elьxa

olьxa; elьxa Grammatical information: f. ā Proto-Slavic meaning: `alder'

Page in Trubačev: VI 23-25; XXXII 81-82

Russian:

ol'xá `alder' [f ā];

ëlxa (dial.), elxá (dial.) `alder, spruce' [f ā] \{1\}

Slovak:

jelcha (dial.) `alder' [f ā]

Polish:

olcha `alder' [f ā]

Serbo-Croatian:

jelha (dial.) `alder' [f ā]

Bulgarian:

elxá `alder, spruce' [f ā]

Proto-Balto-Slavic reconstruction: a/elisaH;; a/el(i)snio-

Lithuanian:

al̃ksnis, el̃ksnis `alder' [m io] 2;

alìksnis (E. dial.) `alder' [m io] 2;

álksna, élksna (dial.) `alder thicket, place where alders grow, marsh, dale' [f ā] 1

Latvian:

àlksnis, èlksnis (dial.) `alder' [m io];

àlksna, ęlksna (E. dial.) `alder thicket, swampy place' \{2\}

Indo-European reconstruction: h₂eliseh₂

IE meaning: alder

Certainty: -

Page in Pokorny: 302-303

Comments: As Schrijver observes (1991: 40), this etymon presents two problems. The first problem is the anlaut. The Slavic forms with je- cannot be explained away by assuming analogy after the word for `spruce': je- also occurs in West Slavic, where `spruce' is jedl-, not jel- (pace Kortlandt apud Schrijver: o.c. 41). The a- : e- variation in Germanic suggests that the variation in Baltic and Slavic does not result from "Rozwadowski's change" alone (cf. Andersen 1996: 130). The second problem is the alternation between i and zero in the second syllable. It is true that the *i and *u (cf. the Latvian toponym Aluksne?) of the Germanic forms may continue the regular ablaut of an s-stem (Schrijver: l.c.), but the fact that we find *i of in Slavic and East Lithuanian as well indicates that it should be taken at face value. The above-mentioned peculiarities of the etymon strongly suggest that we are dealing with a word of non-Indo-European origin. The fact that there are North Slavic forms with s alongside the expected x must be connected with the Baltic presence in the area (cf. Anikin 2005: 85-86).

Other cognates:

Lat. alnus `alder'

;

Span. aliso `alder'

;

Mac. ἄλιζα `white poplar';

OHG elira, erila `alder' [f];

OE alor `alder'

;

OIc. ǫlr `alder'

, jǫlstr `alder' [f] \{3\}

Notes:

\{1\} In Russian dialects there are apparently also forms with a vocalized medial jer, e.g. elóxa (Kostr.), alëx (Voron.), olëx (Rjaz.) `alder' (cf. Popowska-Taborska 1984: 39). \{2\} The form with e- is actually reflected as àlksna (Bersohn, E. Latvia) (M-E: s.v.). \{3\} From *aluz- and *elustrō (< *elastrō?), respectively.