Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/bělь

This Proto-Slavic entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Slavic

Etymology

From *bělъ (“white”) +‎ *-ь. Cognate with Latvian bala (“loamy valley, swamp, depression”), Lithuanian balà (“swamp”).

Noun

*bělь m

1. swampy meadow?

Inflection

Declension of *bělь (i-stem)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*bělь	*běli	*bělьje, *běľe*
genitive	*běli	*bělьju, *běľu*	*bělьjь, *běli*
dative	*běli	*bělьma	*bělьmъ
accusative	*bělь	*běli	*běli
instrumental	*bělьmь	*bělьma	*bělьmi
locative	*běli	*bělьju, *běľu*	*bělьxъ
vocative	*běli	*běli	*bělьje, *běľe*

^* The second form occurs in languages that contract early across /j/ (e.g. Czech), while the first form occurs in languages that do not (e.g. Russian).

Related terms

• *bělъ

See also

• *bolto
• *bara

Descendants

• East Slavic:
  • Belarusian: бель (bjelʹ, “swampy meadow”)
• West Slavic:
  • Polish: biel (“swampy meadow”) (dialectal), bielaw (dialectal)

References

• Derksen, Rick (2015) “*bala”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Baltic Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 13), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 77
• Trubachyov, Oleg, editor (1975), “*bělь”, in Этимологический словарь славянских языков [Etymological dictionary of Slavic languages] (in Russian), numbers 2 (*bez – *bratrъ), Moscow: Nauka, page 84