Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/měna

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 Proto-Balto-Slavic *maināˀ, from Proto-Indo-European *moi-n-, from the root *mey- (“to change”). Baltic cognates include Lithuanian maĩnas (“exchange”), Latvian maîna, maĩņa (“exchange”). Other Indo-European cognates include Sanskrit मेना (ménā, “concubine”), Old High German mein (“false, deceitful”), Latin commūnis (“common”) (Old Latin commoinis), Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌼𐌰𐌹𐌽𐍃 (gamains, “common, collective”), Sanskrit मयते (máyate), मिनाति (mināti, “to change”), Ancient Greek μοῖνος (moînos, “gratitude, reward”), Latin mūnus (“obligation; office; gift”) (gen. mūneris), Old Irish móin, máin (“jewel”).

Noun

*měnà f

1. change, exchange

Inflection

Declension of *mě̄nà (hard a-stem, accent paradigm b)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*mě̄nà	*mě̃ně	*mě̄nỳ
genitive	*mě̄nỳ	*mě̄nù	*mě̃nъ
dative	*mě̄ně̀	*mě̄nàma	*mě̄nàmъ
accusative	*mě̄nǫ̀	*mě̃ně	*mě̄nỳ
instrumental	*mě̄nòjǫ, *mě̃nǫ**	*mě̄nàma	*mě̄nàmī
locative	*mě̄ně̀	*mě̄nù	*mě̄nàsъ, *mě̄nàxъ*
vocative	*měno	*mě̃ně	*mě̄nỳ

^* -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).

Declension of *měnà (hard a-stem, accent paradigm c)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*měnà	*mě̑ně	*mě̑ny
genitive	*měný	*měnù	*mě̃nъ
dative	*měně̀	*měnàma	*měnàmъ
accusative	*mě̑nǫ	*mě̑ně	*mě̑ny
instrumental	*měnojǫ́	*měnàma	*měnàmi
locative	*mě̑ně	*měnù	*měnàsъ, *měnàxъ*
vocative	*měno	*mě̑ně	*mě̑ny

^* -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.

Derived terms

• *měniti (“to change, to exchange”)

Descendants

• East Slavic:
  • Old East Slavic: мѣна (měna) (15th century; accent paradigm b or c)
    • Belarusian: ме́на (mjéna)
    • Russian: ме́на (ména), мена́ (mená) (Yaroslavl and Arkhangelsk dialectal)
    • Ukrainian: мі́на (mína)
    • Carpathian Rusyn: міна (mina)
• South Slavic:
  • Old Church Slavonic:

    Cyrillic: мѣна (měna)

    Glagolitic: [Term?]

  • Bulgarian: мя́на (mjána), мена́ (mená)
  • Macedonian: мена (mena)
  • Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic script: мијѐна

    Latin script: mijèna

    • Chakavian (Vrgada): mīnȁ
  • Slovene: mẹ́na (tonal orthography)
• West Slavic:
  • Old Czech: měna
    • Czech: měna
  • Polish: miana
  • Slovak: mena
  • Sorbian:
    • Upper Sorbian: měna

Further reading

• Chernykh, P. Ja. (1993) “ме́на”, in Историко-этимологический словарь русского языка [Historical-Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), 3rd edition, volume 1 (а – пантомима), Moscow: Russian Lang., →ISBN, page 522
• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “ме́на”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress
• Rix, Helmut, editor (2001), “2.*mei̯-”, in Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben [Lexicon of Indo-European Verbs] (in German), 2nd edition, Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, →ISBN, page 426
• Trubachyov, Oleg, editor (1992), “*měna”, in Этимологический словарь славянских языков [Etymological dictionary of Slavic languages] (in Russian), numbers 18 (*matoga – *mękyšьka), Moscow: Nauka, →ISBN, page 171