Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/-akъ

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

Deverbal derivations are easily secondary, motivated by parallel formations, e.g.

• North Slavic *ědakъ (“greedy man”) ← *est < *ed-ti (“to eat”) : *ěda (“food”).

Comparison with cognates in other Indo-European languages indicates antiquity of deadjectival formations:

• Ancient Greek νέος (néos, “new, young”) → νέᾱξ (néāx), νέᾱκος (néākos, “young man”) : Slavic *novъ (“new”) → *novakъ (“novice”)
• Lithuanian naũjas (“new”) → naujõkas (“novice”)

Cognate with Proto-Celtic *-ākos (see Etymology 2).

Suffix

*-akъ m

1. Deadjectival, forming nouns denoting a carrier of a property.

   *junъ (“young”) → *junakъ (“a young man”)

   *novъ (“new”) → *novakъ (“novice”)

   *lěvъ (“left”) → *lěvakъ (“left-handed man”)

   *svojь (“one's own”) → *svojakъ (“relative, cousin”)

2. Denominal, forming nouns denoting something connected in meaning to the base-word.

   *rodъ (“kin”) → *roďakъ (“relative, cousin”)

   *kory (“root”) → *koreňakъ (“native, one from the root”)

   *moře (“sea”) → *mořakъ (“sailor”)

   *ryba (“fish”) → *rybakъ (“fishing”)

3. Denominal, forming masculine counterparts of feminine nouns.

   *gǫsь (“goose”) → *gǫsakъ (“gander”)

4. Deverbal, from the root, forming agent nouns.

   *prositi (“to ask; beg”) → *prosjakъ >*prošakъ (“beggar; asker”)

Declension

Declension of *-akъ (hard o-stem)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*-akъ	*-aka	*-aci
genitive	*-aka	*-aku	*-akъ
dative	*-aku	*-akoma	*-akomъ
accusative	*-akъ	*-aka	*-aky
instrumental	*-akъmь, *-akomь*	*-akoma	*-aky
locative	*-acě	*-aku	*-acěxъ
vocative	*-ače	*-aka	*-aci

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

Alternative forms

• *-jakъ (causing iotation of the preceding consonant)

Derived terms

Proto-Slavic terms suffixed with *-akъ

Descendants

• East Slavic:
  • Old East Slavic: -акъ (-akŭ)
    • Belarusian: -ак (-ak)
    • Russian: -ак (-ak)
    • Ukrainian: -ак (-ak)
• South Slavic:
  • Old Church Slavonic:

    Old Cyrillic script: -акъ (-akŭ)

    Glagolitic script: -ⰰⰽⱏ (-akŭ)

  • Bulgarian: -ак (-ak)
  • Macedonian: -ак (-ak)
  • Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic script: -ак

    Latin script: -ak

  • Slovene: -ak
• West Slavic:
  • Czech: -ák, -ak
  • Kashubian: -ôk
  • Polish: -ak
  • Slovak: -ák, -ak
  • Slovincian: -ók, -ok
  • Sorbian:
    • Upper Sorbian: -ak
    • Lower Sorbian: -ak
• Yiddish:
  • Yiddish: ־אַק (-ak)

Further reading

• Šekli, Matej (2012) “Besedotvorni pomeni samostalniških izpeljank v praslovanščini”, in Philological Studies‎^[1] (in Slovene), volume 10, number 1, Skopje, Perm, Ljubljana, Zagreb, pages 115–32
• Sławski, Franciszek, editor (1974), “*-akъ”, in Słownik prasłowiański [Proto-Slavic Dictionary] (in Polish), volumes 1 (a – bьzděti), Wrocław: Ossolineum, page 89