The OCS word is otIcI = [otItsI], where [I]
is a reduced front vowel, presumably not unlike English short "i", and [ts]
(conventionally transliterated as <c> in Slavic studies) is an affricate.
The word is most often supposed to be a diminutive form (with the rather common
IE suffix *-ik-o-) of *at(t)a- 'dad', the nursery-register counterpart of
*ph2te:r. The development *-ikos > *-IcI is regular. Cognate words are found
in most Slavic languages: Russian otéc, Polish ojciec (the older form "ociec",
used until quite recently, often survives in dialects; the modern standard
form owes its irregular [j] to the analogy of the oblique cases, e.g. oc'ca
(Gen.) > ojca).
Lith. te.vas is obviously related to
Latvian te:vs and Prussian ta:w(a)s. I don't know if it has any external
connections. Perhaps Sergei knows more about it.
Piotr
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, January 03, 2001 9:06 PM
Subject: [tied] tevas - otits
What is the etymology of the Lithuanian word „tevas (father)”
and the Old Church Slavonic word „otits (father)”?
P.S.: I am not
sure of the transcription of „otits”. Would you please write down the right
transcription?