Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/tętiva

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 otherwise lost Proto-Balto-Slavic *témptei (“to pull”) + *-iva (whence Lithuanian tem̃pti (“to pull, to drag”), Latvian tìept (“to strain”)), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ten- (“to stretch”). Cognate with Lithuanian temptýva (“stretching”), tìmpa (“sinew”), possibly Old Norse þǫmb (“bowstring”), Old Armenian թամբ (tʻamb, “saddle”) and further akin to Lithuanian tiñklas (“set”), Ancient Greek τένων (ténōn, “tendon”), New Latin tensor.

Noun

*tętivà f

1. sinew

   Synonym: *žila

2. bowstring

Declension

Declension of *tętiva (hard a-stem)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*tętiva	*tętivě	*tętivy
genitive	*tętivy	*tętivu	*tętivъ
dative	*tętivě	*tętivama	*tętivamъ
accusative	*tętivǫ	*tętivě	*tętivy
instrumental	*tętivojǫ, *tętivǫ**	*tętivama	*tętivami
locative	*tętivě	*tętivu	*tętivasъ, *tętivaxъ*
vocative	*tętivo	*tętivě	*tętivy

^* -asъ is the expected Balto-Slavic form but is found only in some Old Czech documents; -axъ is found everywhere else and is formed by analogy with other locative plurals in -xъ.
^** 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).

Related terms

• *teneto (“snare”)

Descendants

• East Slavic:
  • Old Ruthenian: тетива́ (tetivá), тѧтива́ (tjativá)
    • Belarusian: цецiва́ (cjecivá)
    • Ukrainian: тятива́ (tjatyvá)
  • Russian: тетива́ (tetivá)
• South Slavic:
  • Old Church Slavonic:

    Old Cyrillic script: тѧтива (tętiva)

  • Bulgarian: тетива́ (tetivá)
  • Macedonian: тетива (tetiva)
  • Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic script: тѐтива

    Latin script: tètiva

  • Slovene: tetíva (tonal orthography)
• West Slavic:
  • Czech: tětiva
  • Polish: cięciwa
  • Slovak: tetiva

Further reading

• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “тетива́”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка (in Russian), Moscow: Progress
• “tempti”, in Lietuvių kalbos etimologinio žodyno duomenų bazė, 2007–2012