The full list of kentum words in Slavic by Gołąb

As to what happened to the Venedi
Zbigniew Gołąb
The Origins of the Slavs
pp. 77-87
'There is no doubt that Proto-Slavic basically belongs to the satem branch of Indo-European, in spite of numerous kentum elements in its vocabulary which come from prehistorical times.
...

The problem is whether, in addition to "regular" satem-forms, i.e., with s, z from *k', *g' *g'h, there can be found in Slavic forms which show the kentum treatment of the corresponding IE palatals, i.e., with k (or later č/c), g (or later ž/z,) from *k', *g' *g'h. Such forms, if not explicable by special phonetic laws, must be treated as loan-words from some prehistorical kentum dialects with which the linguistic ancestors of the Proto-Slavs were in contact. I have devoted a special article to this problem (Gołąb: 1972), the results of which I will simply summarize here. In that article I presented 47 words with the kentum treatment of PIE k', g', g'h for which there is positive evidence in other satem languages, chiefly in Aryan (but sometimes we have also kentum : satem doublets in Slavic!). Of course the above list of satem words could be easily extended. For example, a quick look at some basic words I took for the sake of testing resulted in 61 obvious satem items. So everything seems to indicate that the oldest (deepest) layer of Slavic words clearly represents a satem dialect of PIE. Only among later layers does one discover kentum borrowings. This would prove that the linguistic ancestors of the Slavs belonged primarily to the eastern, i.e., satem zone of PIE. Such an assumption harmonizes well with the old correspondences between Slavic and Aryan. A later shift of the Pre-Slavs westward brought them into closer contact with the PIE kentum dialects. This hypothetical fact can be illustrated by such lexical pairs as: *zordъ : *gordъ; zętь : svekry, svekrь; koza : *korva, etc. (for more examples, see below).

Before I proceed with the presentation of the respective material, I would like to mention further steps which will be taken in this chapter. Namely, after presenting the so-called old kentum elements in Proto-Slavic, I will discuss the very controversial problem of the old lexical connections (correspondences) between Proto-Slavic and Iranian, or in a broader framework: between Balto-Slavic and Indo-Iranian (Aryan). The old ties of Slavic with (Indo-)Iranian can be considered as proof of the more eastern orientation of the original Proto-Slavic vocabulary. As we will see, the problem is open to discussion. The next point under consideration will be the so-called North-West Indo-European vocabulary (established by A. Meillet) which encompasses Italo-Celtic, Germanic and Balto-Slavic. In this field some new data will be quoted, showing old lexical connections of Slavic with Italic (Latin). Then we will move to the problem of the North European vocabulary common to Germanic and Balto-Slavic, or Baltic and Slavic separately. Here again some new data will be quoted. The last point of our discussion will be represented by the Balto-Slavic innovative vocabulary, which, of course, can only be attended to without any pretense of its exhaustive treatment. At the end of our survey, an attempt will be made to point out some typical Proto-Slavic lexical innovations which prove already purely Slavic linguistic creativity. At the end of each particular paragraph, I will try to draw from the semantic analysis of respective words some extralinguistic conclusions concerning the social and cultural prehistory of the Slavs, and their probable geographical location at a given time.

Let us start with the kentum elements in Slavic. Words will be quoted in the Proto-Slavic form (according to the traditionally accepted late Proto-Slavic shape one finds in the etymological dictionaries of Berneker, Machek, Sławski, Sadnik-Aitzetmüller, and Vasmer). If a given form is identical with an attested OCS word no asterisk is used. In order not to repeat dictionaries the exemplification is quoted very sparsely, the reader being referred to appropriate sources.

1.) *bergo,, *berkti 'guard, preserve', e.g. OCS brěgo,, brěšti (attested only with the negation ne), Russ. beregú, bereč', etc. (cf. Bern. 49, Vasm. I. 153): Pokorny 145 derives this verb from the root *bherg'h- from which also *bergъ (see below) is derived.

2.) *bergъ 'shore, slope', e.g. OCS brěgъ, Russ. béreg, Pol. brzeg, etc. (cf. Shev. 143) - Arm. berj (satem form) 'height'; for details see Pokorny 140.

3.) *borgъ 'the roof on four poles covering a stack', e.g., Pol. bróg, Ukr. ohoríh, gen. oboróha, etc. (cf. Bern. 73, Vasm. I. 153): an old apophonic derivative from *bergo,; cf. also Gallo-Rom. (Rhaeto-Illyr.) barga 'gedeckte Strohhütte.'

4.) braga 'malt, thin beer' (Bern. 80, Vasm. I. 205), attested only in East Slavic; for details, see Gołąb 1972: 64 and Pokorny 137.

5.) *brъkati : *brъsati 'throw, etc' (the form with the satem s means basically 'scrape', except for Russ., e.g., Russ. brokát', brosát', etc., cf. Bern. 93); for discussion see Shev. 142 and Gołąb 1972: 55-56 where as Proto-Slavic, the forms *brъkno,ti; *brъsno,ti are posited.

6.) *bьrgъ 'den, cottage, tent' attested only in Czech: brh (cf. Bern. 49 under *bergo, and Vasm. I. 153 under beregú); an old apophonic derivative of *bergo,, with an exact correspondence in Germanic: *burgs e.g., Goth. baúrgs f. cons. stem 'city', etc.

7.) cěva/cěvь (*koiwā/koiwis) 'tube, pipe' (cf. Shev. 143, Bern. 128), e.g. OCS cěvьnica 'λύρα, fistula', Pol. cewa 'tube, pipe', etc. - Lith. šeivà, šaivà, Latv. saiva, satem forms (cf. Traut. 301, Pok. 919-920).

8.) čerda (*kerdhā), 'row, herd', e.g. OCS črěda, Russ. čereda, Pol. trzoda (from czrzoda), etc. - OI śardha- m., śardhas- n. 'Herde, Schar', Av. sarəda- n. 'Art, Gattung', etc. (for details, see Gołąb 1972: 53).

9.) *čermъ/uxa 'bird cherry' or 'wild garlic', e.g., Russ. cerëmuxa, Pol. dial. trzemcha (from czrzemcha), etc. (see Shev. 142) - *sermъ/uxa, e.g., S-C srêmuš, Sloven. srêmša, etc.; a similar variation between kentum and satem forms occurs also in Baltic (cf. Traut. 128-9).

10.) česo,, česati (*kesjo,, *kesati) 'scrape, comb' (cf. Bern. 151-2, Sław. I, 120, Vasm. IV 349) attested in all Slavic languages, e.g., Russ. češú, česát', Pol. czeszę, czesać, etc. For the discussion about the derivation of the verb in question from *k'es- (cf. Pok. 586), see Gołąb, 1972: 64.

11.) gladъkъ 'smooth' (cf. Shev. 142 quoted in connection with *žьltъ), attested in all Slavic languages; derived from the same root *g'hel(ə)- (cf. Pok. 429) as the verb *ględjo,, *ględěti (see below).

12.) *ględjo,, *ględěti 'look', e.g., Russ. gljadét', in OCS only the iterative ględati is attested, similarly in Pol.: -glądać, etc.; the palatal *g'h is well attested, e.g., Lith. želiù, žélti 'grow green' (the primary meaning of the root is 'glänzen, schimmern' or as an adjective 'gelb, grün, grau' etc. (see Pok. 429); for a detailed discussion, see Gołąb, 1972: 57.

13.) gnьjo,, gniti 'rot, decay', attested in all Slavic languages (cf. Bern. 413) - *znějo., *zněti 'smolder, rot', e.g., Russ. dial. znét', znéju (cf. Vasm. II 101); Brückner mentions Russ. znijat' (SEJP 655 under znój). If these are really two dialectal kentum and satem variants of the same root, then we should posit PIE *g'hen-, with the extended form *g'hnei-, *g'hneiH-(?) (cf. Pok. 437).

14.) gnojь 'dung', attested in all Slavic languages (cf. Bern 314) - znojь 'heat, sweat', also in all Slavic languages (cf. Vasm. II 101); old apophonic derivatives from the above verbs.

15.) golo,bь 'pigeon', attested in all Slavic languages (cf. Bern. 322, Vasm. I. 432-3): the word belongs to the IE root *g'hel(ə)- treated above under ględjo,, etc.

16.) *gorditi 'fence in, build' (cf. Bern. 330), e.g., OCS graditi 'build', Russ. gorodit' 'fence in', Pol. grodzić idem; an old derivative from *gordъ (see below).

17.) *gordja f. (*gordjь m.) 'fence, wall; building material' (cf. Bern. 330), e.g., OCS graždь m. ' Hürde, stabulum', Russ. goróža 'Zaun', Pol. gródza 'Damm', Cz. hráze 'Lehmwand, Gartenmauer, Damm', etc.; an old derivative from *gordъ (see below).

18.) *gordъ 'fortified, fenced-in settlement' (cf. Shev. 142), attested in all Slavic languages, e.g., OCS gradъ 'town, city', Russ. górod 'town, city', Pol. gród 'castle', etc. - *zordъ 'kind of wooden construction', known only in Russ. and Byeloruss., e.g., Russ. dial. zoród (old-acute!). The identical variation between kentum and satem forms occurs in Baltic: Lith. gar~das 'corral' : žardas 'kind of wooden construction'; for a detailed discussion, see Gołąb, 1972: 57-8.

19.) go,sь 'goose' (cf. Shev. 143), attested in all Slavic languages, e.g., Pol. gęś f., Russ. gus' m., etc. - In Baltic there are only satem forms, e.g., Lith. žąsìs idem; but there is also Ukr. dial. interjection dzus' (see Rudnyćkyj, 773-4).

20.) *gvězda 'star' (cf. Shev. 143), attested in all Slavic languages, e.g., Pol. gwiazda, OCS z,vězda, Russ. zvezdá, etc. - Baltic correspondences show the satem form: Lith. žvaigzdė~, žvaigždė~, etc.; cf. Gr. φοι~βος 'shining' and Osset. ævzist//ævzestæ 'silver' < OOsset. *zvestæ (see Vasm. II, 85-86).

21.) *gybljo,//gybajo,, gybati iterative from *gъ[b]no,ti 'bend' (cf. Bern. 373), e.g., OCS prě-gybajo,, -gybati 'beugen', Russ. gybát' iter. 'biegen', Pol. dial. gibać idem, etc. - zybati 'rock, swing' (cf. Sad.-Aitz. 338, § 1150 and Vasm. II 109), only in OCS and East Slavic, undoubtedly two kentum and satem variants from the PIE root *g'heub(h) (cf. Pok. 450 under g'heub(h)- 'biegen, bücken, bewegen').

22.) *jьgъla (< *igulā) 'needle' (cf. Bern. 423, Vasm. II 115), attested in all Slavic languages, e.g., OCS in the derivative igъlinъ adj., Russ. iglá, Cz. jehla, etc. - Pokorny (15) posits *ă:ik'-//ĭ:k'-, *aig'u-; a regular satem form of the root is represented in Baltic, e.g., Lith. ie~šmas 'Bratspiess' (*aik'mo-), etc.; see Gołąb, 1972: 65.

23.) kamy, gen. kamene 'stone' (Shev. 143), attested in all Slavic languages, e.g., OCS kamy, gen. kamene, Russ. kámen', Pol. kamień, etc. - In Baltic, there are two forms (kentum and satem), e.g., Lith. akmuõ 'stone': ãšmenys 'edge'; in Indo-Iran. only satem forms, e.g., OI áśman- 'block of rock', Av. asman- 'rock'.

24.) katъ 'hangman' (primarily 'killer, enemy'), West Slavic only, e.g., Pol. kat; probably an old vr.ddhi derivative from kotiti (see below).1

25.) klětь 'closet', etc. (Shev. 143), attested in all Slavic languages, e.g., OCS klětь 'Kammer, Zelle, Behausung', Russ. klet' 'store-room', etc. - Baltic *Å¡litā- 'aus liegenden Hölzern gemachter Zaun', e.g., Lith. 16th cent. Å¡litės plur. f. 'ladder', etc. (cf. Traut. 309); many correspondences in kentum languages, e.g., Gr. κλισία 'Hütte', Gallo-Rom. clÄ"ta 'Hürde', etc. (cf. Pok. 601); for details, see Gołąb, 1972: 59.

26.) klęčo,, klęčati (klękno,ti) 'kneel' (cf. Bern. 514, Vasm. II 259 under kljakat'), attested in all Slavic languages, - *slęčo,, *slęčati (*slękno,ti), in West Slavic only (?), e.g., Pol. ślęczeć (3 sing. ślęczy) 'pore (over)', Cz. dial. slečet 'bother somebody with request, wait for a gift, long for something'; derived from the same PIE *k'lei- as klьno, (sę) klęti (sę) (see below); for details, see Gołąb, 1972: 65.

27.) kloniti 'bend' (Shev. 142), attested in all Slavic languages, e.g., OCS klonjo,, kloniti 'neigen, beugen', Russ. klonjú klonít' idem, Pol. kłonię, kłonić idem, etc. - sloniti 'lean', e.g., Church Slav. slonjo, sę, słoniti sę 'acclinari', Russ. slonjú, slonít' 'lean', Pol. słonić się idem, etc.; for a detailed discussion see Gołąb, 1972: 60. We are undoubtedly dealing here with the PIE *k'lei-, from which the basic klьno, (sę), klęti sę is derived (see 28).

28.) klьno, (sę), klęti (sę) 'swear' (the primary meaning is 'to bow to the ground and touch it with the hand when swearing'), attested in all Slavic languages (cf. Bern. 525, Vasm. II 259), e.g., OCS klьno,, klęti 'fluchen', klьno, sę, klęti sę 'schwören', Russ. kljanú(s'), kljast'(sja) (with a secondary orthographic -ja- in the present) idem, Pol. klnę (się), kląć (się) idem, etc. - Baltic *šleyō//šleinō (?), 'lehne an', e.g., Lith. šliejù, šlie~ti, Latv. sleju and slìenu (sic!), slìet, etc. (see Traut. 308).

29.) koljo,, *kolti 'stab and split' (Bern. 551, Vasm. II 296), attested in all Slavic languages, e.g., OCS koljo,, klati 'stechen, schlachten', Russ. koljú, kolót' 'stechen, schlachten;spalten, hacken', Pol. kolę, kłóć // kłuję, kłuć 'prick, sting', etc. Baltic also shows a kentum form, e.g., Lith. kalù, kálti 'schlagen' (mit Hammer, Axt), schmieden', etc. (cf. Traut. 114). To be sure, the satem correspondences of this basic verb are not attested, but judging from the lack of labialization in kentum languages, e.g., Lat. percellō 'schlage zum Boden, zerschmettere', Gr. κελοί = ξύλα 'wood ready for use', etc., which is expected in the primary *kel- according to Kuryłowicz's theory - we can posit here an *k'el-, etc. (cf. Pok. 545); for a detailed discussion see Gołąb, 1972: 66. The root *k'el(H)-, etc. is very productive in Balto-Slavic: *kólda, *koltiti, (?), *kolъ, *kolsъ, *kъltati, *kъlinъ, *kъlъ, *kъlějo,, cf. Bern., from among which particularly *kólda (< *kolHdā) 'trunk' is an old formation.

30.) kopyto 'hoof (Bern. 565, Vasm. II 320), attested in all Slavic languages - OI śaphá-, Î`v. safa- idem; the details of word formation are not clear.

31.) *kórva 'cow' (Shev. 143), attested in all Slavic languages, e.g., Church Slav. krava, Russ. koróva, Pol. krowa, etc. - Pruss. sirwis m. 'Reh'; etymologically 'horned' (*k'(e)rHwo-, etc.; cf. Pok. 574-6); this is a classical example of a kentum word in Balto-Slavic: Lith. kárvė 'cow'.

32.) *korvajь 'horn-shaped ritual wedding cake' (cf. Bern. 577, Vasm. II 332), unknown in West Slavic, e.g., Russ. korováj, S-C kràvaj, gen. kravája, etc. - an old derivative from the same basis as *kórva.
33.) kosá I 'scythe' (Shev. 143), attested in all Slavic languages - OI śasati 'cut', śastrá- n. 'knife, dagger' (cf. Pok. 586 under *k'es-).

34.) kosá II 'head-hair' (Bern. 580, Vasm. II 344), attested in all Slavic languages, an old apophonic derivative from češo,, česati (see above).

35.) kosno,ti 'touch' (Bern. 581, Vasm. II 346), unknown in West Slavic if we abstract from its probable expressive derivative koxati (sę); etymologically connected with česę, česati (see above).

36.) kotiti 'throw down, overthrow' (Bern. 591, Vasm. II 209 under katát'), e.g., Russ. kačú, katít' (with a secondary a from the iterative katát'), 'wältzen, rollen', Sloven. prekotiti 'umwältzen, umstossen', Cz. kotiti 'umwerfen', etc., etymologically identical with PSl. kotiti sę 'Junge werfen' (see Bern. 583 under kotъ 2) - OI śātáyati 'haut zusammen, wirft nieder': PIE *k'at- (cf. Pok. 534) whose meaning should be posited not as 'fight', but rather 'throw' (a boomerang, spear, etc.); for a detailed discussion, see Gołąb, 1972: 67.

37.) kotora/kotera 'discord, fight' (Shev. 143), the word is known only in OCS and East Slavic, e.g., Russ. dial. kotorá, etc. OCS also has the derivative kotorati sę 'streiten, kämpfen', etc. Nominal formations are known in other IE languages, e.g., Cymr. cadr (*katro-) 'stark', MHG Hader 'Zank, Streit', and a clear satem form in OI: śátru- 'Besieger, Feind' (Pok. 534); cf. kotiti.

38.) kropъ 'boiling water' (cf. Bern. 623), attested in all Slavic languages (often with the prefixes u-, o-); it probably belongs to the root represented by OI śrapáyati 'kocht, brät, röstet', in other IE languages, e.g., Gr. κεράννυμι 'mische', etc.; for a detailed discussion see Gołąb, 1972:68.

39.) kropiti 'sprinkle', attested in all Slavic languages - OI śrapáyati, etc. (cf. above): the semantic development would be "stir a liquid when cooking it' -> 'sprinkle', etc. Perhaps we should include here *kropiva//*kopriva 'nettle' (cf. Vasm. II 366 under krapíva).

40.) *ko,tja 'cottage, house', only South Slavic and Ukr., e.g., OCS ko,šta 'Hütte, Zelt', S-C k`ùća 'House', Sloven. kóča idem, Ukr. kuča 'Schweinestall, Koben', etc., undoubtedly derived from ko,tъ (see below) as an old vr.ddhi formation, primarily denoting a house with corner poles (?).

41.) ko,tъ 'corner' (Bern. 602, Vasm. II 422, Sław. II 2 (1961) under kąt), attested in all Slavic languages, e.g., Pol. kąt, gen. kąta, Russ. kut, gen. kutá, etc. - Latv. sīts 'Jagdspiess' (if from Balt. *šint-), Gr. κοντός 'Stange, Staken, Spiess', etc. (cf. Pok. 567 under *k'ent-): the primary meaning of Slav. ko,tъ might be 'a pole used for construction', etc.

42.) kuna *'bitch' -> 'marten' (Bern. 644 and esp. Mosz., 1957:19), the primary meaning 'bitch' is preserved in the Kashubian kuna; attested in all Slavic languages, e.g., Russ. kuná, S-C kúna, etc. Lith. has kiáunė, Latv. caûne, OPruss. caune (Baltic *kaunyā//keunyā, cf. Traut. 122). It is probably an old vr.ddhi derivative from *k'un- 'dog' according to the following pattern: *k'un- 'dog' -> *k'ouná: 'dog's, canine' like *diw- 'sky' -> *deiwós 'celestial, god' (cf. Kuryłowicz, 1956: 151); for the regular satem treatment of *k'un- in Baltic, cf. Lith. šuõ (< *k'uōn), etc.

43.) *kury (kurъv-a) 'whore' (Bern. 651, Vasm. II 423, Mach. 249), in the latter form attested in all Slavic languages, already in Serb. Church Slav. kurьva. The best etymology seems to be the one proposed by Martynov (1963: 208-9), who compares the word with Gr. κύριος 'powerful, lord', OI śú:ra- 'strong, hero', Av. sūra- idem, all from *k'euH- 'swellen, etc' (cf. Pok. 592). In this connection *kury (*kourūs) would simply mean 'mature, grown up woman'; for details see Gołąb, 1972: 69.

44.) květъ 'flower', attested in all Slavic languages (in the South and East cvitъ), e.g., OCS cvětъ, Pol. kwiat, etc.: an old apophonic derivative (*kwoito-) from the verb *kvьto,, *kvisti (see below) - světъ 'light', attested in all Slavic languages, e.g., OCS světъ, 'light', Pol. świat 'world', etc., represents a satem variant of the former, i.e., PIE *k'woito-; see also the basic verb svьtěti, svь(t)no,ti, quoted in 45 below.

45.) *kvьto, *kvisti (*kvьteti) 'bloom' (Bern. 657, Vasm. IV 292, Mach. 251, Sad.-Aitz. 221 § 97), attested in all Slavic languages, usually in different, secondary forms, e.g., OCS pro-cvьto,, -cvisti, Russ. cvetú, cvestí, OPol. 3. sing, kwcie, kwiść, etc.; a clear kentum variant of the PIE root *k'wei-t- 'leuchten, hell, weiss' (cf. Pok. 628); Baltic shows a similar variation between the kentum and satem forms: Latv. kvitu, kvitêt 'flimmern, glänzen': Lith. švitė´ti 'fortgesetzt hell glänzen', etc. (Traut. 147, 310) - svьteti svь(t)no,ti 'shine', e.g., OCS svьtěti (se), Russ. Church Slav. (12th cent.) svьnuti, etc.; a satem variant of the root *k'wei-t-.

46.) *kъrdo//*kъrdъ 'herd, flock' (Bern. 666, Mach. 233 under kr´del'), known only in S-C, Slovenian, and Slovak, and from there in the Ukr. and Pol. Carpathian dialects, e.g., S-C k``rd//kr^d, older k``rdo, etc.: a reduced grade of *čerda (see above).

47.) *kъrmъ 'food, forage' (Shev. 143, Bern. 668), attested in all Slavic languages, e.g., OCS krъma//krъmlja, Russ. korm, gen. kórma, etc. - Lith. has the basic verb with a clear satem, treatment: šeriù, šérti 'feed' (Traut. 302-3); a nominal derivative with the suffix -men attested in Arm. serm(n) 'Same' and Lith. šer~mens//šer~menys m. plur. 'Begräbnismahl', etc. (cf. Pok. 577); here also belongs an obvious derivative *kъrmiti 'feed', known in all Slavic languages.

48.) *kъrvъ 'ox', attested only in OPol. and Pol. dial. karw, and in OPruss. kurwis: a derivative from the same basic root as korva (cf. above); a clear kentum ~ satem variation is represented in OPruss.: kurwis 'ox' ~ sirwis 'roe' (cf. Shev. 142).

49.) *melko 'milk' (Bern. II 33, Vasm. II 645, Sad.-Aitz. 269 § 527), attested in all Slavic languages, e.g., OCS mlěko, Russ. molokó, Pol. mleko, etc. - *melzivo 'beestings, colostrum', e.g., Slovenian mlézivo, Russ. molózivo, etc. (cf. Vasm. l.c.) and the basic verb *mьlzo,, *melsti 'milk', e.g., Russ. Church Slav, mъlzu, mlěsti, S-C múzem, m`ùsti, etc. (cf. Vasm. l.c.) show a clear satem treatment of the primary PIE *melg'-//melk'-; for a detailed discussion see Gołąb, 1972: 70.

50.) mogo,, *mokti 'can' (Bern. II 67, Vasm. II 635, Sad.-Aitz. 270 §531, Mach. 303), attested in all Slavic languages, e.g., OCS mogo,, mošti, Russ. mogú, moč, Pol. mogę, móc, etc. - probably an old perfect from PIE *meg'(h)- 'big' ('powerful'?), cf. Walde-Pokorny II, 258, e.g., Av. mazant-, OI mahánt-, Alb. math, madhi, etc.; for a detailed discussion see Gołąb, 1972: 70-2, and also Stang, 1972: 37-8.

51.) *moktъ 'power', attested in all Slavic languages, e.g., OCS moštь, Russ. moč', Pol. moc; an obvious derivative from the above verb.

52.) *molka 'swampy ground', etc. (Bern. II 72, Vasm. II 645); this form seems to be South Slavic and Slovak, e.g., S-C ml`àka, etc.; but related derivatives are known also in North Slavic, e.g., ORuss. molokita, etc.; probably related to *melko (see above).

53.) *praskurъ//praščurъ 'great-great-grandfather, forefather, ancestor' (cf. Trub., 1959: 72-3), e.g., ORuss. praščurъ 'great-great-grandfather' but also 'great-great-grandson', OPol. praskurzę (sic!), praszczur 'great-great-grandson', MPol. praszczur 'ancestor', OCS prašturъ 'pronepotis filius', prašturę idem. If from PIE *prōs-k'euHro- (cf. Gr. κύ:ριος 'lord', OI śávīra-, 'strong' śura- 'hero', etc. see Pok. 592), then we would have a clear kentum treatment of the k'- as opposed to the regular satem treatment of similar sequences in other cases, namely: *prōs-k'e/ouHro- > praščurъ//praskurъ, but tūs-k'mtyā- > *tysętji (OCS tysęšti, etc.) 'thousand'. This word would be derived from the same basis as *kury (cf. above).

54.) puga 'the wide end of an egg' (Shev. 142), attested only in Russ. and Ukr. - púzo 'belly', attested in Russ., Byeloruss. and Ukr.; there is also Pol. pyza 'big dumpling'; for details see Gołąb, 1972: 61-2.

55.) svek(ъ)rь 'husband's father' (Shev. 143, attested in all Slavic languages, e.g., Russ. svëkor, gen. svëkra, etc.; Trautmann (295) reconstructs a kentum form *swekura- opposed by a satem treatment in Lith. še~šuras, OI śváśura-, Av. xvasura- idem., PIE *swek'uro- 'lord of the opposite moiety' (?) (cf. also Mach. 487).

56.) svekry 'husband's mother' (Shev. 143), attested in all Slavic languages, e.g., OCS svekry, Russ. dial. svekrý, Russ. svekrov', OPol. swiekry, S-C svek`rva, etc.: *swek'rū- 'lady of the opposite moiety' (?) - satem treatment in OI śvaśrū-, Arm. skesur, etc. (cf. Traut. 296); the same etymology as svek(ъ)rъ.

57.) žely, gen. želъve 'turtle' (Vasm. II 41 under želvák, Mach. 593 under želva), aüesled in most Slavic languages, e.g., Russ. Church Slav. žely, gen. -ъve, S-C ž`èlva, Pol. żółw, gen. żółwia, OPol. gen. żółwi, etc. - IE *g'helū-, cf. Gr. χέλυ:ς; probably the same root as in *žьltъ (cf. below); there is also an isolated Russ. Church Slav. satem (?) form zelvь (sic!).

58.) *žьltъ 'yellow' (Shev. 142), attested in all Slavic languages, e.g., Church Slav. žlъtъ, Russ. zëltyj, Pol. żółty, etc. - the same root is represented by a regular satem form zelenъ 'green', cf. Lith. želiù, žéłti 'grow green', etc.; see ględeti, etc. in 12 above.

59.) *žьrdь 'perch' (Shev. 142), attested in most Slavic languages, e.g., OCS žrьdь, Russ. dial. žéred', Pol. żerdź, etc.: a zero-grade form of the PIE base *g'herdh- treated under *gordъ.

As we see, there are 59 words which can be considered kentum elements with a high degree of probability, i.e., old borrowings from kentum dialects in early Proto-Slavic or even Balto-Slavic, since most of them also have correspondences in Baltic. From among these 59 words some 14 should be eliminated: they have close correspondences only in the North-West IE languages (Italo-Celtic and Germanic), therefore they can represent a later stratum of either North-West IE or even North IE vocabulary (cf. below). These 14 words are as follows: *bergo,, *bergъ, *borgъ (?), *braga, *brъkati (?), *bьrgъ, gładъkъ, ględěti, kamy, *melko, *mogo,, *moktь, *molka, puga. So we are left with 45 old kentum words in Proto-Slavic.

Now it will be interesting to establish some semantic groups to which the above kentum words belong, because in this way we can obtain insight into the cultural (and ethnic?) prehistory of the Slavs. First of all we have some terms referring to cattle breeding: *čerda, *kopyto, *korva, *kotiti sę, *kъrdo, *kъrmъ/a, *kъrmiti, *kъrvъ; then some terms referring to wooden constructions: *gordъ, *gorditi, *gordja, klětь, ko,tъ, *ko,tja, *žьrdь; there are also some names of tools: cěva, *jьgъla, kosa, and some social terms: *kury (kurwa), praskurъ//praśćurъ, svekry svek(ъ)rъ; in the latter we can also include: klęti (sę) and kotora. It should be remembered that in the above list mainly the kentum words which cannot be suspected of belonging to a later North-West IE stratum have been quoted.

The fact that 40% of these kentum words represent important cultural words seems to suggest close socio-cultural relationships between the two ethnic layers of the early Proto-Slavs: a kentum and a satem tribe. The former could be considered as substratum, the latter as superstratum. We can imagine that the satem superstratum (moving from the east?) ultimately absorbed the kentum substratum, but as is the case in such ituations, the language or dialect of the ethnic superstratum was impregnated with some elements of the substratum language or dialect. An instructive example of a similar phenomenon in relatively recent times is provided by the Polish language of the rural gentry and the urban class which was developing since the sixteenth century east of the Bug and San rivers on original Ukrainian territory: it absorbed many words of the Ukrainian substratum with their phonemic characteristics, and transmitted them to Standard Polish (e.g., the words with typical East Slav. polnoglasie like czereda, czerep, czeremcha, etc., or with h instead of g like hołota, hulać, hoży, the latter even with the East Slav. ž instead of the West Slav. dz, etc.). So it is probable that a kentum tribe was absorbed by the satem core of the early Proto-Slavs, most probably moving from the east. As the semantics of the words analyzed above indicates, that kentum tribe lived by cattle breeding and farming, dwelt in fenced-in or fortified settlements (*gordъ) with highly developed wooden architecture, etc. Such a situation would correspond well to the so-called Lusatian culture which flourished on the present-day Polish territory between 1300-600 B.C., although I think that in many cases this chronology of kentum elements in Proto-Slavic would be too late.'

I think Zbigniew Gołąb's kentum layer here is Venetic
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venedi#Ethnolinguistic_character

Case in point: words 11, 12 cognate with (most likely) Venetic glesum and with Slavic *glaz- "eye"
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/cybalist/message/65805?var=0&l=1
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/cybalist/message/64391 (end)

Further I think his Italic layer is too (consisting of those Venetic words which happen to have a cognate among the Italic languages). In other words there is no need for him to eliminate those 14 words from his list; they are the Venedic words which happen to have NW Europen cognates.

Now note the "enclosed area" senses of *gord- (vel sim.) in 16, 17, 18
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gord_(archaeology)

We have that this people, which was run over by the Slavs, were interested in, according to Zbigniew Gołąb, cattle breeding, wooden constructions and tools for building them.

The trade in cattle went with the trade in slaves. So another function of those 'wooden constructions' would be as slave fortresses.

This
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gord_(archaeology)#Evolution_of_the_word
'Some other gords, which did not stand the test of time and were abandoned or destroyed, gradually turned into more or less discernible mounds or rings of earth (known in Russian as gorodische, in Polish as grodzisko, in Ukrainian as horodyshche, in Slovak as hradisko and in Czech as hradiště)'
'many places named Hradisko (Slovakia) or Hradiště (Czech Republic)'
suggests to me the idea that Venedic had sg. *-sk-, pl. *-st(y)- might be correct.


Torsten