09-07-03 22:34, alex wrote:
> Piotr, what should mean in Slavic the word "pIstrI" and which should be
> its reflexes in the actual Slavic languages?
It means 'pied, mottled, variegated', and is an adjective (< *pik^-ro-)
derived from the root *peik^- 'paint, speckle'. The modern reflexes have
often lost the yer in *pIstr- and its derivatives, so that it has become
<pstr-> (e.g. Polish <pstry> 'mottled', <pstrokaty> 'motley', <pstra,g>
'rainbow trout'; the vowel has survived in <piestrzec>, the name of some
mushrooms, also found in Polish toponymy). The yer (preserved for
various reasons) can still be seen e.g. in Bulgarian <pUstUr> (the first
yer is etymological, the second epenthetic) and in Czech <pestrý> (but
<pstruh> 'rainbow trout'; Bulgarian has <pUstUrva>, a different
derivative of the same root).
Piotr