Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/ajьčьnica

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

From *ajьce (“egg”) +‎ *-ьnica or equivalently *ajьčьnъ (“egg-related”) +‎ *-ica.

Noun

*ajьčьnica f

1. egg dish

Alternative forms

• *ajьčénica

Declension

Declension of *ajьčьnica (soft a-stem)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*ajьčьnica	*ajьčьnici	*ajьčьnicę̇
genitive	*ajьčьnicę̇	*ajьčьnicu	*ajьčьnicь
dative	*ajьčьnici	*ajьčьnicama	*ajьčьnicamъ
accusative	*ajьčьnicǫ	*ajьčьnici	*ajьčьnicę̇
instrumental	*ajьčьnicejǫ, *ajьčьnicǫ**	*ajьčьnicama	*ajьčьnicami
locative	*ajьčьnici	*ajьčьnicu	*ajьčьnicasъ, *ajьčьnicaxъ*
vocative	*ajьčьnice	*ajьčьnici	*ajьčьnicę̇

^* -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).

Related terms

• *ajьce, *ajьko (“egg”)
  • *ajьčьnъ (“egg-related”)
    • *ajьčьnikъ (“egg product”)

Descendants

• East Slavic:
  • Russian: яи́чница (jaíčnica, “fried egg dish”)
  • Ukrainian: яє́чниця (jajéčnycja, “fried egg”)
• South Slavic:
  • Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic script: јајченица (“easter ritual bread (decorated with easter eggs)”)

    Latin script: jajčenica (“easter ritual bread (decorated with easter eggs)”)

• West Slavic:
  • Czech: vaječňica (“fried egg”) (dialectal)
  • Polish: jajecznica (“scrambled eggs”)
  • Slovak: vaječnica (“scrambled eggs”)

Further reading

• Trubachyov, Oleg, editor (1974), “*ajьčьnica”, in Этимологический словарь славянских языков [Etymological dictionary of Slavic languages] (in Russian), numbers 1 (*a – *besědьlivъ), Moscow: Nauka, page 63