On the Etymology of Polish róg, OCS rogŭ, Lithuanian ragas, Latvian rags, and Old Prussian ragis ‘horn’
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12797/LV.21.2026.41.16Keywords:
etymology, Slavic languages, Baltic languages, Proto-Indo-EuropeanAbstract
The article offers an analysis and evaluation of etymological hypotheses concerning Proto-Balto-Slavic *ra̍gas ‘horn’ (> Polish róg, OCS rogъ, Lithuanian rãgas, Latvian rags, Old Prussian ragis). The most probable—though not flawless—proposal is considered to be Fick’s hypothesis deriving the word from PIE *(h₂)regh- ‘to straighten (oneself)’. The hypotheses connecting Balto-Slavic form with PIE *h₃reǵ- ‘to straighten’ (Walde), *u̯reh₂ǵh- ‘thorn, tip, stalk’ (Abaev), *u̯reh₁ǵ- ‘to break, crack’ (Shaposhnikov), and *rog- ‘horn’ (Illich-Svitych) are judged to be unlikely for various reasons, primarily formal: the absence of the lengthening expected under Winter’s law, the problem of the palatality of the stop, the irregular loss of initial *u̯-, and the irregular development of *-r̥- to *-ra-. As an interesting alternative, the paper considers a connection with the root *(h₂)rek- ‘to rise; pole, rod’ (Walde), though this would require the non-obvious assumption of a PIE alternation *k : *gh.
Downloads
References
Abaev V.I., 1958–1995, Istoriko-ètimologičeskij slovarʹ osetinskogo âzyka, Moskva–Leningrad.
View in Google Scholar
Beekes R.S.P., 2010, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, „Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series”, t. 10/1+2, Leiden–Boston.
View in Google Scholar
Bizzocchi A.L., 2017, Consonantal Alternations in Indo-European Roots. Diatopic and/or Diachronic Variants or Functional Mechanism?, „Journal of Indo-European Studies” 45, s. 235–266.
View in Google Scholar
Boisacq É., 1916, Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque, étudiée dans ses rapports avec les autres langues indo-européennes, Heidelberg.
View in Google Scholar
Braune W., 2023, Althochdeutsche Grammatik I. Phonologie und Morphologie, wyd. XVII, „Sammlung Kurzer Grammatiken Germanischer Dialekte. Hauptreihe Series”, Berlin–Boston.
View in Google Scholar
Chantraine P., 1968, Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque. Histoire des mots, Paris.
View in Google Scholar
Collins D., 2018, The Phonology of Slavic, [w:] J. Klein, B. Joseph, M. Fritz (red.), Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics, „Handbücher zur Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft”, „Handbooks of Linguistics and Communication Science (HSK)”, 41/3, Berlin–Boston, s. 1414–1538, https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110542431-002.
View in Google Scholar
Derksen R., 2002, On the Reception of Winter’s law, „Baltistica” 37, nr 1, s. 5–13.
View in Google Scholar
Derksen R., 2008, Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon, „Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series”, t. 4, Leiden–Boston.
View in Google Scholar
Derksen R., 2015, Etymological Dictionary of the Baltic Inherited Lexicon, „Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series”, t. 13, Leiden–Boston.
View in Google Scholar
Dybo V.A., 2002, Balto-Slavic Accentology and Winter’s Law, „Studia Linguarum” 3, s. 295–515.
View in Google Scholar
Dybo V.A., Zamjatina G.I., Nikolaev S.L., 1990, Osnovy slavânskoj akcentologii, Moskva.
View in Google Scholar
Džaukân G.B., 1967, Vzaimootnošeniâ indoevropejskih, hurritsko-urartskih i kavkazskih âzykov, Erevan.
View in Google Scholar
Fick A., 1890, Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der indogermanischen Sprachen, wyd. IV, Göttingen.
View in Google Scholar
Fraenkel E., 1929, Sprachliches und Sachliches aus dem Gebiete des Baltischen. Zu den bautechnischen Ausdrücken des Litauischen, „Wörter und Sachen” 12, s. 186–196.
View in Google Scholar
Fraenkel E., 1962–1965, Litauisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, „Indogermanische Bibliothek. II. Reihe, Wörterbücher”, Heidelberg.
View in Google Scholar
Frisk H., 1960, Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, „Indogermanische Bibliothek. II. Reihe, Wörterbücher”, Heidelberg.
View in Google Scholar
Gamkrelidze T.V., Ivanov V.V., 1995, Indo-European and the Indo-Europeans. A Reconstruction and Historical Analysis of a Proto-language and a Proto-culture, „Trends in
View in Google Scholar
Linguistics. Studies and Monographs”, 80, Berlin–New York.
View in Google Scholar
Gluhak A., 1993, Hrvatski etimološki rječnik, „Biblioteka Vocabula”, Zagreb.
View in Google Scholar
Havlová E., Erhart A., Janyšková I. (red.), 1989–2022, Etymologický slovník jazyka staroslověnského, Praha.
View in Google Scholar
Hoffmann O., 1901, Beiträge zur lateinischen grammatik, „Beiträge zur Kunde der indogermanischen Sprachen” 26, s. 129–145.
View in Google Scholar
Illič-Svityč V.M., 1979, Nominal Accentuation in Baltic and Slavic, Cambridge, Massachusetts–London.
View in Google Scholar
Jasanoff J.H., 2017, The Prehistory of the Balto-Slavic Accent, „Verkannte Bedeutungsverwandtschaften baltischer Wörter”, t. 17, Leiden–Boston.
View in Google Scholar
Jēgers B., 1966, Verkannte Bedeutungsverwandtschaften baltischer Wörter, „Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung auf dem Gebiete der indogermanischen Sprachen” 80, s. 6–162.
View in Google Scholar
Karulis K., 1992, Latviešu etimoloģijas vārdnīca. Divos sējumos, Rīga.
View in Google Scholar
Kim R.I., 2018, 115. The Phonology of Balto-Slavic, [w:] J. Klein, B. Joseph, M. Fritz (red.), Handbook
View in Google Scholar
of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics, „Handbücher zur Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft”, „Handbooks of Linguistics and Communication Science (HSK)”, 41/3, Berlin–Boston, s. 1974–1985, https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110542431-036.
View in Google Scholar
Kloekhorst A., 2008, Etymological Dictionary of the Hittite Inherited Lexicon, „Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series”, Leiden–Boston.
View in Google Scholar
Kloekhorst A., 2011, Weise’s Law. Depalatalization of Palatovelars before *r in Sanskrit, [w:] T. Krisch, T. Lindner (red.), Indogermanistik und Linguistik im Dialog. Akten der XIII. Fachtagung der Indogermanischen Gesellschaft vom 21. bis 27. September 2008 in Salzburg, Wiesbaden, s. 261–270, [on-line:] https://www.kloekhorst.nl/KloekhorstWeisesLaw.pdf (dostęp: 19 II 2026).
View in Google Scholar
Klotz E., 2017, Urslawisches Wörterbuch, Wien.
View in Google Scholar
Kluge F., Seebold E., 2011, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, wyd. XXV, Berlin–Boston.
View in Google Scholar
Kortlandt F., 2011, Winter’s Law again, „Studies in Slavic and General Linguistics” 37: Accent Matters: Papers on Balto-Slavic Accentology, s. 245–250.
View in Google Scholar
Kortlandt F., 2015, The Development of Vowel Length in Slavic, „Jezikoslovni Zapiski” 21, nr 2, s. 21–30.
View in Google Scholar
Králik L., 2015, Stručný etymologický slovník slovenčiny, Bratislava.
View in Google Scholar
Kroonen G., 2013, Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, „BrillOnline Dictionaries”, „Indo-European Etymological Dictionaries Online”, Leiden.
View in Google Scholar
Lindstedt J., 1991, The Notational Fallacy in Common Slavonic Phonology, „Scando-Slavica” 37, nr 1, s. 108–122, https://doi.org/10.1080/00806769108600995.
View in Google Scholar
Lubotsky A., 1989, Against a Proto-Indo-European Phoneme *a, [w:] Th. Vennemann (red.), The New Sound of Indo-European. Essays in Phonological Reconstruction, „Trends in Linguistics. Studies and Monographs”, 41, Berlin–New York, s. 53–66, https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110857344.53.
View in Google Scholar
Lunt H.G., 1981, The progressive palatalization of Common Slavic, Skopje.
View in Google Scholar
Machek V., 1968, Etymologický slovník jazyka českého, wyd. II, Praha.
View in Google Scholar
Majer M., 2020, Proto-Slavic, [w:] M.L. Greenberg, L.A. Grenoble (red.), Encyclopedia of Slavic Languages and Linguistics Online, Leiden, [on-line:] https://referenceworks.brill.com/display/db/eslo (dostęp: 19 II 2026).
View in Google Scholar
Mallory J.P., Adams D.Q. (red.), 1997, Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, London–Chicago.
View in Google Scholar
Matasović R., 1995, A Re-examination of Winter’s Law in Baltic and Slavic, „Lingua Posnaniensis” 37, s. 57–70.
View in Google Scholar
Matasović R., 2005, Toward a Relative Chronology of the Earliest Baltic and Slavic Sound Changes, „Baltistica” 40, nr 2, s. 147–157, https://doi.org/10.15388/Baltistica.40.2.674.
View in Google Scholar
Matasović R., 2009, Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic, „Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series”, 9, Leiden–Boston.
View in Google Scholar
Matasović R., 2013, Substratum Words in Balto-Slavic, „Filologija” 60, s. 75–102.
View in Google Scholar
Matasović R., 2020, Winter’s Law, [w:] M.L. Greenberg, L.A. Grenoble (red.), Encyclopedia of Slavic languages and linguistics online, Leiden, [on-line:] https://referenceworks.brill.com/display/db/eslo (dostęp: 19 II 2026).
View in Google Scholar
Matasović R., Pronk T., Ivšić Majić D., Brozović-Rončević D., 2016–2021, Etimološki rječnik hrvatskoga jezika, Zagreb.
View in Google Scholar
Mažiulis V., 1988–1997, Prūsų kalbos etimologijos žodynas, Vilnius.
View in Google Scholar
Melʹničuk O.S., 1982–2012, Etimologìčnij slovnik ukraïnsʹkoï movi, Kyïv.
View in Google Scholar
Mladenov S., 1941, Etimologičeski i pravopisen rečnik na bʺlgarskiâ knižoven ezik, Sofiâ.
View in Google Scholar
Naktinienė G. (red.), 2018, Lietuvių kalbos žodynas. Elektroninis variantas, wyd. zaktualizowane, t. 1–20, [on-line:] http://www.lkz.lt/ (dostęp: 19 II 2026).
View in Google Scholar
Olander Th., 2015, Proto-Slavic Inflectional Morphology. A Comparative Handbook, „Brill’s Studies in Indo-European Languages & Linguistics”, t. 14, Leiden–Boston.
View in Google Scholar
Orel V., 2007–2011, Russian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden–Boston–Köln.
View in Google Scholar
Petit D., 2018, Balto-Slavic, [w:] J. Klein, B. Joseph, M. Fritz (red.), Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics, „Handbücher zur Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft”, „Handbooks of Linguistics and Communication Science (HSK)”,
View in Google Scholar
41/3, Berlin–Boston, s. 1960–1973, https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110542431-035.
View in Google Scholar
Pfeifer W., 1993, Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, digitalisierte und von Wolfgang Pfeifer überarbeitete Version im Digitalen Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, [on-line:] https://www.dwds.de/d/wb-etymwb (dostęp: 19 II 2026).
View in Google Scholar
Prellwitz W., 1892, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der griechischen Sprache, Göttingen.
View in Google Scholar
Preobraženskij A.G., 1910, Ètimologičeskij slovarʹ russkogo âzyka, Moskva–Leningrad.
View in Google Scholar
Pokorny J., 1959, Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern.
View in Google Scholar
Rejzek J., 2015, Český etymologický slovník, wyd. III, Praha.
View in Google Scholar
Rix H. (red.), 2001, Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben. Die Wurzeln und ihre Primärstammbildungen, Wiesbaden.
View in Google Scholar
Šapošnikov A.K., 2016, Ètimologičeskij slovarʹ sovremennogo russkogo âzyka, wyd. II, Moskva.
View in Google Scholar
SEBań: A. Bańkowski, Etymologiczny słownik języka polskiego, t. I–II, Warszawa 2000, t. III, Częstochowa 2014.
View in Google Scholar
SEBor: W. Boryś, Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego, Kraków 2005.
View in Google Scholar
SEBr: A. Brückner, Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego, Kraków 1927.
View in Google Scholar
Smoczyński W., 2001, Język litewski w perspektywie porównawczej, „Baltica Varsoviensia”, t. 3, Kraków–Warszawa.
View in Google Scholar
Smoczyński W., 2026, Słownik etymologiczny języka litewskiego, wyd. II, [on-line:] www.rromanes.org/pub/alii/Smoczyński W. Słownik etymologiczny języka litewskiego.pdf (dostęp: 19 II 2026).
View in Google Scholar
Snoj M., 2015, Slovenski etimološki slovar, wyd. III, [on-line:] https://fran.si/193/marko-snoj-slovenski-etimoloski-slovar/ (dostęp: 19 II 2026).
View in Google Scholar
Trautmann R., 1923, Baltisch-Slavisches Wörterbuch, Göttingen.
View in Google Scholar
de Vaan M., 2008, Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, „Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series”, t. 7, Leiden–Boston.
View in Google Scholar
Villanueva Svensson M., 2023, The Rise of Acuteness in Balto-Slavic, „Brill’s Studies in Indo-European Languages & Linguistics”, t. 27, Leiden–Boston.
View in Google Scholar
Walde A., 1930–1932, Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der indogermanischen Sprachen, Berlin–Leipzig.
View in Google Scholar
Walde A., 1938–1956, Lateinisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, „Indogermanische Bibliothek. II. Reihe, Wörterbücher”, t. 1, Heidelberg.
View in Google Scholar
Weiss M.L., 2011, Outline of the Historical and Comparative Grammar of Latin, wyd. II, Ann Arbor.
View in Google Scholar
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Kamil Pawlicki
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
