Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/brečьka

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 earlier **brekъ + *-ьka. Usually believed to be borrowing from Celtic, compare Welsh brag, but on the basis of the Old Irish mraich, the Proto-Celtic *mrakis (“malt”) is reconstructed, which makes consonant and vowel problematic, and Celtic borrowings in Slavic are generally controversial. Šewc finds borrowing problematic; he derives it from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer-k- (“to boil”) (compare *bʰrewh₁-) and compares it with Armenian բրակ (brak, “spicy, sour, cruel”). See also *braga.

Noun

*brečьka f (West and South Slavic)

1. (brewing, distilling) wort
2. malt beer
3. tree sap

Declension

Declension of *brečьka (hard a-stem)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*brečьka	*brečьcě	*brečьky
genitive	*brečьky	*brečьku	*brečьkъ
dative	*brečьcě	*brečьkama	*brečьkamъ
accusative	*brečьkǫ	*brečьcě	*brečьky
instrumental	*brečьkojǫ, *brečьkǫ**	*brečьkama	*brečьkami
locative	*brečьcě	*brečьku	*brečьkasъ, *brečьkaxъ*
vocative	*brečьko	*brečьcě	*brečьky

^* -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

• South Slavic:
  • Slovene: brẹ́čka (obsolete) (tonal orthography)
• West Slavic:
  • Old Czech: břěčka, břiečka
    • Czech: břečka
  • Old Polish: brzeczka, brzęczka, wrzeczka
    • Polish: brzeczka, brzedka (Middle Polish)
      • → Old Ruthenian: бречка (brečka)
    • Silesian: brzyczka
  • Old Slovak: brečka
    • Slovak: brečka
  • Pomeranian:
    • >? Kashubian: brzëczka
  • Sorbian:
    • Lower Sorbian: bŕacka
    • Upper Sorbian: brěčka

Further reading

• Brückner, Aleksander (1927) “brzeczka”, in Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego [Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language] (in Polish), Warsaw: Wiedza Powszechna
• Bańkowski, Andrzej (2000) “brzeczka”, in Etymologiczny słownik języka polskiego [Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language] (in Polish), volume 84, page 1
• Jiří Rejzek (2007) “břečka”, in Český etymologický slovník (in Czech), Leda, page 92

• Václav Machek (1968) “břečka”, in Etymologický slovník jazyka českého [Etymological Dictionary of the Czech Language], 2nd edition, Prague: Academia, page 71
• Králik, Ľubor (2016) “brečka”, in Stručný etymologický slovník slovenčiny [Concise Etymological Dictionary of Slovak] (in Slovak), Bratislava: VEDA; JÚĽŠ SAV, →ISBN, page 80
• Schuster-Šewc, Heinz (1978) “os. brěčka”, in Historisch-etymologisches Wörterbuch der ober- und niedersorbischen Sprache [Historical-Etymological Dictionary of the Upper and Lower Sorbian Language] (in German), numbers 2 (bohužel – čumpać), Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag, →ISBN, page 62