Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/koňь

This Proto-Slavic entry contains reconstructed words and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Contents

Proto-Slavic

Etymology

There are a few theories about its origin:

• (Vasmer): from *komnь, from early *kobnь. Compare *kobyla.
• (Author?): from Proto-Indo-European *ḱem- (“hornless”). Cognate with English hind, Sanskrit षम (śáma-, “hornless”), Ancient Greek κεμάς (kemás, “young deer”), Old Prussian camstian (“sheep”) and camnet (“horse”).

All the major domesticated animals were horned cattle, hence the semantic contrast between, e.g., the hornless sheep of Old Prussian and the "hornless" horses of Old Prussian and Common Slavic eventually arose.

Noun

*kòňь m

1. horse

   Synonym: *komoňь

Declension

Declension of *kòňь (soft o-stem, accent paradigm b)

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	*kòňь	*koňà	*koňì
Accusative	*kòňь	*koňà	*koňę̇̀
Genitive	*koňà	*koňù	*kòňь
Locative	*koňì	*koňù	*kòňixъ
Dative	*koňù	*koňèma	*kòňemъ
Instrumental	*koňь̀mь, *koňèmь*	*koňèma	*kòňi
Vocative	*koňu	*koňà	*koňì

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

Related terms

• *komoňь (possibly)

Derived terms

• *konьnъ (“equine”)
• *konьskъ (“horsy”)
• *konьnikъ (“knight”)
• *konьnica (“cavalry”)
• *koňušьna (“stable”)
• *koňarь (“stableman, syce”)
• *koňevodъ (“horse herder”)
• *koňekradъ (“horse thief”)

Descendants

• East Slavic:
  • Old East Slavic: конь (konĭ)
    • Belarusian: конь (konʹ)
    • Russian: конь (konʹ)
    • Rusyn: кінь (kinʹ)
    • Ukrainian: кінь (kinʹ)
  • Old Novgorodian: [Term?]
• South Slavic:
  • Old Church Slavonic:

    Cyrillic: кон҄ь (konʹĭ)

    Glagolitic: ⰽⱁⱀⱐ (konĭ)

  • Bulgarian: кон (kon)
  • Macedonian: коњ (konj)
  • Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic: ко̏њ

    Latin: kȍnj

    • Molise Croatian: konj
  • Slovene: kȍnj (tonal orthography)
• West Slavic:
  • Czech: kůň
  • Kashubian: kóń
  • Old Polish: kóń
    • Polish: koń
  • Silesian: kůń
  • Slovak: kôň
  • Sorbian:
    • Lower Sorbian: kóń
    • Upper Sorbian: kóń

Further reading

• Vasmer (Fasmer), Max (Maks) (1964–1973), “конь”, in Etimologičeskij slovarʹ russkovo jazyka [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), translated from German and supplemented by Trubačóv Oleg, Moscow: Progress
• Trubačóv, Oleg, editor (1983), “*konь”, in Etimologičeskij slovarʹ slavjanskix jazykov [Etymological dictionary of Slavic languages] (in Russian), volume 10, Moscow: Nauka, page 197

References