Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/tisъ

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

Of disputed origin. Commonly, the Slavic term is compared with Latin taxus (“yew”) and Ancient Greek τόξον (tóxon, “bow”), both of which are speculated to be borrowed from Scythian (cf Persian تخش (taxš, “crossbow”)). This etymology, however, fails to explain Slavic *-i-.

Noun

*tìsъ m

1. yew

Inflection

Declension of *tìsъ (hard o-stem, accent paradigm a)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*tìsъ	*tìsa	*tìsi
genitive	*tìsa	*tìsu	*tìsъ
dative	*tìsu	*tìsoma	*tìsomъ
accusative	*tìsъ	*tìsa	*tìsy
instrumental	*tìsъmь, *tìsomь*	*tìsoma	*tìsȳ
locative	*tìsě	*tìsu	*tìsě̄xъ
vocative	*tìse	*tìsa	*tìsi

^* -ъmь in North Slavic, -omь in South Slavic.

Alternative forms

• *tìsa f

Derived terms

• *tisovъ (“yew”, adjective)

Descendants

• East Slavic:
  • Old East Slavic: тисъ (tisŭ)
    • Belarusian: ціс (cis)
    • Russian: тис (tis)
    • Ukrainian: тис (tys)
• South Slavic:
  • Old Church Slavonic: тиса (tisa, “cedar”)
  • Bulgarian: тис (tis), тиса (tisa)
  • Macedonian: тиса (tisa)
  • Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic script: ти̏са

    Latin script: tȉsa

  • Slovene: tȋsa (tonal orthography)
• West Slavic:
  • Old Czech: tis
    • Czech: tis
  • Polish: cis
  • Slovak: tis
  • Sorbian:

    Upper Sorbian: ćis

    Lower Sorbian: śis

• Non-Slavic:
  • → Hungarian: tisza

Further reading

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