ězъ

ězъ; ěžь; ěža; ezъ Grammatical information: m. o; m. jo; f. jā; m. o Proto-Slavic meaning: `weir'

Page in Trubačev: VI 59

Church Slavic:

ězъ (RuCS) `fish weir' [m o];

(j)ezъ (RuCS) `fish weir' [m o];

Russian:

iž (dial.) `fishing tackle made of willow-twigs or a net' [m jo];

ëz `fish weir' [m o]

Old Russian:

ězъ `fish weir' [m o];

(j)ezъ `fish weir' [m o]

Belorussian:

jaz `fishing tackle [m o];

ez (dial.) `fish weir' [m o]

Ukrainian:

jiz `fish weir' [m o];

jaz `fish weir' [m o]

Czech:

jez `mill-pond, dam, weir, dike' [m o]

Polish:

jaz `mill-pond, fish weir' [m o]

Serbo-Croatian:

jȃz `drain (at a dam or weir), mill-pond, dike' [m o];

jȇz `mill-pond, dam, weir' [m o];

jȃž (dial.) `canal' [m jo];

jȃža (dial.) `brook streaming from a spring' [f jā]

Slovene:

jẹ̑z `dike, dam, weir' [m o], jẹ̑za [Gens], jẹzȗ [Gens];

jẹ́ža `dike, dam, weir, mill-pond' [f jā]

Bulgarian:

jaz `dam, weir, dike' [m o]

Proto-Balto-Slavic reconstruction: ēź-; eź-o-

Lithuanian:

ežià `boundary(-strip), balk' [f jā] 2

Latvian:

eža `boundary(-strip), balk' [f jā]

Old Prussian:

asy (EV) `boundary(-strip), balk'

Comments: Meanings such as `mill-pond', `drain, canal' and `brook' form a semantic link between *ěz-/ez- `dam, weir' and -> *ȅzero `lake', cf. MoE dike `thick bank or wall built to control water' vs. MoHG Teich `pond'. The original meaning in Balto-Slavic is best covered by the word balk, meaning both `boundary-strip, dividing ridge', `wooden beam' and (dial.) `fishing-weir'. Arm. ezr (-> *ȅzero), which basically means `edge', agrees semantically very well with the Balto-Slavic etymon under discussion. We must reconstruct *h₁ēǵʰ-o/ā-, with an obscure lengthened grade, alongside *h₁eǵʰ-o/ā-.

Other cognates:

Arm. ezr `bank, border, limit' \{1\}