Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/braga

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

East Slavic isogloss, of uncertain origin. Due to its limited attestation, no secure etymology could be reconstructed, however, on basis of semantics it may be supposed that *braga is related to Proto-Slavic *brьzgati/*brězgati (“to decompose, to burst, to get bitter/sour”). Perhaps, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreHg- (“to rot, to have strong odour”).

Probably akin to Welsh brag (“malt”), Irish braich (“malt”) and Latin bracium, itself a Celtic borrowing. Per Vasmer, it is possible that the Slavic lemma was also borrowed from Celtic.

Noun

*braga f

1. yeast, must (pre-distilled alcohol mixture)

   Synonyms: *droždža, *droba

Declension

Declension of *braga (hard a-stem)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*braga	*bradzě	*bragy
genitive	*bragy	*bragu	*bragъ
dative	*bradzě	*bragama	*bragamъ
accusative	*bragǫ	*bradzě	*bragy
instrumental	*bragojǫ, *bragǫ**	*bragama	*bragami
locative	*bradzě	*bragu	*bragasъ, *bragaxъ*
vocative	*brago	*bradzě	*bragy

^* -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).

Derived terms

• *bražiti (“to form must, to ferment”)
  • *bražьnikъ (“drunkard, tippler”)

Descendants

• East Slavic:
  • Belarusian: бра́га (bráha)
  • Russian: бра́га (brága)
  • Ukrainian: бра́га (bráha)
• West Slavic:
  • Polish: braha (dialectal, via Ukrainian or Belarussian)
  • Sorbian:
    • → Lower Sorbian: bražka (possibly)

Further reading

• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “брага”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress
• Sławski, Franciszek, editor (1974), “*braga”, in Słownik prasłowiański [Proto-Slavic Dictionary] (in Polish), volumes 1 (a – bьzděti), Wrocław: Ossolineum, page 353