# сиге
## Old Novgorodian
### Etymology

Borrowed from Finnic languages, such as Livvi siigu, Karelian siiga, Ludian siig, Veps sīg, cf. Votic siikõ, Ingrian siika, Finnish siika (“common whitefish”) and Estonian siig, ultimately from Proto-Finnic *siika (“common whitefish”), further origins unclear, perhaps from Proto-Norse *ᛊᛁᚴᚨᛉ (*sikaʀ) (whence Old Norse síkr, Old Swedish siker, Swedish sik, Norwegian Bokmål sik, Old Danish sig), possibly from Proto-Germanic *sīkaz. Cognate include Latvian sīga, Lithuanian sykis.
First attested in c. 1140‒1160. Compare Russian сиг (sig), Middle Russian сигъ (sig), first attested only in 1496. Derivative сиговый (sigovyj, “whitefish-related”) since 1500, сиговина (sigovina, “whitefish meat”) and сиговица (sigovica, “fishing tackle”) since 1563. It seems that in Middle Russian the word was borrowed from Old Novgorodian.

### Pronunciation

* Hyphenation: си‧ге

### Noun

сиге • (sige) m
* common whitefish, lavaret (Coregonus lavaretus)
** c. 1140‒1160, Берестяная грамота № 831 [Birchbark letter no. 831]‎, Novgorod:… [и сире] а то гривьною кри(лъ есмь и) [дьс]ѧ[ть сиг]ово и пол[ъ]ть во дьсѧть коуно …… [i sire] a to grivĭnoju kri(lŭ jesmĭ i) [dĭs]ję[tĭ sig]ovo i pol[ŭ]tĭ vo dĭsętĭ kuno …… and cheeses ‒ I bought this for a hryvnia, and ten whitefish and half a carcass for ten kuns.
** c. 1220‒1240, Kovalev, Roman K., transl., Берестяная грамота № 147 [Birchbark letter no. 147]‎, Novgorod:… пу нь пожали г(ос)подине про сигꙑ ѣще сигово нету а поцта тобь буде гъже а ѧꙁо тобе кланѧюсѧ… pu nĭ požali g(os)podine pro sigy jěśće sigovo netu a poćta tobĭ bude gŭže a jęzo tobe klanęjusęDon't be angry about the whitefishes ─ there are no whitefishes yet. And the tribute (pochestie) to you will be good. I bow to you (lit. goodbye).
** c. 1320‒1340, Берестяная грамота № 144 [Birchbark letter no. 144]‎, Novgorod:… въꙁми · ꙋ тимоѳѣѧ ·н҃· сиговъ [ѡ] ·г҃· рꙋблѧ а роко · на роство ·… vŭzmi · u timoθěję 50 sigovŭ [o] 3 rublę a roko · na rostvo ·Take 50 whitefish from Timofey for about 3 rubles. And the payment deadline is Christmas.
** c. 1360‒1380, Берестяная грамота № 280 [Birchbark letter no. 280]‎, Novgorod:… ·г҃· таимени ·в҃· просоле и ·е҃· сигово ·е҃· таимени ѧко[л]и[хо]… 3 taimeni 2 prosole i ·je:· sigovo ·je:· taimeni jęko[l]i[xo]… 3 taimen, 2 of them lightly salted, and 5 whitefish and 5 Yakovlev taimen.

#### Descendants

* → Middle Russian: сигъ (sig)
** Russian: сиг (sig); сига́ f (sigá) (dialectal)
*** Taimyr Pidgin Russian: сиг (sig)
*** → Armenian: սիգ (sig)
*** → Belarusian: сіг (sih), сіга f (siha)
*** → Czech: síh
*** → Komi-Zyrian: сиг (śig)
*** → Polish: siga
*** → Ukrainian: сиг (syh)

### References

* 1 2 Anikin, A. E. (2000) “сига́”, in Этимологический словарь русских диалектов Сибири. Заимствования из уральских, алтайских и палеоазиатских языков [Etymological dictionary of Russian dialects of Siberia. Loan-words from Uralic, Altaic and Paleoasiatic languages] (in Russian), 2nd edition, Moscow, Novosibirsk: Nauka, →ISBN, page 502
* 1 2 Chernykh, P. Ja. (1993) “сиг”, in Историко-этимологический словарь русского языка [Historical-Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), 3rd edition, volume 2 (панцирь – ящур), Moscow: Russian Lang., →ISBN, page 160
* ↑ Vasmer, Max (1972) “сиг”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), volumes 3 (Муза – Сят), Moscow: Progress, page 617
* ↑ Zaliznyak, Andrey (2004) Древненовгородский диалект [Old Novgorod dialect]‎ (in Russian), 2nd edition, Moscow: Languages of Slavic Cultures, →ISBN, page 798

### Further reading

* “сиге”, in Берестяные грамоты – Национальный корпус русского языка [Birchbark Letters – Russian National Corpus], https://ruscorpora.ru/, 2003–2025

## Russian
### Pronunciation

* IPA: [sʲɪˈɡʲe]

### Noun

сиге́ • (sigé) m anim
* prepositional singular of сиг (sig)