дёготь

Russian

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *degъtь, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *degut(j)as, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰegʷʰ-. Cognate with Slovak decht.

Likely a Baltic borrowing (cf. Lithuanian degùtas : dègti; Latvian deguts (“birch tar”) : degt). Absent in the South Slavic languages. Compare жечь (žečʹ).

Non-Slavic cognates include Ancient Greek θεπτανός (theptanós), Latin foveō (“warm”), Sanskrit दहति (dahati, “burn”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈdʲɵɡətʲ]

Noun

дёготь • (djógotʹ) m inan (genitive дёгтя, nominative plural дёгти, genitive plural дёгтей)

1. tar, pitch

Usage notes

In the oblique cases, the г used to be pronounced like х: дёгтя = djóxtja. This pronunciation is now considered dated.

Declension

Declension of дёготь (inan masc-form soft-stem accent-a reduc) 

	singular	plural
nominative	дёготь djógotʹ	дёгти djógti
genitive	дёгтя djógtja	дёгтей djógtej
dative	дёгтю djógtju	дёгтям djógtjam
accusative	дёготь djógotʹ	дёгти djógti
instrumental	дёгтем djógtem	дёгтями djógtjami
prepositional	дёгте djógte	дёгтях djógtjax

Pre-reform declension of дёготь (inan masc-form soft-stem accent-a reduc) 

	singular	plural
nominative	дёготь djógotʹ	дёгти djógti
genitive	дёгтя djógtja	дёгтей djógtej
dative	дёгтю djógtju	дёгтямъ djógtjam
accusative	дёготь djógotʹ	дёгти djógti
instrumental	дёгтемъ djógtem	дёгтями djógtjami
prepositional	дёгтѣ djógtě	дёгтяхъ djógtjax

Related terms

• дёгтебетон (djógtebeton)
• дегтевой (degtevoj)
• дегтярный (degtjarnyj)

Further reading

• дёготь in Большой толковый словарь, editor-in-chief С. А. Кузнецов – hosted at gramota.ru