Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/bъrkъ

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

Probably from a 0-grade of Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH- (“to bore, to drill”) + *-kъ (u-stem). Possibly related to Proto-Germanic *burstiz (“bristle”), *bruskaz (“brush”) and less likely to Latin furca (“fork”) (usually viewed as a Germanic loanword).

Noun

*bъ̑rkъ m

1. whisker, barbel (in South Slavic)
2. quill of a feather (in West, East Slavic)

Declension

Declension of *bъrkъ (u-stem)

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	*bъrkъ	*bъrky	*bъrkove
Accusative	*bъrkъ	*bъrky	*bъrky
Genitive	*bъrku	*bъrkovu	*bъrkovъ
Locative	*bъrku	*bъrkovu	*bъrkъxъ
Dative	*bъrkovi	*bъrkъma	*bъrkъmъ
Instrumental	*bъrkъmь	*bъrkъma	*bъrkъmi
Vocative	*bъrku	*bъrky	*bъrkove

Derived terms

• *bъrkovъ
• *bъrkati (“to trim, to crop”)

Related terms

• *borъ (“pine tree”)
• *bъrъ, *bъrica (“foxtail millet”)
• *borda (“beard”)

Descendants

• East Slavic:
  • Old East Slavic: боркъ (borkŭ) (Old Ukrainian)
    • Russian: борк (bork) (dialectal)
    • Ukrainian: бо́рки pl (bórky) (fossilized dual)
• South Slavic:
  • Bulgarian: бърк (bǎrk)
  • Macedonian: брк (brk)
  • Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic: бр̑к

    Latin: bȓk

  • Slovene: bȓk (tonal orthography)
• West Slavic:
  • Czech: brk
  • Old Polish: bark
    • Polish: bark
  • Slovak: brko, brk (dialectal)

Further reading

• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), “боркать”, in Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), translated from German and supplemented by Oleg Trubachyov, Moscow: Progress
• Trubachyov, Oleg, editor (1976), “*bъrkъ”, in Этимологический словарь славянских языков [Etymological Dictionary of Slavic Languages] (in Russian), volume 3 (*bratrьcь – *cьrky), Moscow: Nauka, page 128
• Georgiev V. I., editor (1971), “бърк, мн. бърке”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volume 1, Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, page 102