Slaven

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Slaven

1. plural of Slaaf

• (now chiefly Serbian, Ekavian) Slòvēn
• (now chiefly Serbian, Ijekavian) Slòvjēn
• (archaic, Ikavian) Slòvīn

Ultimately from Proto-Slavic *slověninъ, but, unlike the alternative forms, not directly inherited. The -a- vowel in the first syllable apparently derives from Russian Church Slavonic or Russian славяни́н (slavjanín), perhaps with influence from slȁva by folk etymology.[1]

• IPA^(key): /slǎʋeːn/
• Hyphenation: Sla‧ven

Slàvēn m (Cyrillic spelling Сла̀ве̄н)

1. (now chiefly Bosnia, Croatia) Slav
2. (Serbia) a man from Slavonia
3. a male given name

Until the 18th century, the form of this word with -o- in the first syllable was almost universal throughout the Serbo-Croatian-speaking area (with varying reflexes of yat). The form with -a- seems to have originated in Slavonic-Serbian and spread under the influence of Pan-Slavism during the 19th century. By the 20th century, the form with -a- became the most common form in Croatia and all but disappeared from Serbia, effectively reversing the early 19th-century distribution of the two forms.