Revisiting the Proto-Slavic Patronymic Suffix -it’ь: Insights from the Słownik prasłowiański and Slavic Onomastic Geography

Abstract The study offers a novel analysis of the Proto-Slavic patronymic suffix *-it’ь, drawing on its concise yet foundational treatment in Słownik prasłowiański (1976) and examining its diachronic development and geographical distribution across the Slavic-speaking world. While previous scholarship has often conflated *-it’ь with other suffixes or treated its semantic scope in isolation, this paper integrates historical morphology, onomastics, and sociolinguistic data to reassess its function and evolution. The Słownik provides a clear delineation of the suffix’s original form, semantic range, and reflexes in modern Slavic languages, distinguishing it from nomen loci and augmentative suffixes. Building on this foundation, the study maps the suffix’s presence and productivity across West, East, and South Slavic languages, revealing its sustained use in Russian and Serbo-Croatian, its decline in Polish, and its near absence in Czech, Slovak, Bulgarian, and Macedonian. By synthesizing comparative data from Kaleta’s Ewolucya nazwisk słowiańskich and other sources, the paper highlights the sociolinguistic factors influencing the suffix’s retention or obsolescence. Ultimately, this research contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of Slavic name formation and the diachronic dynamics of patronymic morphology.