Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/bogъ
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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
Privative adjectives *ubogъ (“poor, miserable”) and *nebogъ (“poor, miserable”), as well as the later derivation *bogatъ (“rich”) prove that *bogъ was originally also an adjective meaning "earthly wealth/well-being; fortune", with a semantic shift to "dispenser of wealth/fortune" and finally "god". Semantic parallel can be drawn to Indo-Iranian languages: compare Old Persian 𐏎 (BG /baga/, “god”), Avestan 𐬠𐬀𐬖𐬀 (baγa, “god”) (but also 𐬠𐬀𐬔 (bag, “apportion”)), as well as Sanskrit epithet often applied to gods भग (bhága, “dispenser, gracious lord, patron”), proving that Slavic noun had both abstract and concrete meanings, and therefore possibly from Proto-Iranian *bagáh, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *bʰagás. The same Iranian source, but via a Turkic language, also probably gave Proto-Slavic *banъ. Compare also Avar бакъ (baq̇̄, “sun”), which, however, is unrelated.
This convincing parallel has led some linguists (e.g. Roman Jakobson) to claim that *bogъ is an Iranian borrowing. Slavic-Iranian parallelism can be further extended to the expressions of Slavic mythology: Dažbog, Belobog and Chernobog, which suggest an existence of Iranian-type dualism in Proto-Slavic mythology.
On a more formal level, absence of Winter's law (if held to apply in open syllables) precludes derivation from hypothetical Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂gós, *bʰagós.[1]
Some[2] connect it to Ancient Greek ἔφαγον (éphagon, “to eat, devour”) via a semantic shift "I received a share" > "I consumed" > "I ate". This would in turn all derive from the Proto-Indo-European root *bʰeh₂g- (“to distribute, divide”).
Declension
| Singular | Dual | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | *bȍgъ | *bȍga | *bȍdzi |
| Accusative | *bȍgъ | *bȍga | *bȍgy |
| Genitive | *bȍga | *bogù | *bògъ |
| Locative | *bȍdzě | *bogù | *bodzě̃xъ |
| Dative | *bȍgu | *bogomà | *bogòmъ |
| Instrumental | *bȍgъmь, *bȍgomь* | *bogomà | *bogý |
| Vocative | *bože | *bȍga | *bȍdzi |
Derived terms
Related terms
Descendants
- East Slavic:
- South Slavic:
Further reading
- Trubačóv, Oleg, editor (1975), “*bogъ”, in Etimologičeskij slovarʹ slavjanskix jazykov [Etymological dictionary of Slavic languages] (in Russian), volume 02, Moscow: Nauka, page 161
- Skok, Petar (1971) Etimologijski rječnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika (in Serbo-Croatian), volume I, Zagreb: JAZU, page 178ff
- Mallory, J. P.; Adams, D. Q., editors (1997) Encyclopedia of Indo-European culture, London, Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, page 161
- Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), volume II, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 1543
- Rix, Helmut, editor (2001) Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben [Lexicon of Indo-European Verbs] (in German), 2nd edition, Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, →ISBN, page 65
- Vasmer (Fasmer), Max (Maks) (1964–1973), “бог”, in Etimologičeskij slovarʹ russkovo jazyka [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), translated from German and supplemented by Trubačóv Oleg, Moscow: Progress
- Brückner, Aleksander (1927) Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego [Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language] (in Polish), Warsaw: Wiedza Powszechna, published 1985
References
- Derksen, Rick (2008), “*bȏgъ”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 4), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 50: “m. o (c) ‘god’”
- EIEC, Beekes, LIV
- Kapović, Mate (2007), “The Development of Proto-Slavic Quantity”, in Wiener Slavistisches Jahrbuch, University of Vienna, page 7: “*bȍgъ”
- Olander, Thomas (2001), “bogъ boga”, in Common Slavic accentological word list, Copenhagen: Editiones Olander: “c God (NA 101; SA 167, 171, 199; PR 137)”