From an earlier *lъga (“bending”) + *-ъka, reanalyzed to have a soft -ž- under the influence of *lъžica. For comparison, consider *vidlъka (“fork”) and *vidlica (“id”). The root *lъga is thought to be from Proto-Indo-European *lewh₁- (“to cut off, free”) + *-ga (“nominal suffix”); see Ancient Greek λῡ́ω (lū́ō, “to loose”) for more.
*lyžьka f
singular | dual | plural | |
---|---|---|---|
nominative | *lyžьka | *lyžьcě | *lyžьky |
genitive | *lyžьky | *lyžьku | *lyžьkъ |
dative | *lyžьcě | *lyžьkama | *lyžьkamъ |
accusative | *lyžьkǫ | *lyžьcě | *lyžьky |
instrumental | *lyžьkojǫ, *lyžьkǫ** | *lyžьkama | *lyžьkami |
locative | *lyžьcě | *lyžьku | *lyžьkasъ, *lyžьkaxъ* |
vocative | *lyžьko | *lyžьcě | *lyžьky |
* -asъ is the expected Balto-Slavic form but is found only in some Old Czech documents; -axъ is found everywhere else and is formed by analogy with other locative plurals in -xъ.
** The second form occurs in languages that contract early across /j/ (e.g. Czech), while the first form occurs in languages that do not (e.g. Russian).