elbǭtь

olbǭdь; olbǭtь; elbedь; elbǭtь Grammatical information: m. jo Accent paradigm: c (a) Proto-Slavic meaning: `swan'

Page in Trubačev: VI 19; XXXII 50-51

Russian:

lébed' `swan' [m jo], lébedja [Gens]

Ukrainian:

lébid' `swan' [m jo]

Czech:

labut' `swan' [f i/jā]

Slovak:

labut' `swan' [f]

Polish:

ɫabędź `swan' [m jo];

ɫabęć (dial.) `swan' [m jo]

Old Polish:

ɫabęć `swan' [m jo];

ɫabęć `swan' [f i]

Serbo-Croatian:

lȁbūd `swan' [m o];

lȅbūt (arch.) `swan' [m o];

Čak. lȁbūd (Vrgada) `swan' [m o]

Slovene:

labǫ́d `swan' [m o];

lebę́d `swan' [m o];

lobǫ́d `swan' [m o]

Bulgarian:

lébed `swan' [m o]

Indo-European reconstruction: h₂elbʰ-ond-i

IE meaning: swan

Certainty: +

Page in Pokorny: 30-31

Comments: If the PSl. reconstruction *olb- is correct, the fact that the root shape*lab- occurs outside South Slavic and Central Slovak suggests that we are dealing with an originally acute root (cf. Meillet 1934: 83), which would be in conflict with the traditional etymology that the etymon derives from a root*h₂elbʰ- `white'. Unless one adheres to the view that a lengthened grade yields an acute in Balto-Slavic, a reconstruction *h₂lōbʰ- (with Schwebeablaut) does not solve the problem. Apart from the etymology, the distribution of the reflexes *la- and *lo- needs to be explained. It is possible to argue that the reflex *le- in Ru. lébed' (perhaps from *lo- before a soft labial, cf. tebe < tobě) continues the short reflex of *ol- in the oxytone forms of a mobile paradigm, but there is no such explanation for the West Slavic forms. Kortlandt (2005: 128) makes an attempt to account for the facts while starting from the hypothesis that the etymon originally belonged to AP (a) and only became mobile after the rise of distinctive tone and the South Slavic lengthening of initial vowels before tautosyllabic resonants.

Other cognates:

OHG albiz, elbiz `swan';

OE aelbitu, ielfetu `swan' [f];

OIc. elptr, ǫlpt `swan' [f]