After Snoj, from *pьržiti (“to fry, to roast”).
Vasmer connected it with *prygati (“to jump”), Lithuanian proga (“sprout”), Sanskrit पराग (parāga, “pollen”) based on the meaning “beebread”, which however, more parsimoniously, can be presumed transferred from a human meal to the animal world.
*pьrga f
singular | dual | plural | |
---|---|---|---|
nominative | *pьrga | *pьrdzě | *pьrgy |
genitive | *pьrgy | *pьrgu | *pьrgъ |
dative | *pьrdzě | *pьrgama | *pьrgamъ |
accusative | *pьrgǫ | *pьrdzě | *pьrgy |
instrumental | *pьrgojǫ, *pьrgǫ** | *pьrgama | *pьrgami |
locative | *pьrdzě | *pьrgu | *pьrgasъ, *pьrgaxъ* |
vocative | *pьrgo | *pьrdzě | *pьrgy |
* -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).