Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/ščьrba

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

From Proto-Balto-Slavic *skirˀbāˀ, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut”).^[1]

Cognate with Latvian šķirba (“fissure, slot”). Morphologically from *ščьrbiti.

Noun

*ščьrba f

gap?, dent?, crack?

Declension

Declension of *ščьrba (hard a-stem)
	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*ščьrba	*ščьrbě	*ščьrby
genitive	*ščьrby	*ščьrbu	*ščьrbъ
dative	*ščьrbě	*ščьrbama	*ščьrbamъ
accusative	*ščьrbǫ	*ščьrbě	*ščьrby
instrumental	ščьrbojǫ, ščьrbǫ^**	*ščьrbama	*ščьrbami
locative	*ščьrbě	*ščьrbu	ščьrbasъ, ščьrbaxъ^*
vocative	*ščьrbo	*ščьrbě	*ščьrby

^* -asъ is the expected Balto-Slavic form but is found only in some Old Czech documents; -axъ is found everywhere else and is formed by analogy with other locative plurals in -xъ.
^** 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

*ščьrbiti
*uščьrbъ (“damage, harm”)

Descendants

East Slavic:
- Belarusian: щерба́
- Russian: щерба́ (ščerbá)
  - ⇒ Russian: щерби́на (ščerbína)
- Ukrainian: щерба́ (ščerbá)
  - ⇒ Ukrainian: щерби́на (ščerbýna)
South Slavic:
- Slovene: ščŕbа (tonal orthography)
West Slavic:
- Czech: štěrba (obsolete)
  - ⇒ Czech: štěrbina
- Polish: szczerba
- Slovak: štrbinа
- Sorbian:
  - Upper Sorbian: šćerba
  - Lower Sorbian: šćerba

References

^ Pokorny, Julius (1959) “938-47”, in Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 3, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, pages 938-47