Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/korpъ

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

*korpъ (Cyprinus carpio)

Etymology

Of uncertain origin. Opinions split between:

• Sobolevsky, Berneker: Of native origin, substantivized from the root of Proto-Slavic *korpa (“toad”), Ukrainian коропа́вий (koropávyj, “scrubby”) (< *korpavъ). Possibly further akin to Lithuanian karpà (“wart”), Lithuanian kar̃pa (“callus”).
• Hirt, Uhlenbeck, Šakhmatov: Borrowed from Germanic, perhaps Gothic *𐌺𐌰𐍂𐍀𐌰 (*karpa) or Old High German karpo, karpfo. The later is the source of terms without liquid metathesis: Polish karp, Russian карп (karp), etc (borrowed in post-Common Slavic period). Also borrowed in Lithuanian kárpa (“carp”).
• Meyer, Machek: From a pre-Indo-European substrate, spoken in the Danube region.

In either case, related to Old High German karpo, Late Latin carpa. Vasmer excludes Slavic origin for the Germanic terms (and from there for Latin), however, leaves as a possibility spread from some paleo-Balkan or paleo-Pannonian Indo-European dialect.

Reconstruction notes

South Slavic descendants point towards acute root *kőrpъ, while East Slavic towards lax *kȍrpъ > Old East Slavic ко́ропъ (kóropŭ).

Noun

*korpъ m

1. common carp (Cyprinus carpio); any fish of the genus Cyprinus

Declension

Declension of *korpъ (u-stem)

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	*korpъ	*korpy	*korpove
Accusative	*korpъ	*korpy	*korpy
Genitive	*korpu	*korpovu	*korpovъ
Locative	*korpu	*korpovu	*korpъxъ
Dative	*korpovi	*korpъma	*korpъmъ
Instrumental	*korpъmь	*korpъma	*korpъmi
Vocative	*korpu	*korpy	*korpove

Descendants

• East Slavic:
  • Old East Slavic: ко́ропъ (kóropŭ)
    • Old Ruthenian: ко́ропъ (kórop)
      • Belarusian: ко́рап (kórap) (dialectal)
      • Ukrainian: ко́роп (kórop)
    • Russian: ко́роп (kórop) (dialectal)
• South Slavic:
  • Bulgarian: крап (krap) (regional, archaic)
  • Macedonian: крап (krap)
  • Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic: кра̏п (southwestern dialectal)

    Latin: krȁp (southwestern dialectal)

  • Slovene: kràp
• West Slavic:
  • Old Czech: krap
    • >? Czech: kapr (metathesis)
  • Slovak: krap (dialectal)
    • >? Slovak: kapor (metathesis)

• Non-Slavic:
  • → Romanian: crap

Further reading

• Trubachyov, Oleg, editor (1984), “*korpъ”, in Этимологический словарь славянских языков [Etymological Dictionary of Slavic Languages] (in Russian), volume 11 (*konьcь – *kotьna(ja)), Moscow: Nauka, page 90
• Коломиец, Вера Титовна (1983) Происхождение общеславянских названий рыб. К IX Межжународному съезду славистов. (in Russian), Киев: Наукова думка, pages 109–113
• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), “карп”, in Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), translated from German and supplemented by Oleg Trubachyov, Moscow: Progress
• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), “ко́роп”, in Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), translated from German and supplemented by Oleg Trubachyov, Moscow: Progress
• Melnychuk, O. S., editor (1982–2012), “кара́сь”, in Етимологічний словник української мови: у 7 т. [Etymological Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language: in 7 vols] (in Ukrainian), Kyiv: Naukova Dumka
• Martynaŭ, V. U., Tsykhun, G. A., editors (1978–2017), “карп”, in Этымалагічны слоўнік беларускай мовы [Etymological Dictionary of the Belarusian Language] (in Belarusian), Minsk: Belaruskaia navuka
• Georgiev V. I., editor (1979), “крап¹”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volume 2, Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, page 715
• “karpa”, in Lietuvių kalbos etimologinio žodyno duomenų bazė [Lithuanian etymological dictionary database], 2007–2012