Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/duma

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.

Traditionally viewed (per Miklošič, Ulhenbeck, Berneker) as a Germanic borrowing, ultimately from (some derivative of) Proto-Germanic *dōmaz (“judgement”), perhaps a deverbal of *dumati (“to think”).

Attempts for native etymology include:

• Mladenov, Stender-Petersen: From Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- (“to smoke”), akin to Proto-Slavic *duti (“to blow, to inflate”), *dymъ (“smoke”), perhaps originally meaning “breath, spirit”. Compare Ancient Greek θῡμός (thūmós, “soul, emotion”), occasionally also “thought, mind”.
• Vaillant: Contracted from hypothetical *douma < *do- +‎ *umъ (“mind”) +‎ *-a. Compare *douměti (“to comprehend”) (whence Russian надоу́мить (nadoúmitʹ, “to advise”)).
• Machek: From an inversion of root *mewHdʰ-, otherwise yielding Proto-Slavic *myslь (“thought”), Ancient Greek μῦθος (mûthos, “word, fable”).

Fick tentatively compares the Slavic word with Phrygian δουμος (doumos) (of dubious meaning), Ancient Greek θαῦμᾰ (thaûmă, “wonder, miracle”) (< pre-Hellenic *dʰeh₂w-), based on phonetic similarities.

*dùma f

1. breath, breathing
2. (uttered) word
3. advice, council
4. thought

• *dumica, *dumъka (diminutive)
• *dumьcь (“prater”)

• Church Slavonic: дума (duma) (Russian)

• East Slavic: дума (duma, “advice, council; thought, intention; like-minded persons”), Дума (Duma)
  • Belarusian: ду́ма (dúma, “thought”)
  • Russian: ду́ма (dúma, “thought”)
    • → Bulgarian: дума (duma)
    • → Buryat: дүүмэ (düüme)
    • → Chinese: 杜馬 / 杜马 (dùmǎ)/杜马 (dùmɑ̌)
    • → English: duma
    • → Finnish: duuma
    • → Finnish: tuuma
    • → Macedonian: дума (duma)
    • ⇒ Mongolian: дум (dum)
    • → Romanian: dumă
    • → Yakut: дума (duma)
  • Ukrainian: ду́ма (dúma, “thought; epic song”)
• South Slavic:
  • Bulgarian: ду́ма (dúma, “word, thought”)
  • Macedonian: dial. дума (duma, “thought”)
  • Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic script: ду̏ма (“(secret) thought; speech; mind, reason, memory”)

    Latin script: dȕma

• West Slavic:
  • Polish: duma (“pride, self-esteem, arrogance”)
  • Slovak: duma (“thinking, reasoning”)

• Non-Slavic:
  • → Latvian: duõma (“thought”)

• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “дума”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка (in Russian), Moscow: Progress
• Trubachyov, Oleg, editor (1978), “*duma”, in Этимологический словарь славянских языков (in Russian), numbers 5 (*dělo – *dьržьlь), Moscow: Nauka, page 154
• Georgiev, Vladimir I., editor (1971), “дума”, in Български етимологичен речник (in Bulgarian), volume 1 (А – З), Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Pubg. House, →ISBN, page 446