PIE *peh2ur ’fire’. Two Slavic etymologies

The article adds two Proto-Slavic derivatives of the Proto-Indo-European word for ‘fire’ to a small number of other, already identified derivatives (§1). Detailed phonological and morphological analysis of the words for ‘bat; moth, butterfly’ establish PS *netopyŕĭ ‘bat’ and PS *netopyŕĭ, *netŭpyŕĭ ‘moth (> butterfly), which support a Pre-Proto- Slavic (PPS) *[nekt-i+pūr]-ja- ‘[night-time fire] one’. Semantic interpretation posits the social and ecological context for the divergent nominations ‘bat’ and ‘nocturnal moth’. The variant word shapes and meanings of these lexemes defined intersecting isoglosses at the time of the Slavic Expansion (§§2–3). Similar analysis of PS *ǫpyŕĭ ‘revenant, monster’ supports the reconstruction PPS *[un-pūr]-ja- ‘[without fire] one’. Its semantic interpretation is based on the Slavic folk belief that the untimely dead were in the power of evil forces and were tools of evil. In pre-Christian times they were denied the pyre, they were ‘without fire’. This belief long survived the introduction of Christianity and its abolition of cremation and obligatory burial (§§4–5). The conclusion (§6) comments on the remarkable archaisms in these ancient lexemes, which were coined thousands of years ago: PPS *nekt- ‘night’ (cf. Hittite), *un- ‘no, without’ (cf. Germanic), and *pūr- ‘fire’ (cf. West Baltic).