Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/grьkъ

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.

• *grьčinъ (+ *-inъ)

Borrowed from Balkan Vulgar Latin graecus, from Ancient Greek Γραικός (Graikós), of uncertain origin.

It's not entirely clear why near-open -ae- was substituted with close *ь (*ĭ). On the one hand Simeonov proposed Thracian-related influence. On the other hand Skok and Shevelyov proposed that Vulgar Latin grecíscus was borrowed into *grьčьskъ first, with back-formation of *grьci and *grьčinъ, and only then *grьkъ.

*grьkъ m^[1]

1. Greek

• *grьčьskъ (“Greek”, adjective)
• *grьkyni

• East Slavic:
  • Old East Slavic: грькъ (grĭkŭ)
    • Old Ruthenian: грекъ (hrek), кгрекъ (grek)
      • Belarusian: грэк (hrek)
      • Carpathian Rusyn: Ґрек (Grek)
      • Ukrainian: грек (hrek)
    • Russian: грек (grek)
• South Slavic:
  • Old Church Slavonic:

    Glagolitic script: ⰳⱃⱐⰽⱏ (grĭkŭ)

    Old Cyrillic script: грькъ (grĭkŭ)

    • Middle Bulgarian: гръкъ (grŭkŭ)
      • Bulgarian: грък (grǎk)
    • Macedonian: Грк (Grk)
  • Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic script: Гр̏к

    Latin script: Gȑk

  • Slovene: Gȓk (tonal orthography)
• West Slavic:
  • Old Czech: Hřěk, Řěk
    • Czech: Řek
    • → Lower Sorbian: Hrjek
  • Polish: Grek
  • Old Slovak: Grék
    • Pannonian Rusyn: Грек (Hrek)
    • Slovak: Grék; Rék (dialectal)
  • Sorbian:
    • Lower Sorbian: Grek
    • Upper Sorbian: Grjek

• Non-Slavic:
  • → Albanian: gërk^[2]

• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “грек”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress
• Trubachyov, Oleg, editor (1980), “*grьkъ, *grьčinъ, *grьkyni”, in Этимологический словарь славянских языков [Etymological dictionary of Slavic languages] (in Russian), numbers 7 (*golvačь – *gyžati), Moscow: Nauka, page 163