Where does “ježyk” come from?
ježyk (Lower Sorbian) comes from Lower Sorbian jež, from Proto-Slavic ežь, from Latvian ezis, from Proto-Balto-Slavic ežis, from Proto-Indo-European h₁eǵʰis — hedgehog, hedgehog-like animals.
ježyk (Lower Sorbian): Diminutive of jež
Ancestry of “ježyk”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Lower Sorbian | jež | hedgehog |
| 2 | Proto-Slavic | ežь | hedgehog |
| 3 | Latvian | ezis | hedgehog |
| 4 | Proto-Balto-Slavic | ežis | — |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁eǵʰis | hedgehog, hedgehog-like animals |