims.
Mel’nyčuk further proposes that the forms with initial vam- were derived by way of Old Church Slavonic *вѫпиръ (*vǫpirŭ) with prothetic *в-, borrowed into Byzantine Greek as βαμπύρος (bampúros) and then borrowed back into the South Slavic languages.
Noun
edit*ǫpyrь m
Declension
editsingular | dual | plural | |
---|---|---|---|
nominative | *ǫpyrь | *ǫpyri | *ǫpyrьje, *ǫpyře* |
genitive | *ǫpyri | *ǫpyrьju, *ǫpyřu* | *ǫpyrьjь, *ǫpyri* |
dative | *ǫpyri | *ǫpyrьma | *ǫpyrьmъ |
accusative | *ǫpyrь | *ǫpyri | *ǫpyri |
instrumental | *ǫpyrьmь | *ǫpyrьma | *ǫpyrьmi |
locative | *ǫpyri | *ǫpyrьju, *ǫpyřu* | *ǫpyrьxъ |
vocative | *ǫpyri | *ǫpyri | *ǫpyrьje, *ǫpyře* |
Descendants
edit- East Slavic:
- South Slavic:
- West Slavic:
References
edit- ^ “vampire”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.
- ^ Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “упырь”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress
Further reading
edit- Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “упы́рь”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress
- Skok, Petar (1973) “Proto-Slavic/ǫpyrь”, in Etimologijski rječnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika [Etymological Dictionary of the Croatian or Serbian Language] (in Serbo-Croatian), volumes 3 (poni² – Ž), Zagreb: JAZU, page 564
- Melnychuk, O. S., editor (1982–2012), “Proto-Slavic/ǫpyrь”, in Етимологічний словник української мови [Etymological Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language] (in Ukrainian), Kyiv: Naukova Dumka
- Proto-Slavic terms with unknown etymologies
- Proto-Slavic terms derived from Turkic languages
- Proto-Slavic terms derived from Proto-Turkic
- Proto-Slavic terms prefixed with *u-
- Proto-Slavic terms prefixed with *ǫ-
- Proto-Slavic terms prefixed with *vъ-
- Proto-Slavic lemmas
- Proto-Slavic nouns
- Proto-Slavic masculine nouns
- Proto-Slavic i-stem nouns
- Proto-Slavic masculine i-stem nouns