< Reconstruction:Proto-Finnic

Reconstruction:Proto-Finnic/meccä

This Proto-Finnic 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-Finnic

Alternative forms

Etymology

Probably borrowed from Proto-Baltic *medjas (whence Lithuanian mẽdžias (“forest”), Latvian mežs (“forest”) and Latgalian mežs (“forest”).[1][2] The term was apparently borrowed during the time of the split of South Estonian and Livonian from the rest of Finnic, as the former group borrowed it with back vowel harmony, whereas the latter group has front vowel harmony.

Alternatively from Proto-Finno-Ugric *mećä, *meććä (“edge, periphery”), compare Hungarian messze (“far”).

Noun

*meccä[3]

  1. forest

Inflection
Inflection of *meccä
Note: The Proto-Finnic declension system is yet to be reconstructed in detail. What is presented here is only one possibility.
singular plural
nominative *meccä *mec'ät
accusative *mec'än *mec'ät
genitive *mec'än *meccäden
*mecceiden
partitive *meccädä *mecceidä
inessive *mec'ässä
*mec'ähnä		 *mec'eissä
*mec'eihnä
elative *mec'ästä *mec'eistä
illative *meccähen *mecceihen
adessive *mec'ällä *mec'eillä
ablative *mec'ältä *mec'eiltä
allative *meccälen
*meccälek		 *mecceilen
*mecceilek
essive *meccänä *mecceinä
translative *mec'äksi *mec'eiksi
instructive *mec'än *mec'ein
comitative *meccänek *mecceinek
abessive *mec'ättä *mec'eittä

Descendants
  • Estonian: mets
  • Finnish: metsä
  • Ingrian: metsä
  • Karelian:
  • Livvi: meččy
  • Ludian: mečč
  • Veps: mec
  • Votic: mettse
  • → Proto-Samic: *meaccē (see there for further descendants)

References
  1. Illich-Svitych, Vladislav M. (1963) Именная акцентуация в балтийском и славянском: Судьба акцентуационных парадигм [Nominal Accentuation in Baltic and Slavic: The Fate of Accentuation Paradigms]‎ (in Russian), Soviet Union, Moscow: Publishing house of the USSR Academy of Sciences, page 46: “[footnote] 37”
  2. Illich-Svitych, Vladislav M. (1979) Nominal Accentuation in Baltic and Slavic: The Fate of Accentuation Paradigms, United States of America: The MIT Press Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London, England, page 157: “37.”
  3. Kallio, Petri (2020–) “*mEccÄ”, in Yhteissuomalainen sanasto‎ (in Finnish)

Further reading
  • “mets”, in [ETY] Eesti etümoloogiasõnaraamat [Estonian Etymological Dictionary] (in Estonian) (online version), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus (Estonian Language Foundation), 2012
  • Itkonen, Erkki, Kulonen, Ulla-Maija, editors (1992–2000), Suomen sanojen alkuperä [The origin of Finnish words]‎ (in Finnish) (online version; note: also includes other etymological sources), Helsinki: Institute for the Languages of Finland/Finnish Literature Society, →ISBN
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