Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/klenь

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

*klenь

Alternative forms

• *klěnь

Etymology

Uncertain. It has been suggested to be in an ablaut relation to *klinъ (“wedge”). What speaks for it is that *trěska means “sliver, splinter” as well as “cod”.

Noun

*klenь m

1. European chub (Leuciscus cephalus)

Inflection

Declension of *klenь (i-stem)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*klenь	*kleni	*klenьje, *kleňe*
genitive	*kleni	*klenьju, *kleňu*	*klenьjь, *kleni*
dative	*kleni	*klenьma	*klenьmъ
accusative	*klenь	*kleni	*kleni
instrumental	*klenьmь	*klenьma	*klenьmi
locative	*kleni	*klenьju, *kleňu*	*klenьxъ
vocative	*kleni	*kleni	*klenьje, *kleňe*

^* 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: клень (kljenʹ) (dialectal)
  • Russian: клень (klenʹ) (pre-1918: клѣнь (klěnʹ)), variant: клинь (klinʹ)
  • Ukrainian: клень (klenʹ), клінь (klinʹ), клен (klen) (dialectal)
• South Slavic:
  • Bulgarian: клен (klen), variant: клян (kljan) – pre-1945: клѣнъ (klěn)
    • → Romanian: clean
  • Macedonian: клен (klen)
    • → Albanian: klen
  • Serbo-Croatian:

    Latin script: klȅn, variant: клије̑н

    Cyrillic script: кле̏н, variant: klijȇn

  • Slovene: klèn, variant: klìn
• West Slavic:
  • Czech: kleň, kleně
  • Polish: kleń
  • Slovak: kleň (dialectal)
  • Slovincian: kléń
  • Sorbian:
    • Upper Sorbian: klen

Further reading

• Trubachyov, Oleg, editor (1983), “*klenь”, in Этимологический словарь славянских языков [Etymological dictionary of Slavic languages] (in Russian), numbers 9 (*jьz – *klenьje), Moscow: Nauka, page 195
• Snoj, Marko (2016) “klȅn”, in Slovenski etimološki slovar [Slovenian Etymology Dictionary]‎^[1], 3rd edition, Ljubljana: Inštitut za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, →ISBN, page 304