Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/nitь

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.

Proto-Slavic

Etymology

From Proto-Balto-Slavic *nítis, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)nh₁itis, from *(s)neh₁- (“to spin, sew”). Cognate with Latvian nĩts (“(warp) thread”), Lithuanian nýtis (“(warp) thread”).

Noun

*nìtь f

1. thread

Inflection

Declension of *nìtь (i-stem, accent paradigm a)

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	*nìtь	*nìti	*nìti
Accusative	*nìtь	*nìti	*nìti
Genitive	*nìtī	*nìtьju, *nìťu*	*nìtьjь, *nìtī*
Locative	*nìtī	*nìtьju, *nìťu*	*nìtьxъ
Dative	*nìti	*nìtьma	*nìtьmъ
Instrumental	*nìtьjǫ, *nìťǭ*	*nìtьma	*nìtьmī
Vocative	*niti	*nìti	*nìti

^* The second form occurs in languages that contract early across /j/ (e.g. Czech), while the first form occurs in languages that do not (e.g. Russian).

Descendants

• East Slavic:
  • Belarusian: ніць (nicʹ)
  • Russian: нить (nitʹ)
  • Ukrainian: нить (nytʹ)
• South Slavic:
  • Bulgarian: нишка (niška)
  • Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic: ни̏т

    Latin: nȉt

  • Slovene: nit
• West Slavic:
  • Czech: niť
  • Polabian: nait
  • Polish: nić
  • Slovak: niť
  • Sorbian:
    • Lower Sorbian: niś
    • Upper Sorbian: nić

Further reading

• Derksen, Rick (2008) , “*nìtь”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 4), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 353
• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) , “нить”, in Etimologičeskij slovarʹ russkovo jazyka [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), translated from German and supplemented by Oleg Trubačóv, Moscow: Progress