Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/věverica

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

*věverica skačetь po dervě

Alternative forms

• *věverъka

Etymology

From earlier *vě̀verь, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *wēweris, cognate to Lithuanian voverė, voverìs, vėverìs (“squirrel”), Latvian vāvere (“squirrel”), Old Prussian weware (“squirrel”), Persian وروره (varvarah) Welsh gwiwer, Latin vīverra, from Proto-Indo-European *we-wer- (“squirrel, marten”), a reduplicated form of the root *wer- (“to wrap, to turn”) (with secondary meaning “to brew, to boil”). The name has been derived because of the typical agile locomotion of squirrels, compare Polish wiercipięta (“squirrel, fidget”), from Proto-Slavic *vьrtě̀ti, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *wirtḗˀtei, from Proto-Indo-European *wr̥t-éh₁-ti, from *wert-, from the same root *wer- (“to wrap, to turn”).

Noun

*vě̀verica f

1. squirrel

Inflection

Declension of *vě̀verica (soft a-stem, accent paradigm a)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*vě̀verica	*vě̀verici	*vě̀vericę̇
genitive	*vě̀vericę̇	*vě̀vericu	*vě̀vericь
dative	*vě̀vericī	*vě̀vericama	*vě̀vericāmъ
accusative	*vě̀vericǫ	*vě̀verici	*vě̀vericę̇
instrumental	*vě̀vericējǫ, *vě̀vericǭ*	*vě̀vericama	*vě̀vericāmī
locative	*vě̀vericī	*vě̀vericu	*vě̀vericāsъ
vocative	*vě̀verice	*vě̀verici	*vě̀vericę̇

^* 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).

Related terms

• *vьrěti (“to boil”)
• *variti (“to brew”)

Descendants

• East Slavic:
  • Old East Slavic: вѣ́верица (vě́verica)
    • Old Ruthenian: вѣ́верица (vě́verica), вѣ́верицꙗ (vě́vericja) — Middle Ukrainian
      • Belarusian: веве́рыцы (vjevjérycy) (dialectal)
      • Ukrainian: ве́вериця (véverycja), ви́верица (výveryca), ви́вірица (výviryca) (dialectal)
    • Russian: ве́верица (véverica)
  • Old Novgorodian: вѣверица (věverića), вьверица (vĭverića), вьвьрича (vĭvĭrića)
• South Slavic:
  • Old Church Slavonic:

    Old Cyrillic script: вѣверица (věverica)

    Glagolitic script: ⰲⱑⰲⰵⱃⰻⱌⰰ (věverica)

  • Bulgarian: ве́верица (véverica), верве́рица (vervérica) (Western dialects)
  • Macedonian: верверица (ververica)
  • Serbo-Croatian: vjeverica, vȅverica, ве̏верица
  • Slovene: vẹ́verica
• West Slavic:
  • Old Czech: veveřicě
    • Czech: veveřice
  • Old Polish: wiewierzyca
  • Slovak: veverica
  • Sorbian:
    • Upper Sorbian: wjewjerca, wjewjerčka
    • Lower Sorbian: njewjerica, njewjericka

• Non-Slavic:
  • → Greek: βερβερίτσα (ververítsa)
  • → Romanian: veveriță

Further reading

• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “веверица”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress
• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “белка”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress
• Chernykh, P. Ja. (1993) “белка”, 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 82
• Sreznevsky, Izmail I. (1893) “вѣверица”, in Матеріалы для Словаря древне-русскаго языка по письменнымъ памятникамъ [Materials for the Dictionary of the Old East Slavic Language Based on Written Monuments]‎^[3] (in Russian), volume 1 (А – К), Saint Petersburg: Department of Russian Language and Literature of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, column 477
• Georgiev, Vladimir I., editor (1971), “вѐверица, вѐрверица”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volume 1 (А – З), Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Pubg. House, →ISBN, page 125
• Tkačenko O. B. (1981) “Проблемы сопоставительно-исторического изучения славянских языков”, in Вопросы языкознания, volume 1, Moscow: USSR Academy of Sciences Publishing House, page 55