Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/xoměstorъ

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

European hamster

Etymology

Uncertain:

Borrowed from Old Iranian[1] or Scythian *hamaistar-,[2] from Proto-Indo-European *(s)meyt- (“to throw”).[3] Related to Avestan 𐬵𐬀𐬨𐬀𐬉𐬯𐬙𐬀𐬭- (hamaēstar-, “who throws down; enemy”). For the meaning, compare Shor ырлақ (yrlak, “hamster”): ыр- (yr-, “to be hostile”).[4]
From a compound *xomě-storъ:
- Per Berneker,[5] *-storъ is related to Lithuanian stãras (“suslik”).
- Per Brückner:[6] *xom- is onomatopoeic, *-storъ is unclear. Related to Polish skomleć (“to howl, yelp”), Church Slavonic скомати (skomati, “sigh, groan”).[7]
- Per Sławski, ESSJa: **xomě (“couple bags”) +‎ *sterti (“to pour, sprinkle; to spread, extend, stretch out”) +‎ *-ъ, literally “who pours (grain) into (both) bags”. Related to *skomiti (“squeeze, clench”) and *prostorъ.
- Per Chernykh:[8] if not borrowing, Old East Slavic хомѣкъ (xoměkŭ) is related to *ščemiti / *ščьmiti, *oskomina, *xomǫtъ, *komъ, Ancient Greek χαμαίστρωτος (khamaístrōtos, “stretched on the ground”).
- Compare onomatopoeic hamster name: Serbo-Croatian hŕčak < *xъrčьkъ < *xъrčati, *xъrkati, Czech křeček, Old Czech křěč, Old Polish krzeczek, skrzeczek < *krečьkъ, *krečь < *krečati, *krekati.
- Compare onomatopoeic *kem- name: *komarъ (“mosquito”), *čьmeľь (“bumblebee”).
- See also *čęstъ: Lithuanian kim̃šti (“to stuff, fill”), *žęti, *skǫpъ.
Per Ильинскій:[9] from **xoměstati +‎ *-orъ, from blend of **xomězati and *xomotati, from onomatopoeia. Related to Moravian chomtat (“eat greedily”), Russian ха́мкать (xámkatʹ, “to eat”).
Per Мурьянов,[10] Slavic and German are borrowed from Latin *chomestor, variant of comestor (“glutton”).

Noun

*xoměstorъ m

hamster
Synonym: *xъrčьkъ

Declension

Declension of *xoměstorъ (hard o-stem)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*xoměstorъ	*xoměstora	*xoměstori
genitive	*xoměstora	*xoměstoru	*xoměstorъ
dative	*xoměstoru	*xoměstoroma	*xoměstoromъ
accusative	*xoměstorъ	*xoměstora	*xoměstory
instrumental	xoměstorъmь, xoměstoromь^*	*xoměstoroma	*xoměstory
locative	*xoměstorě	*xoměstoru	*xoměstorěxъ
vocative	*xoměstore	*xoměstora	*xoměstori

^* -ъmь in North Slavic, -omь in South Slavic.

Derived terms

*xoměkъ (“hamster”) (diminutive)

Descendants

East Slavic:
- Old East Slavic: хомѣсторъ (xoměstorŭ), хомѣстаръ (xoměstarŭ)
  - → Old Saxon: hamustra
  - → Old High German: hamastra, hamustro
    - Middle High German: hamster
      - German: Hamster
        → Catalan: hàmster
        → English: hamster, hampster
        → Japanese: ハムスター (hamusutā)
        → Korean: 햄스터 (haemseuteo)
        → Tagalog: hamster
        → Thai: แฮมสเตอร์ (hɛms-dtə̂ə)
        → Turkish: hamster
        → Danish: hamster
        → Dutch: hamster
        → Papiamentu: hamster
        → French: hamster
        → Luxembourgish: Hamster
        → Norwegian Bokmål: hamster
        → Norwegian Nynorsk: hamster
        → Portuguese: hamster
        → Romanian: hamster
        → Swedish: hamster
→ Lithuanian: kãmas (“rat”), stãras (“suslik”) (possibly)
→ Latvian: kāmis (“hamster”) (possibly)

References

Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “хомя́к”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress
Шапошников, А. К. (2007) “Сарматские и туранские языковые реликты северного причерноморья”, in Этимология 2003‒2005, Moscow, page 269
Pokorny, Julius (1959) “smeit-, smit-”, in Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 3, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 968
Radloff, Friedrich Wilhelm (1893) “ырлаk”, in Опыт словаря тюркских наречий – Versuch eines Wörterbuches der Türk-Dialecte [Attempt at a Lexicon of the Turkic Dialects], volume I (overall work in German and Russian), Saint Petersburg: Imperial Academy of Sciences, column 1372
Berneker, Erich (1908–1913) “choměstorъ”, in Slavisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volume 1, Heidelberg: Carl Winter's Universitätsbuchhandlung, page 395
Brückner, Aleksander (1927) “chomik”, in Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego [Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language] (in Polish), Warsaw: Wiedza Powszechna
Franz Miklosich (1862–1865) “скомати”, in Lexicon Palaeoslovenico-Graeco-Latinum emendatum auctum, Vienna: Guilelmus Braumueller, page 846
Chernykh, P. Ja. (1993) “хомя́к”, in Историко-этимологический словарь русского языка [Historical-Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), 3rd edition, volumes 2 (панцирь – ящур), Moscow: Russian Lang., →ISBN, page 350
Ильинскій, Г. А. (1912) “Суффиксъ oz/ez/ъ въ славянскихъ языкахъ”, in Извѣстія Отдѣленія русскаго языка и словесности Императорской Академіи Наукъ, volume 16:4, Санктпетербургъ: Типографія Императорской Академіи Наукъ, page 6
Мурьянов, М. Ф. (1985) “К интерпретации др.-рус. хомѣсторъ”, in Этимология 1983, Moscow, page 105