Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/puxъ

This Proto-Slavic entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Slavic

Etymology 1

From Proto-Balto-Slavic *pausas, from Proto-Indo-European *powsos, from *pews- (“to swell, to blow”) or from an onomatopoeic origin.

Noun

*puxъ m

1. breath, pong
2. blister

Inflection

Declension of *puxъ (hard o-stem)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*puxъ	*puxa	*puśi
genitive	*puxa	*puxu	*puxъ
dative	*puxu	*puxoma	*puxomъ
accusative	*puxъ	*puxa	*puxy
instrumental	*puxъmь, *puxomь*	*puxoma	*puxy
locative	*puśě	*puxu	*puśěxъ
vocative	*puše	*puxa	*puśi

^* -ъmь in North Slavic, -omь in South Slavic.

Related terms

• *puxati (“to blow, to swell”)
• *pušiti (“to smoke”)
• *puxnǫti (“to gasp”)
• *puxlъ
• *puzо (“belly”)
• *puz(d)ro (“gut”)
• *pyžь (“fat”)

Descendants

• South Slavic:
  • Bulgarian: пух (puh), пуф (puf) (dialectal)
  • Macedonian: пуф (puf)
• West Slavic:
  • Old Polish: puch (“exhalation, fume, vapor”)

References

• Racheva, M., Todorov, T. A., editors (2002), “пух²”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volumes 6 (пỳскам – словàр²), Sofia: Prof. Marin Drinov Pubg. House, →ISBN, page 13

Etymology 2

From Proto-Indo-European *pewḱs- (“fluff, tail”). Cognate with Proto-Germanic *fuhsaz (“fox”), Proto-Indo-Iranian *púsćas (“tail”).

Noun

*puxъ m

1. fluff, fur (of mammals)
2. down (of birds)

Derived terms

• *puxestъ (“fluffy”)
• *puxъkъ (“made of fluff”)
  • *puхъkavъ (“fluffy”)

Descendants

• East Slavic:
  • Old East Slavic: пухъ (puxŭ)
  • Belarusian: пух (pux)
  • Russian: пух (pux)
  • Ukrainian: пух (pux)
• South Slavic:
  • Bulgarian: пух (puh)
  • Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic script: пу̏ха

    Latin script: pȕha

  • Slovene: puh
• West Slavic:
  • Czech: puch
  • Polish: puch
  • Slovak: puch
  • Sorbian:
    • Lower Sorbian: puch

• → Lithuanian: рūkаs (“fluff, furr”)

References

• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “пух”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress
• Racheva, M., Todorov, T. A., editors (2002), “пух¹”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volumes 6 (пỳскам – словàр²), Sofia: Prof. Marin Drinov Pubg. House, →ISBN, page 13