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lokys

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Lithuanian

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Lithuanian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia lt
Juodasis lokys
A Black Bear

Etymology

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From Proto-Baltic *tlāk- (with reduction of the “difficult” cluster tl to l), and cognate with Latvian lācis, Old Prussian clokis (klokis) (< *tlokis), Tlokunpelk (Prussian placename, literally bear swamp), Sudovian łukas. The term replaced the original word for bear, Proto-Indo-European *h₂ŕ̥tḱos (which may have survived as a fossilized compound in the word irštvà (bear's den), as part of a taboo seen in many other other Indo-European branches. The Baltic terms are of unclear further origin:[1]

  • Perhaps related to Proto-Slavic *dòlka (hair), assuming an earlier form of *tlaka for the Slavic. This is preferred by Derksen.
  • Connected to làkti (to lick, lap), with bears being conceived as “(honey) lickers”; this is formally irreconcilable with the Old Prussian cognate above.
  • According to Kortlandt, related to tìlti (to become silent), assuming an earlier form of tìlkti for the latter. This is phonetically bold and semantically tenuous.
  • Smoczynski, doubting the originality of the anlaut tl- of the Old Prussian forms, instead derives the Baltic terms from an originally adjectival unattested compound žmoglokỹs (man-mauling) > "man-mauler", with the initial part of the compound (žmogùs (human)) dropping out, taking the second part as being from Proto-Indo-European *leh₂k- (to tear, rend) and comparing Latin lacer (lacerated). This assumption regarding the Old Prussian anlaut is phonetically bold, and the derivation from *leh₂k-, otherwise unattested in Baltic, is somewhat ad hoc.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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lokỹs m (plural lokiaĩ) stress pattern 3

  1. bear (animal)
    Synonym: meškà
  2. sloven, slob (untidy person)

Declension

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Derived terms

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References

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  1. ^ Derksen, Rick (2015) “lokys”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Baltic Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 13), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 291