“black stork with white wings and white breast”),
shows extreme antiquity and is characterized by
a certain opacity of etymology. А. Ciorănescu
considers it to be derived from Latin *gardea,
ardea “black heron” with primary *b-,
M. Vinereanu prefers Albanian origin (barth
“white”). It is possible that its Italic root is
*boþjo-, derived from Proto-Indo-European
*bherǝgos / bherǝĝā with the semantics “shine,
light, white color” and, more deeply, *bhereg-
“white, to shine” (Melnychuk, 1982, І, р. 142;
Trubachev, 1974, 1, р. 202; Ciorănescu, 2001,
р. 704; Vinereanu, 2008, р. 118; Pokorny, 1959,
2, р. 166; Vaan, 2008, р. 67–68). The proto-
lingual meaning “action”, “state” here changed to
“colour” and created the zoonym in the
Romanian language based on the colour of the
animal. There was a transition of the content on
the basis of Ukrainian dialect: ornithonym –
zoonym.
The names of sheeps by the color recorded in the
Carpathians отіша, as well as вотіша, вотішер
are explained as the result of borrowing from the
Moldavian or Romanian languages: oacheş(ă)
and dialect variants ṷótişă, oat'eşă, oakishî
“sheep with black near the eyes” are derived
from Romanian oachiu “eye” and earlier from
Latin oculus. We find their origins in the Proto-
Italic *ok(e)lo-, Proto-Indo- European root *okw-
“to see”. The basis of the nomination of sheep of
this breed is a bright sign – black colour around
the eyes (Melnychuk, 2003, 4, р. 233, Pokorny,
I, р. 4; Vinereanu, р. 591; Vaan, р. 425).
The Hutsul dialectism буча “black goat with a
white face”, бучє “the name of a sheep”, as well
as бучка “a black sheep with a white face”, бучко
“the name of a ram” underwent significant
semantic changes, because in the Romanian
language, where it came from, bucă means
“cheek”, as in Latin bucca “swollen, filled
cheek”, a continuation of Proto-Italic *bukka-.
The Indo-European proto-root of this name can
be considered *bʰeHw- “to swell” (Melnychuk,
1982, 1, р. 313; Pokorny, 2, р. 114; Vinereanu,
р. 160; Vaan, р. 76). The verb meaning of the
original proto- form was transformed into the
name of a body part. It is noted that the zoonym
is based on a distinctive feature of the animal’s
appearance.
The nickname of the cow Маргудза, a modified
loanword from the Moldavian language
(Moldavian мургуцє or Romanian murgúţă
“also”), is a diminutive form of мургэ (murgă)
“roan” from the Latin merus “pure, unmixed;
clear, clean”, derived from the Proto-Italic base
*mero-. Its original Proto-Indo-European form is
considered to be *mau-ro- “weak, dark” – from
mer-, merk-, mer(e)k-, mer(e)gh- “to twinkle, to
shine” (Melnychuk, 1989, 3, р. 391–392;
Pokorny, 2, р. 223; Vinereanu, р. 557; Vaan,
р. 376). Here we also trace the development of
semantics in the direction: action – sign by action
– zoonym.
According to the same principle, the Hutsul
dialectism корнута “horned sheep” and
Bukovinian корнуца “sheep with straight horns”,
and курнута “sheep with small horns”, which
come from the Romanian cornútă “horned” and,
further, from the Latin cornūta “also”, related to
the noun cornū “horn”. The name was also based
on an external feature – the presence of horns,
with specification in Ukrainian dialects. Latin
cornūta, cornū reflect Proto-Italic *komu-,
*komo-“horn” and Indo-European proto-form
*k
er-, *k
erǝ- : *k
rā-, *k
erei-, *k
ereu-“horn”
(from *(s)ker-4, (s)kerǝ-, (s)krē- “to cut off”)
(Melnychuk, 1989, 3, р. 32; Pokorny, 1, р. 403;
Vaan, р. 136–137).
The dialectism курта “squat-tailed shepherd” is
also borrowed from the Romanian language, but
in Romanian Curtu is the name of a tailless dog,
from Latin сurtus “short”, from Proto-Italic
*kortos and, further, from Proto-Indo-European
*(s)kr tós “short” from*(s)ker- “to cut”
(Melnychuk, 1989, 3, р. 158; Vaan, р. 157–158).
Fertility, as one of the most important abilities of
domestic animals, can also be the basis for the
name. The noun штиря “barren sheep” from
Romanian štiră “barren” (about animals), less
often “barren” (about women), which may have
been inherited from the Latin language (sterilis
“barren”), is especially revealing here. Its
hypothetical Proto-Italic form *ster-eli-, *ster-f-,
Proto-Indo-European – *ster- “hard, frozen”
(Melnychuk, 2012, 6, р. 477, Pokorny, 2, р. 627;
Vinereanu, р. 813; Vaan, р. 586). The original
name underwent a semantic narrowing in
Ukrainian.
The issue of the origin of the south-western
dialectism куцилей “little dog”, borrowed from
Moldavian language (кэцел “puppy; baby
carnivore” from Latin catellus “puppy, dog” and
from catulus “small animal (mainly kitten,
puppy)”), is limited only by Proto-Italic *kat-
elo “also” with the assumption of motivation
*katlo- “sacrificial animal” (Melnychuk, 3,
р. 166; Vaan, 2008, р. 98). For them, A. Walde
also proposed a common verb-noun Proto-Indo-
European root *kat- “to give birth to young”,
“baby animal” (Walde, 1906, 1, p. 183). Thus,
the deverbative Latin name retained its meaning