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

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *bʰel-

Proto-Slavic *bělъ

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Balto-Slavic *-is

Proto-Slavic *-ь

Proto-Slavic *bělь

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

Noun

*bělь m

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

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