jutro (Serbo-Croatian)
Where does "jutro" come from?
The Serbo-Croatian noun 'jutro', meaning 'morning' or an old area unit, is inherited from Proto-Slavic '*(j)utro'[1]. This Slavic form traces back through Proto-Balto-Slavic '*auštrā́ˀ' and Proto-Indo-European forms such as '*h₂ewsér', which originate from the root '*h₂ews-' meaning 'dawn' or 'to dawn'[2][3][4]. The word is first attested in the fourteenth century[1].
Open questions
- The variant *jutro is considered secondary in Slavic, and the loss of -s- in related forms may be due to dissimilation or the law of open syllables. [2]
- According to Kortlandt, the acute on the root implies an unattested zero-grade variant. [2]
Full etymology tree
- jutro (Serbo-Croatian), 'morning'
- inherited *utro (Proto-Slavic), 'morning, dawn'
- inherited *auštrā́ˀ (Proto-Balto-Slavic), 'dawn, morning'
- inherited *h₂ewsér (Proto-Indo-European), 'in the direction of dawn, east'
- derived *h₂ews- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to become light'
- suffix *-ér (Proto-Indo-European)
- inherited *h₂ewsér (Proto-Indo-European), 'in the direction of dawn, east'
- inherited *auštrā́ˀ (Proto-Balto-Slavic), 'dawn, morning'
- inherited *utro (Proto-Slavic), 'morning, dawn'
Ancestors
- *utro (Proto-Slavic)
Sources
- jutro (Serbo-Croatian) - Wiktionary
- utro (Proto-Slavic) - Wiktionary
- auštrā́ˀ (Proto-Balto-Slavic) - Wiktionary
- h₂ewsér (Proto-Indo-European) - Wiktionary
Updated October 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris