Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/mъrda

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

Per Vasmer, borrowed from Iranian language, based on the appearance of /r/ in place of /l/; cognate with Old English molda (“head”), Ancient Greek βλωθρός (blōthrós, “lifted up, high”), Sanskrit मूर्धन् (mūrdhán, “forehead, head, apex”), Avestan 𐬐𐬀-𐬨𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬜𐬀 (ka-mər^əδa, “head”). See Proto-Indo-Iranian *mr̥Hdʰā́. Possibly connected with synonymous Armenian մռութ (mṙutʻ). Alternatively a deverbal from *mъrdati (“to wag, to wiggle”).

Noun

*mъrda f

1. muzzle, snout

Inflection

Declension of *mъrda (hard a-stem)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*mъrda	*mъrdě	*mъrdy
genitive	*mъrdy	*mъrdu	*mъrdъ
dative	*mъrdě	*mъrdama	*mъrdamъ
accusative	*mъrdǫ	*mъrdě	*mъrdy
instrumental	*mъrdojǫ, *mъrdǫ**	*mъrdama	*mъrdami
locative	*mъrdě	*mъrdu	*mъrdasъ, *mъrdaxъ*
vocative	*mъrdo	*mъrdě	*mъrdy

^* -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).

Alternative forms

• *mъrdь
  • Bulgarian: мърдъ (mǎrd)

Descendants

• East Slavic:
  • Belarusian: мо́рда (mórda)
  • Russian: мо́рда (mórda), мы́рда (mýrda) (dialectal)
    • → Polish: morda
      • → Czech: morda
  • Ukrainian: мо́рда (mórda)
• South Slavic:
  • Bulgarian: марда̀ (mardà), мърдй (mǎrdj) (dialectal)
  • Serbo-Croatian: (dialectal)

    Cyrillic script: мрда

    Latin script: mrda

  • Slovene: mŕda (tonal orthography)

Further reading

• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “мо́рда”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress