Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/tisъ

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.

Of disputed origin. Commonly, the Slavic term is compared with Latin taxus (“yew”) and Ancient Greek τόξον (tóxon, “bow”), both of which are speculated to be borrowed from Scythian (cf Persian تخش (taxš, “crossbow”)). This etymology, however, fails to explain Slavic *-i-.

*tìsъ m^[1][2]

1. yew

• *tìsa f

• *tisovъ (“yew”, adjective)

• East Slavic:
  • Old East Slavic: тисъ (tisŭ)
    • Belarusian: ціс (cis)
    • Russian: тис (tis)
    • Ukrainian: тис (tys)
• South Slavic:
  • Old Church Slavonic: тиса (tisa, “cedar”)
  • Bulgarian: тис (tis), тиса (tisa)
  • Macedonian: тиса (tisa)
  • Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic script: ти̏са

    Latin script: tȉsa

  • Slovene: tȋsa (tonal orthography)
• West Slavic:
  • Old Czech: tis
    • Czech: tis
  • Polish: cis
  • Slovak: tis
  • Sorbian:

    Upper Sorbian: ćis

    Lower Sorbian: śis

• Non-Slavic:
  • → Hungarian: tisza

• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “тис”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress