Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/guna

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 forms

• *guňa

Etymology

Possibly from Proto-Iranian *gawnám (“hair; colour”), whence Persian گون (gun, “colour”), Avestan 𐬔𐬀𐬊𐬥𐬀 (gaona, “hair; colour”), Ossetian хъуын (qwyn), гъун (ǧun, “hair”), Old Armenian գոյն (goyn, “colour”) and Ancient Greek καυνάκης (kaunákēs), γαυνάκης (gaunákēs, “thick fur cloack”) and ancient Iranian names Ancient Greek Ἀλογουνη (Alogounē), Ῥοδογουνη (Rhodogounē), Φραταγουνη (Phratagounē). Ultimately of unclear origin, though possibly from Proto-Indo-European *gew- (“to bend, curve”).

Similarity with Proto-Turkic *kȫn (“leather, skin”), whence Ottoman Turkish گون (gön), Azerbaijani gön, Kazakh көн (kön), Bashkir күн (kün), Uyghur كۆن (kön), Kumyk гён (gön), Southern Altai кӧн (kön), is likely coincidental.

Akin to Lithuanian gunė (“coarse horse blanket”), either a cognate or a descendant.

Noun

*guna f

1. coarse fur clothing

Declension

Declension of *guna (hard a-stem)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*guna	*guně	*guny
genitive	*guny	*gunu	*gunъ
dative	*guně	*gunama	*gunamъ
accusative	*gunǫ	*guně	*guny
instrumental	*gunojǫ, *gunǫ**	*gunama	*gunami
locative	*guně	*gunu	*gunasъ, *gunaxъ*
vocative	*guno	*guně	*guny

^* -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

• East Slavic:
  • Belarusian: гуня (hunja)
  • Russian: гу́на (gúna), гу́ня (gúnja)
  • Ukrainian: гу́ня (húnja)
• South Slavic:
  • Bulgarian: гу́на (gúna), гу́ня (gúnja)
  • Macedonian: гуна (guna), гуња (gunja)
  • Serbo-Croatian: gȗnj / гу̑њ, gȕnja / гу̏ња
  • Slovene: gúnj
• West Slavic:
  • Old Czech: húně
    • Czech: houně, houň, (dialectal) huňa, guňa
  • Polish: gunia
  • Silesian: gunia
  • Old Slovak: huňa
    • Slovak: huňa

• Non-Slavic:
  • → Albanian: gunë
  • → Aromanian: gunã
  • → Hungarian: gúnya
  • → Byzantine Greek: γούνα (goúna) (see there for further descendants)
  • →? Latin: gunna (see there for further descendants)

References

• Trubachyov, Oleg, editor (1980), “*guna/*gun'a”, in Этимологический словарь славянских языков [Etymological dictionary of Slavic languages] (in Russian), numbers 7 (*golvačь – *gyžati), Moscow: Nauka, page 175
• Vasmer, Max (1964) “гу́ня”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), volumes 1 (А – Д), Moscow: Progress, page 475
• Georgiev, Vladimir I., editor (1971), “гуня, гуна”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volume 1 (А – З), Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Pubg. House, →ISBN, page 294
• Sławski, Franciszek, editor (2001), “gun'a”, in Słownik prasłowiański [Proto-Slavic Dictionary] (in Polish), volume 8 (goda – gyža), Wrocław: Ossolineum, →ISBN, page 308
• Skok, Petar (1971) “gunj”, in Etimologijski rječnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika [Etymological Dictionary of the Croatian or Serbian Language] (in Serbo-Croatian), volumes 1 (A – J), Zagreb: JAZU, page 634
• Abajev, V. I. (1973) “q_oyna/ǧun”, in Историко-этимологический словарь осетинского языка [Historical-Etymological Dictionary of the Ossetian Language] (in Russian), volume 2, Moscow and Leningrad: Academy Press, page 326f.