Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/mora

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-Indo-European *mor- (“malicious female spirit”), possibly from *mor-, *mer- (“to die”), see also Old Irish Morrígan (“phantom queen”), English nightmare.

Noun

*morà f

1. nightly spirit
2. nightmare

Declension

Declension of *mora (hard a-stem)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*mora	*morě	*mory
genitive	*mory	*moru	*morъ
dative	*morě	*morama	*moramъ
accusative	*morǫ	*morě	*mory
instrumental	*morojǫ, *morǫ**	*morama	*morami
locative	*morě	*moru	*morasъ, *moraxъ*
vocative	*moro	*morě	*mory

^* -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:
  • Russian: мо́ра (móra, “mythological female creature, ghost, darkness”) (dialectal)
    • ⇒ Russian: кики́мора (kikímora)
  • Ukrainian: мо́ра (móra, “nightmare, house-spirit”) (dialectal)
• South Slavic:
  • Old Church Slavonic:

    Old Cyrillic script: мора (mora)

    Glagolitic script: [Term?]

    • → Romanian: moroi (“spirit”)
  • Bulgarian: мора (mora, “nightmare”)
  • Macedonian: мо́ра (móra, “nightmare”)
  • Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic script: мо̏ра (“nightmare”)

    Latin script: mȍra

    • Chakavian (Orbanići): Morȁ (“personified nightmare, female phantom”)
  • Slovene: móra (“nightmare, owl”)
• West Slavic:
  • Old Czech: móra (“nightmare, mythological creature that suffocates people in their sleep”), mora (“moth”)
    • Czech: můra (“nightmare, mythological creature that suffocates people in their sleep, moth”)
  • Polish: mora (“nightly spirit that attacks people and horses in their sleep, nightly apparition, nightmare”) (dialectal)
  • Slovak: mora, mura (“demonical creature that torments people in their sleep”)