Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/golěnь

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

Alternative reconstructions

• *gȍlenь (per ESSJa, given as an alternative by Snoj)

Etymology

Normally associated to *golъ (“bare, naked”) +‎ *-ěnь, from Proto-Indo-European *gelH- (“bare, naked”). If so, the original meaning would have been “bare bone”, per Brückner, perhaps in reference to the lack of muscles on the front of the shinbone.

An origin from Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH- (“to project, to prod”) also possible, semantically analogous to Proto-Slavic *bedro (“thigh”) from Proto-Balto-Slavic *béstеi (“to prick, to stab”). Akin terms in that case would be Lithuanian gãlas (“end, extreme, tip”), Latvian gals (“tip, end”).

Berneker and Mladenov also suggest distant relation to Ancient Greek γύαλον (gúalon, “hollow structure, depression”), γυῖον (guîon, “limb”) possibly from Proto-Indo-European *gew- (“to crook, to bend”). Rejected on phonetic ground by Trubachev (ESSJa).

Noun

*gȍlěnь f

1. shinbone

   Synonym: *piščalь

2. (by extension) shank, crus (lower part of the leg between the knee and the ankle)
3. (East Slavic) lower leafless part of tree crown (between the trunk and the true crown)

Alternative forms

• *golěnъ m, *golěno n (o-stem)
• *golěna f (ā-stem)

Declension

Declension of *gȍlěnь (i-stem, accent paradigm c)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*gȍlěnь	*gȍlěni	*gȍlěni
genitive	*golění	*golěnьjù, *golěňu*	*golěnь̀jь
dative	*gȍlěni	*golěnьmà	*gȍlěnьmъ
accusative	*gȍlěnь	*gȍlěni	*gȍlěni
instrumental	*golěnьjǫ́	*golěnьmà	*golěnьmì
locative	*golění	*golěnьjù, *golěňu*	*gȍlěnьxъ
vocative	*golěni	*gȍlěni	*gȍlěni

^* 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

• *golěnъka, *golěnica (“tibia”)
• *golěnišče (augmentative)

Related terms

• *golětь, *golěja (“barren, desolate land or place”)
• *golę (“featherless bird”)

Descendants

• East Slavic:
  • Old East Slavic: голѣнь (golěnĭ), голень (golenĭ)
    • Belarusian: голень (hóljenʹ)
    • Russian: го́лень (gólenʹ); (dialectal) го́лянь (góljanʹ), голе́нь (golénʹ)
• South Slavic:
  • Old Church Slavonic: голѣнь (golěnĭ)
  • Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic script: го̏лије̄н

    Latin script: gȍlijēn

  • Slovene: golẹ̑n (tonal orthography)
• West Slavic:
  • Czech: holeň
  • Polish: goleń (“shin, calf”)
  • Slovak: holeň
  • Slovincian: gôleń

Further reading

• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “го́лень”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка (in Russian), Moscow: Progress
• Trubachyov, Oleg, editor (1979), “*golenь/*goleno”, in Этимологический словарь славянских языков (in Russian), numbers 6 (*e – *golva), Moscow: Nauka, page 201