Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/vitędzь

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

Based on the ethnonym Proto-Germanic *wīkingaz (whence Old Norse víkingr (“bay dweller”)), ultimately from *wīkō (“inlet, bay”).

Similar semantic shift ethnonym → hero, legendary figure is also found in Proto-Slavic *spolinъ, *spolovъ (“giant”) from the name of a Sarmatian people, and in Old Polish obrzym (“giant”), from Proto-Slavic *ob(ъ)rinъ, originally meant "Avar".

According to Brückner and Machek, medial -t- probably is due to the influence of Proto-Slavic *vitěnьcь (“provider, supplier, guardian”) from Proto-Slavic *viti (“to twine, to curve”). Compare Old Church Slavonic възвитъ (vŭzvitŭ, “provisions, supply”).

Noun

*vìtędzь m

1. knight, hero

Declension

Declension of *vìtędzь (soft o-stem, accent paradigm a)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*vìtędzь	*vìtędza	*vìtędzi
genitive	*vìtędza	*vìtędzu	*vìtędzь
dative	*vìtędzu	*vìtędzema	*vìtędzēmъ
accusative	*vìtędzь	*vìtędza	*vìtędzę̇
instrumental	*vìtędzьmь, *vìtędzemь*	*vìtędzema	*vìtędzī
locative	*vìtędzi	*vìtędzu	*vìtędzīxъ
vocative	*vìtęže	*vìtędza	*vìtędzi

^* -ьmь in North Slavic, -emь in South Slavic.

See also

• *kъ̏nędzь (“prince”)

Descendants

• South Slavic:
  • Old Church Slavonic:
    • Serbian Church Slavonic: витѩѕь (vitjędzĭ)
  • Bulgarian: ви́тег (víteg), ви́тез (vítez), ви́тец (vítec) (poetic)
  • Macedonian: витез (vitez)
  • Old Serbian витѧзь (15ᵗʰ c.)
    • → Old Ruthenian: ви́тѧзь (vítjazʹ), ви́тѧжь (vítjažʹ), ви́тезь (vítezʹ)
      • Belarusian: ві́цязь (vícjazʹ)
      • Ukrainian: ви́тязь (výtjazʹ)
      • → Polish: witeź
    • → Middle Russian: ви́тѧзь (vítjazʹ) (1490)
      • Russian: ви́тязь (vítjazʹ)
        • → Bulgarian: ви́тяз (vítjaz), витéз (vitéz)
  • Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic script: ви̏те̄з

    Latin script: vȉtēz

  • Slovene: vȋtez (tonal orthography)
  • → Hungarian: vitéz
    • → Romanian: viteaz
• West Slavic:
  • Old Czech: vítěz
    • Czech: vítěz
  • Polish: wiciądz (archaic)
  • Slovak: víťaz
  • Sorbian:
    • Lower Sorbian:
    • Upper Sorbian: wićaz

Further reading

• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “ви́тязь”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress
• Georgiev, Vladimir I., editor (1971), “витег, витек, витец”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volumes 1 (А – З), Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Pubg. House, →ISBN, page 154