Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/braga

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

East Slavic isogloss, of uncertain origin. Due to its limited attestation, no secure etymology could be reconstructed, however, on basis of semantics it may be supposed that the word is related to Proto-Slavic *brьzgati/*brězgati (“to decompose, to burst, to get bitter/sour”). Perhaps, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreHg- (“to rot, to have strong odour”).

Usually compared to Welsh brag (“malt”) and Irish braich (“malt”), with Vasmer even admitting the possibility that the Slavic lemma was borrowed from an early Celtic dialect. This is unlikely in view of Old Irish mraich, which favors the reconstruction of Proto-Celtic *mrakis rather than *brakis.

Noun

*braga f

yeast, must (pre-distilled alcohol mixture)
Synonyms: *droždža, *droba

Declension

Declension of *braga (hard a-stem)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*braga	*bradzě	*bragy
genitive	*bragy	*bragu	*bragъ
dative	*bradzě	*bragama	*bragamъ
accusative	*bragǫ	*bradzě	*bragy
instrumental	bragojǫ, bragǫ^**	*bragama	*bragami
locative	*bradzě	*bragu	bragasъ, bragaxъ^*
vocative	*brago	*bradzě	*bragy

^* -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).

Derived terms

*bražiti (“to form must, to ferment”)
- *bražьnikъ (“drunkard, tippler”)

Descendants

East Slavic:
- Belarusian: бра́га (bráha)
- Russian: бра́га (brága)
  - → Bulgarian: бра́га (brága) (obsolete)
- Ukrainian: бра́га (bráha)
- → Polish: braha (dialectal, via Ukrainian or Belarussian)
- → Lower Sorbian: bražka (possibly)