< Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic

Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/žestokъ

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

Extended from an earlier *žestъ +‎ *-okъ, parallel to *žestъkъ (k-extended u-stem). Further origin uncertain.

Mladenov, Iljinsky considered relation with Latin hostis (“enemy”) (meaning developed from an original “guest” → “foreigner, stranger” → “foe”), Sanskrit घसति (ghásati, “to eat, to nurish”) from Proto-Indo-European *gʰes- (“to host”), which nowadays is usually rejected for semantic reasons. Skok tentatively proposes derivation from Proto-Slavic *žegťi (“to heat up”) (probably on account of the Serbo-Croatian meaning “bitter, sour”), which is phonotactically dubious. Per Vasmer, more likely akin to Old Norse kǫs f (“heap, pile”), Old High German kes n (“(mountain) glacier”) or perhaps Irish gallán (“pillar, stone”) < *gaslā.

Adjective

*žestòkъ[1]

  1. stern, hard, stiff, rigid (for material)
  2. (in Serbo-Croatian) bitter, sour (for taste)
    Synonyms: *syrъ, *surovъ, *gorьkъ
  3. (figurative) cruel, fierce, harsh, severe (for personality, behavior, attitude)

Declension

Accent paradigm C

Derived terms

  • *оžestočiti/*оžestočati, *užestočiti (“to harden, to make severe”)
  • *žestokostь (“cruelty”)

Descendants

  • East Slavic:
    • Old East Slavic: жестокъ (žestokŭ)
  • South Slavic:
  • Non-Slavic:
    • → Romanian: jestoc

Further reading

  • Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “жестокий”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress
  • Georgiev, Vladimir I., editor (1971), “жесто̀к”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volumes 1 (А – З), Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Pubg. House, →ISBN, page 538

References

  1. Olander, Thomas (2001) “žest(okъ)”, in Common Slavic Accentological Word List‎, Copenhagen: Editiones Olander: “c hård (PR 138)”
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.