Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/melko

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.

Proto-Slavic

Etymology

Uncertain:

• Borrowed from either Gothic 𐌼𐌹𐌻𐌿𐌺𐍃 (miluks, “milk”) or Proto-West Germanic *meluk (“milk”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂melǵ- (“to milk”) with unexpected 'u' (cp. *melkaną (“to milk”)).
  • Related to: *melzti (“to milk”), *melza, *melzivo and Tocharian A malke (“milk”), Tocharian B malkwer (“milk”), Old Irish melg n (“milk”), mlicht m (“milk”) : mligid (“to milk”), Welsh blith m (“milk”) and Proto-Samic *mielkkē (“milk”).
  • ( ) Proto-Indo-European palatovelar */ǵ/ is reflexed as centum and voiceless (inherited form would be **melzo or **melgo). See also Latin melca f, Ancient Greek μέλκᾱ f (mélkā).
  • (∓) u > ъ is expected (per ESSJa: **mьlъcь, **mьlьčь). This would require an intermediary language that would drop the medial *-u- from Proto-Germanic word and thematicize the stem. But compare Old Church Slavonic срацини (sracini) : Latin Saracēnī.
  • (–) Neuter gender of the Slavic word: loanwords rarely become neuter when they are borrowed into Proto-Slavic, and neuter donor words mainly become masculine or feminine.
  • (–) per Oleg Trubačev: it belongs to the accent paradigm b. However, this argument is weak since the final stress goes back to earlier stem stress, which is not unlikely among the Germanic loanwords in Proto-Slavic.
• Per A. Brückner, Valentin Kiparsky: from Proto-Indo-European *melk- or *melḱ-.
  • Related to 1: *molka, *molkyta (> Serbo-Croatian mlȁka/мла̏ка (“pool, puddle”), Old East Slavic молокита (molokita, “swamp”) and Romanian mlacă (“swamp, marsh”), mlaștină (“swamp”)) and Lithuanian mal̃kas (“swallow (gulp)”), Latvian màlks, màlka.
  • Related to 2: Russian мо́лость (mólostʹ, “bad weather”)
  • Related to 1/2: Gothic 𐌼𐌹𐌻𐌷𐌼𐌰 (milhma, “cloud”), possibly Ancient Greek μέλκιον (mélkion), Latin mulceō
  • This etymology has been criticized as semantically far-fetched.

Compare milk names:

• Old Prussian dadan (“milk”) : ?
• Lithuanian píenas m (“milk”) : mélžti (“to milk”), Sanskrit पयस् n (payas, “milk”) : ?, Proto-Finnic *piimä (“milk”) (also Proto-Finnic *maito (“milk”)).
• Proto-Indo-Iranian *kšiHrám n (“milk”) : ?, Albanian hirrë f (“whey”)
• Ancient Greek γάλα n (gála, “milk”), γάλακτος (gálaktos, Gsg.) : ἀμέλγω (amélgō, “I milk”), Latin lac n (“milk”), lactis (Gsg.) : mulgeō (“I milk”)
• Albanian tambël m (“milk, whey”) (< ëmbël (“sweet”)) : mjel (“I milk”). See also Proto-Indo-European *mélit n (“honey”), *médʰu n.

Noun

*melkò n

1. milk

Declension

Declension of *mēlkò (hard o-stem, accent paradigm b, uncountable)

	singular
nominative	*mēlkò
genitive	*mēlkà
dative	*mēlkù
accusative	*mēlkò
instrumental	*mēlkъ̀mь, *mēlkòmь*
locative	*mēlcě̀
vocative	*mēlkò

^* -ъmь in North Slavic, -omь in South Slavic.

Descendants

• East Slavic:
  • Old East Slavic: молоко (moloko)
    • Old Ruthenian: молоко́ (molokó)
      • Old Belarusian: малако́ (malakó)
        • Belarusian: малако́ (malakó)
      • Carpathian Rusyn: молоко́ (molokó)
      • Ukrainian: молоко́ (molokó)
    • Russian: молоко́ (molokó)
      • → Yup'ik: muluk'uuq, malak'uuq
• South Slavic:
  • Old Church Slavonic:

    Cyrillic: млѣко (mlěko)

    Glagolitic: ⰿⰾⱑⰽⱁ (mlěko)

  • Bulgarian: мля́ко (mljáko)
  • Macedonian: мле́ко (mléko)
  • Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic script: мле́ко, млије́ко, мли́ко

    Latin: mléko, mlijéko, mlíko

    • Slavomolisano: mbliko
  • Slovene: mlẹ́ko (tonal orthography)
• West Slavic:
  • Old Czech: mléko
    • Czech: mléko
      • Bohemian (sla-pro, Common Czech): mlíko
  • Old Polish: mleko
    • Polish: mleko
    • Silesian: mlyko
  • Old Slovak: mlieko
    • Pannonian Rusyn: млєко (mljeko)
    • Slovak: mlieko
  • Polabian: mlåkă
  • Pomeranian:
    • Kashubian: mlékò, mélkò
    • Slovincian: mlókô
  • Sorbian:
    • Upper Sorbian: mloko
    • Lower Sorbian: mloko

Further reading

• Mallory, J. P., Adams, D. Q., editors (1997), “milk”, in Encyclopedia of Indo-European culture, London, Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, page 381
• Pronk-Tiethoff, Saskia E. (2013) The Germanic loanwords in Proto-Slavic‎^[2], Amsterdam - New York: Rodopi, →ISBN, page 197f
• Trubachyov, Oleg, editor (1992), “*melko”, in Этимологический словарь славянских языков (in Russian), numbers 18 (*matoga – *mękyšьka), Moscow: Nauka, →ISBN, page 84
• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “молоко”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка (in Russian), Moscow: Progress
• Lehmann, Winfred P. (1986) “M66. *miluks”, in A Gothic Etymological Dictionary, based on the 3rd ed. of Feist’s dictionary, Leiden: E. J. Brill, page 256