Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/božiťь

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

From *bogъ (“god”) +‎ *-iťь (diminutive suffix). Later generalized as the name for Christmas among South Slavs.

Noun

*božìťь m

1. (literally) juvenile god

   → God's son

Alternative forms

• *božьcь, *božikъ, *božičь

Inflection

Declension of *božiťь (soft o-stem)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*božiťь	*božiťa	*božiťi
genitive	*božiťa	*božiťu	*božiťь
dative	*božiťu	*božiťema	*božiťemъ
accusative	*božiťь	*božiťa	*božiťę̇
instrumental	*božiťьmь, *božiťemь*	*božiťema	*božiťi
locative	*božiťi	*božiťu	*božiťixъ
vocative	*božiťu	*božiťa	*božiťi

^* -ьmь in North Slavic, -emь in South Slavic.

Related terms

• *bogъ m (“god”), *bogyni f (“goddess”)
• *božьstvo (“deity”)
• *bogatъ (“rich, prosperous”)

Descendants

• South Slavic:
  • Bulgarian: Бо́жич (Bóžič, “Christmas”) (dialectal)
    • ⇒ Bulgarian: бо́жичко (bóžičko) (diminutive)
  • Macedonian: Божиќ (Božiḱ, “Christmas”)
  • Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic script: Бо̀жић (“Christmas”)

    Latin script: Bòžić (“Christmas”)

  • Slovene: bóžič (“Christmas”) (tonal orthography)
• West Slavic:
  • Old Czech: božic
  • Old Polish: Bożyc

Further reading

• Trubachyov, Oleg, editor (1975), “*božitjь”, in Этимологический словарь славянских языков [Etymological dictionary of Slavic languages] (in Russian), numbers 2 (*bez – *bratrъ), Moscow: Nauka, page 228