Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/zęti

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 Derksen, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *źemb-, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵembʰ-, and cognate with Lithuanian žem̃bti (“to sharpen, to cut slantwise”), Sanskrit जम्भते (jámbhate, “to snatch”), जम्भयति (jámbhayati, “to crush”). Suggested semantic development is cut > bite > frostbite > freeze. Vasmer generally agrees, and adds Albanian dhëmp (“painful”) as a cognate. Derksen further suggests a possible connection with *zǫbъ (“tooth”), in which case many other words are cognate, e.g. Sanskrit जम्भ (jámbha, “tooth”), Ancient Greek γόμφος (gómphos, “pin, nail”), English comb.

Verb

*zęti

1. to freeze?

Inflection

Conjugation of *zęti, *zębe, *zębetь (?, -C-, _/ox-aorist, accent paradigm ?)

Verbal noun	Infinitive	Supine	L-participle
*zębenьje	*zęti	*zętъ	*zęblъ

	Participles
Tense	Past	Present
Passive	*zębenъ	*zębomъ
Active	*zębъ	*zęby

	Aorist			Present
Person	1st	2nd	3rd	1st	2nd	3rd
Singular	*zęb(ox)ъ	*zębe	*zębe	*zębǫ	*zębeši	*zębetь
Dual	*zęb(ox)ově	*zęb(e/os)ta	*zęb(e/os)te	*zębevě	*zębeta	*zębete
Plural	*zęb(ox)omъ	*zęb(e/os)te	*zębǫ, *zębošę	*zębemъ	*zębete	*zębǫtь
	Imperfect			Imperative
Person	1st	2nd	3rd	1st	2nd	3rd
Singular	*zęběaxъ	*zęběaše	*zęběaše	—	*zębi	*zębi
Dual	*zęběaxově	*zęběašeta	*zęběašete	*zęběvě	*zęběta	—
Plural	*zęběaxomъ	*zęběašete	*zęběaxǫ	*zęběmъ	*zęběte	—

Derived terms

• *zębnǫti (“to suffer from cold”)

Related terms

• *zǫbъ (“tooth”)

Descendants

• East Slavic:
  • Belarusian: зябци́ (zjabcí)
  • Russian: зябти́ (zjabtí) (dialectal)
• South Slavic:
  • Old Church Slavonic:

    Cyrillic: зѧбоми (zębomi, nom. masc. pl. pres. pasv. part.)

  • Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic script: зе̑псти

    Latin script: zȇpsti

  • Slovene: zẹ́bsti (tonal orthography)
• West Slavic:
  • Old Czech: ziebsti
    • Czech: zábst
  • Slovak: ziabsť

Further reading

• Chernykh, P. Ja. (1993) “зя́бнуть”, 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 332
• Derksen, Rick (2008) “*zęti”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 4), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 543
• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “зя́бнуть”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress