--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Piotr Gasiorowski
<piotr.gasiorowski@...> wrote:
>I have no Slavic etymological
> dictionary to hand, so I can't check the distribution of the word
(apart
> from being sure that it doesn't exist in modern Polish, though we
do
> have <krok> 'step, stride' < *korkU, with which you connect it, and
from
> which, incidentally, Rom. cracã can easily derive [details on
demand]).
Trubac^ev (ESJS 11:56-58) restores *korc^unU ~ *kerc^unU, a deverbal
noun from *korc^iti '(to) step, stride' (thus meaning 'transitional
(day)' or being (evetually) a translation of Lat. _adventus_).
The evidence:
West Slavic.
Slovak _krac^un_, _krac^ún_ '1. Christmas (dial.) 2. Christmas Eve 3.
(main) Christmas bread', (dial.) _krac^únik_, _krac^unov
brat_ 'additional (small) Christmas bread', _krac^unne
drevo_ 'Christmas tree; tree carried along by Christmas carol
performers';
South Slavic.
Bulgarian dial. _krac^on_, _krac^ún_, _krac^únec_ '1. Christmas 2.
Christmas Eve 3. Christmastide 4. summer solstice', _Krac^un_ 'name
given to a man born at Christmas Eve';
Slovenian _krac^un_ 'Christmastide';
Serbian dial. _krac^un_ 'Christmas', _Krac^un_ 'nom. pr.';
East Slavic.
Old Russian (attested since XII c., including the Novgorodian
territory) _koroc^unU_, _koroc^'unU_ '1. winter solstice 2. Advent
(fast)';
Ukr. _krac^un_, _k(e)rec^un_, _g(e)rec^un_ 'Christmas', dial. (Carp.)
_Kerec^un' vec^er_ 'Christmas Eve', (Transcarp.) _krac^un_,
_kerec^un_, _krec^un_ 'Christmas bread', (Lemkian) _kriaczun_,
_kraczun_ '(main) Christmas bread', _brat kraczuniw_ 'additional
(small) Christmas bread', (Banat) _kárac^on_ 'tree carried along by
Christmas carol performers';
Russ. (dial.) _koroc^ún_ ~ _kárac^un_ ~ _karac^ún_ ~ _káruc^en'_ '1.
Christmas rite, carol 2. Advent (fast) 3. (sudden) death 4. agonal
writhe 5. evil spirit';
Belar. _karac^ún_ '1. sudden death (at an early age); 2. writhe 3.
evil spirit (docking someone's life) 4. (dial.) old, bare besom'.
Sergei