K pojmenování ,medvěda‘ ve slovanštině
| Title in English | On the designation of "bear" in the Slavic languages |
|---|---|
| Authors | |
| Year of publication | 2017 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Slavia |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | BLAŽEK, Václav. K pojmenování ,medvěda‘ ve slovanštině (On the designation of "bear" in the Slavic languages). Slavia. Praha: Slovanský ústav AV ČR v.v.i., 2017, vol. 86, No 1, p. 53-60. ISSN 0037-6736. |
| Field | Linguistics |
| Keywords | Indo-European; Slavic; zoological terminology; onomastics; etymology |
| Description | The zoonym 'bear' in Slavic languages is more differentiated than appears at first sight. The dominant and etymologically transparent term *medved6 'honey-eater' is common Slavic and the only two exceptions, Polabian and Macedonian, very probably represent replacements of the same term *medved6. The second term in distribution, *meč6ka, is attested in South and East Slavic, with possible onomastic traces in West Slavic. The ambition of the present contribution is to offer its “bee”-etymology, contrary to the traditional hypocoristic interpretation. The term *b7rtnik7 is limited to Czech and Slovak in the meaning ‘bear’ and was transferred from the designation of a man seeking honey of wild bees. Finally, the old attempt of Sobolevskij to find Slavic traces of the primary Indo-European term *HrTk'o- 'bear' is discussed. |
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