Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/piskati

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.

• *pīščàti

From Proto-Balto-Slavic *pīṣk-. Derksen suggests positing an onomatopoeic root, Proto-Indo-European *pī-, + *-sk-. Vasmer similarly reconstructs Proto-Indo-European *pi-. Cognate with Lithuanian pyškė́ti (“to click, to crack, to snap”) (1sg. pýšku), Latvian pĩkstêt (“to squeak”). Vasmer adds Sanskrit पिच्छोरा (picchorā), पिच्छोला (piccholā, “flute, fife”) < *pisk-, as well as (from the putative root *pi-) Latin pipāre, pipiāre, pīpilāre (“to whistle”), Ancient Greek πίπος (pípos, “chick”), πιππίζω (pippízō, “to whistle”), Sanskrit पिप्पका (píppakā, “(some type of bird)”), पिप्पीक (pippīka, “(some type of animal)”).

Trubachev posits an entirely different root, Proto-Indo-European *(s)peys- (“to blow”), and gives as cognates Middle High German vīsen, vīsten (“to let in wind”), Old Norse fīsa (“to break wind”), Latin spīrō (“to blow”) (infinitive spīrāre).

*pīskàti

1. to squeak, to whistle

• *piskorъ, *piskarъ, *piskalъ (“loach, gudgeon”)
• *piščalь (“pipe, flute; shinbone”)
• *piskъ (“scream”)
• *pisklę (“chicken”)

• Church Slavonic: пискати (piskati), 1sg. пищѫ (pištǫ)

• East Slavic:
  • Old East Slavic: пискати (piskati, “to play the svirel”), 1sg. пищꙋ (pišču) (12th century)
    • Belarusian: пишча́ць (piščácʹ)
    • Russian: пища́ть (piščátʹ, “to squeak”), 1sg. пищу́ (piščú)
    • Ukrainian: пи́скати (pýskaty), пища́ти (pyščáty)
• South Slavic:
  • Old Church Slavonic:

    Cyrillic: пискати (piskati, “to pipe”), 1sg. пискаѭ (piskajǫ)

    Glagolitic:

  • Bulgarian: пищя́ (pištjá), пи́скам (pískam, “to whistle, to squeak, to howl, to cry”)
  • Macedonian: писка (piska, “to scream, to shriek”)
  • Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic script: пи́штати

    Latin script: píštati

  • Slovene: pískati (“to whistle, to play the flute”) (tonal orthography), 1sg. pískam, píščem (tonal orthography)
• West Slavic:
  • Czech: pískat, píštět (“to whistle”)
  • Polish: piskać (“to whistle, to squeak”); piszczeć (“to whistle, to squeak”), 1sg. piszczę
  • Slovak: pískať, pišťať
  • Sorbian:
    • Upper Sorbian: piskać, pišćeć
    • Lower Sorbian: piskaś, pišćaś

• Chernykh, P. Ja. (1993) “писк”, in Историко-этимологический словарь русского языка [Historical-Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), 3rd edition, volume 2 (панцирь – ящур), Moscow: Russian Lang., →ISBN, page 35
• Derksen, Rick (2008) “*pīskàti; *pīščàti”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 4), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 400
• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “пища́ть”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress