Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/droba

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

Equivalent to *drobъ (“chunk; intestine”) +‎ *-a, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrebʰ- (“to fracture”). Cognate with Proto-Germanic *drabaz (“dregs”). Further akin to Lithuanian drebėti (“to quiver, to tremble”), Latvian drebêt (“to quiver”).

Noun

*drobà f

1. crumb, small fry

   Synonym: *kǫsъ

2. sediment

   Synonyms: *osadъ, *utajьka, *skama

3. dregs, yeast

   Synonyms: *droždža, *braga

Declension

Declension of *droba (hard a-stem)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*droba	*drobě	*droby
genitive	*droby	*drobu	*drobъ
dative	*drobě	*drobama	*drobamъ
accusative	*drobǫ	*drobě	*droby
instrumental	*drobojǫ, *drobǫ**	*drobama	*drobami
locative	*drobě	*drobu	*drobasъ, *drobaxъ*
vocative	*drobo	*drobě	*droby

^* -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).

Related terms

• *drebъ (“fuzz, lint”)
  • *dreba (“dregs, entails”)
  • *drebězgъ, *dreboskъ (“small fry”)
• *drebь (“debris”)
  • *drebьnъ (“tiny, small”)
  • *drebьnavъ (“petty, fussy”)
  • *drebiti (“to quiver, to crush”)
• *drobь (“fraction”)
  • *drobiti (“to fraction, to crush”)
  • *drobina (“intestine, entrails”)

Descendants

• East Slavic:
  • Russian: дроба́ (drobá), dial. дреба́ (drebá)
• South Slavic:
  • Bulgarian: дроба́ (drobá, “farce, stuffing”) (dialectal)
  • Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic script: дро́ба (“crumbs of bread soaked into milk”)

    Latin script: dróba (“crumbs of bread soaked into milk”)

• West Slavic:
  • Czech: droba
  • Slovincian: drôba
  • Slovak: droba

Further reading

• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “дроба”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress
• Trubachyov, Oleg, editor (1978), “*droba”, in Этимологический словарь славянских языков [Etymological dictionary of Slavic languages] (in Russian), numbers 5 (*dělo – *dьržьlь), Moscow: Nauka, page 117