Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/tьmьnica

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

From substantivized *tьmьnъ (“dark”) +‎ *-ica, from *tьma (“dark”) +‎ *-ьnъ.

Noun

*tьmьnica f

1. dungeon (< "something dark")

Inflection

Declension of *tьmьnica (soft a-stem)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*tьmьnica	*tьmьnici	*tьmьnicę̇
genitive	*tьmьnicę̇	*tьmьnicu	*tьmьnicь
dative	*tьmьnici	*tьmьnicama	*tьmьnicamъ
accusative	*tьmьnicǫ	*tьmьnici	*tьmьnicę̇
instrumental	*tьmьnicejǫ, *tьmьnicǫ**	*tьmьnicama	*tьmьnicami
locative	*tьmьnici	*tьmьnicu	*tьmьnicasъ, *tьmьnicaxъ*
vocative	*tьmьnice	*tьmьnici	*tьmьnicę̇

^* -asъ is the expected Balto-Slavic form but is found only in some Old Czech documents; -axъ is found everywhere else and is formed by analogy with other locative plurals in -xъ.
^** The second form occurs in languages that contract early across /j/ (e.g. Czech), while the first form occurs in languages that do not (e.g. Russian).

Descendants

• East Slavic:
  • Old East Slavic: тьмьница (tĭmĭnica)
    • Belarusian: цямні́ца (cjamníca)
    • Russian: темни́ца (temníca)
    • Ukrainian: темни́ця (temnýcja)
• South Slavic:
  • Old Church Slavonic: тьмьница (tĭmĭnica)
  • Bulgarian: тъмни́ца (tǎmníca)
  • Macedonian: темница (temnica)
  • Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic script: та̀мница

    Latin script: tàmnica

  • Slovene: temnica
• West Slavic:
  • Czech: temnice
  • Polish: ciemnica
  • Slovak: temnica

• Other:
  • → Middle Low German: temenitze (“prison, jail”)
  • → Romanian: temniță (“prison, jail”)
    • → Sathmar Swabian: Temitz (“prison”)

References

• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “темница”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress
• Melnychuk, O. S., editor (1982–2012), “темний”, in Етимологічний словник української мови [Etymological Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language] (in Ukrainian), Kyiv: Naukova Dumka