Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/golěnь
Proto-Slavic
Etymology
Normally associated to *golъ (“bare, naked”) + *-ěnь, from Proto-Indo-European *gelH- (“bare, naked”). If so, the original meaning would have been “bare bone”, per Brückner, perhaps in reference to the lack of muscles on the front of the shinbone.
An origin from Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH- (“to project, to prod”) also possible, semantically analogous to Proto-Slavic *bedro (“thigh”) from Proto-Balto-Slavic *béstеi (“to prick, to stab”). Akin terms in that case would be Lithuanian gãlas (“end, extreme, tip”), Latvian gals (“tip, end”).
Berneker and Mladenov also suggest distant relation to Ancient Greek γύαλον (gúalon, “hollow structure, depression”), γυῖον (guîon, “limb”) possibly from Proto-Indo-European *gew- (“to crook, to bend”). Rejected on phonetic ground by Trubachev (ESSJa).
Noun
Alternative forms
- *golěnъ m, *golěno n (o-stem)
- *golěna f (ā-stem)
Declension
singular | dual | plural | |
---|---|---|---|
nominative | *gȍlěnь | *gȍlěni | *gȍlěni |
genitive | *golění | *golěnьjù, *golěňu* | *golěnь̀jь |
dative | *gȍlěni | *golěnьmà | *gȍlěnьmъ |
accusative | *gȍlěnь | *gȍlěni | *gȍlěni |
instrumental | *golěnьjǫ́ | *golěnьmà | *golěnьmì |
locative | *golění | *golěnьjù, *golěňu* | *gȍlěnьxъ |
vocative | *golěni | *gȍlěni | *gȍlěni |
Derived terms
- *golěnъka, *golěnica (“tibia”)
- *golěnišče (augmentative)
Related terms
- *golětь, *golěja (“barren, desolate land or place”)
- *golę (“featherless bird”)
Descendants
- East Slavic:
- South Slavic:
- Old Church Slavonic: голѣнь (golěnĭ)
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic script: го̏лије̄н
- Latin script: gȍlijēn
- Slovene: golẹ̑n (tonal orthography)
- West Slavic:
Further reading
- Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “го́лень”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress
- Trubachyov, Oleg, editor (1979), “*golenь/*goleno”, in Этимологический словарь славянских языков [Etymological dictionary of Slavic languages] (in Russian), numbers 6 (*e – *golva), Moscow: Nauka, page 201
References
- Snoj, Marko (2016) “golen”, in Slovenski etimološki slovar [Slovenian Etymology Dictionary] (in Slovene), 3rd edition, https://fran.si: “Pslovan. *gȍlěnь in *gȍlenь”
- Derksen, Rick (2008) “*golěnь”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 4), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 174: “f. i ‘shin’”
- Olander, Thomas (2001) “golěnь”, in Common Slavic Accentological Word List, Copenhagen: Editiones Olander: “f. c skinneben (PR 138)”