Славен

• Сло̀ве̄н (now chiefly Serbian, Ekavian)
• Сло̀вје̄н (now chiefly Serbian, Ijekavian)
• Сло̀вӣн (archaic, Ikavian)

Ultimately from Proto-Slavic *slověninъ, but, unlike the alternative forms, not directly inherited. The -a- vowel in the first syllable apparently derives from Russian Church Slavonic or Russian славяни́н (slavjanín), perhaps with influence from сла̏ва by folk etymology.

• IPA^(key): /slǎʋeːn/
• Hyphenation: Сла‧вен

Сла̀ве̄н m (Latin spelling Slàvēn)

1. (now chiefly Bosnia, Croatia) Slav
2. (Serbia) a man from Slavonia
3. a male given name

Until the 18th century, the form of this word with -o- in the first syllable was almost universal throughout the Serbo-Croatian-speaking area (with varying reflexes of yat). The form with -a- seems to have originated in Slavonic-Serbian and spread under the influence of Pan-Slavism during the 19th century. By the 20th century, the form with -a- became the most common form in Croatia and all but disappeared from Serbia, effectively reversing the early 19th-century distribution of the two forms.