Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/zajьka

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

From *zàjęcь +‎ *-ьka.

Noun

*zajьka m

1. Diminutive of *zàjęcь (“hare”)

Descendants

• East Slavic:
  • Old East Slavic: *заика (*zaika)
    • Middle Russian: заика (zaika)
      • Russian: за́йка (zájka); за́йко (zájko) (dialectal)
      • ⇒ Russian: зайчо́нок (zajčónok)
    • Old Ruthenian: *зайка (*zajka)
      • Belarusian: за́йка (zájka)
      • Ukrainian: за́йка (zájka)

Further reading

• Anikin, A. E. (2023) “за́йка”, in Русский этимологический словарь [Russian Etymological Dictionary] (in Russian), numbers 17 (жихарь I – засьюндывать), Moscow: Russian Language Institute, →ISBN, page 222
• Martynaŭ, V. U., editor (1985), “за́яц”, in Этымалагічны слоўнік беларускай мовы [Etymological Dictionary of the Belarusian Language] (in Belarusian), volumes 3 (га! – інчэ́), Minsk: Navuka i technika, page 312: “*zaj‑ + ‑ьk‑a”