Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/vorbь

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

Either of onomatopoeic origin from the same root as Proto-Slavic *verva (“fuss, noise”), *verskъ (“scream”) or probably from Proto-Indo-European *(s)werbʰ- (“to peck, to scratch”), akin to Lithuanian žvìrblis (“sparrow”) , Latvian zvirbulis (“sparrow”), virblis (“eagle”) (dialectal). If correct, the Baltic forms would reflect the s-mobile form of the root.

Noun

*võrbь m

sparrow

Declension

Declension of *võrbь (i-stem, accent paradigm b)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*võrbь	*vōrbì	võrbьjē, võrbľē^*
genitive	*võrbi	võrbьju, vorbľu^*	vōrbь̀jь, võrbi^*
dative	*vōrbì	*võrbьma	*vōrbь̀mъ
accusative	*võrbь	*vōrbì	*vōrbì
instrumental	*vōrbь̀mь	*võrbьma	*võrbьmī
locative	*võrbi	võrbьju, vorbľu^*	*vōrbь̀xъ
vocative	*vorbi	*vōrbì	võrbьjē, võrbľē^*

^* 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).

Derived terms

*vorbьjь^[1]^[2]
*vorbьľь
*vorbьcь,^[1] *vorbokъ, *vorbьčę (diminutive)

Related terms

*svorbъ (“itch”)
*rębъ (“speckled, spotted”)
- *arębъ (“partridge”)

Descendants

The primary i-stem is attested only indirectly, e.g. in Ukrainian вороб'я́ pl (vorobʺjá) (dialectal) and in loanwords:

East Slavic:
- Old Ukrainian: воробѧ́ n (vorobjá, “sparrow”)^[3] (< *võrbь + *-ę)
  - Ukrainian: гороб'я́ n (horobʺjá); вороб'я́ n (vorobʺjá) (dialectal)
West Slavic:
- Sorbian:
  - Upper Sorbian: wrobl

→ Romanian: vrabie
→ Hungarian: veréb

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Snoj, Marko (2016) “vrábec”, in Slovenski etimološki slovar [Slovenian Etymology Dictionary] (in Slovene), 3rd edition, https://fran.si: “Pslovan. *vorbьcь̏, *vorbьjь̏”
^ Olander, Thomas (2001) “vorbьjь”, in Common Slavic Accentological Word List‎^[1], Copenhagen: Editiones Olander: “b spurv (PR 134)”
^ Hrynchyshyn, D. H., editor (1997), “воробѧ”, in Словник української мови XVI – 1-ї пол. XVII ст. [Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language of 16ᵗʰ – 1ˢᵗ half of 17ᵗʰ c.] (in Ukrainian), numbers 4 (весь – вправѣ), Lviv: KIUS, →ISBN, page 231

[Snoj-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Snoj, Marko (2016) “vrábec”, in Slovenski etimološki slovar [Slovenian Etymology Dictionary] (in Slovene), 3rd edition, https://fran.si: “Pslovan. *vorbьcь̏, *vorbьjь̏”

[2] Olander, Thomas (2001) “vorbьjь”, in Common Slavic Accentological Word List‎^[1], Copenhagen: Editiones Olander: “b spurv (PR 134)”

[3] Hrynchyshyn, D. H., editor (1997), “воробѧ”, in Словник української мови XVI – 1-ї пол. XVII ст. [Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language of 16ᵗʰ – 1ˢᵗ half of 17ᵗʰ c.] (in Ukrainian), numbers 4 (весь – вправѣ), Lviv: KIUS, →ISBN, page 231

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