Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/bělica

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 *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-ih₂

Proto-Balto-Slavic *-kas

Proto-Slavic *-ica

Proto-Slavic *bělica

From *bělъ +‎ *-ica.

Noun

*bělica f

something white

Declension

Declension of *bělica (soft a-stem)
	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*bělica	*bělici	*bělicę̇
genitive	*bělicę̇	*bělicu	*bělicь
dative	*bělici	*bělicama	*bělicamъ
accusative	*bělicǫ	*bělici	*bělicę̇
instrumental	bělicejǫ, bělicǫ^**	*bělicama	*bělicami
locative	*bělici	*bělicu	bělicasъ, bělicaxъ^*
vocative	*bělice	*bělici	*bělicę̇

^* -asъ is the expected Balto-Slavic form but is found only in some Old Czech documents; -axъ is found everywhere else and is formed by analogy with other locative plurals in -xъ.
^** 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).

Descendants

East Slavic:
- Old East Slavic: бѣлица (bělica)
  - Old Ruthenian:
    - Middle Ukrainian: бѣлица (bilyca, “name of a plant”)^[1]
      - Ukrainian: біли́ця (bilýcja)
  - Russian: бе́лица (bélica) (dialectal)
South Slavic:
- Bulgarian: бели́ца (belíca)
- Serbo-Croatian:
  Cyrillic script: белѝца
  
  Latin script: belìca
  - Chakavian (Vrgada): bilȉca (“white fig”)
  - Chakavian (Rava island): bilȉca (“white fig”), bẹ̑lica (“white sheep”)
  - Chakavian (Ist island): bȅlica (“blond girl”)
  - Chakavian (Grobnik): bêlica (“little sheep”)
  - Chakavian (Brusje): bilȉca (“white fig, wheat”)
  - Kajkavian (Varaždin): bẹ̃lica (“common nase”)
- Slovene: belíca
  - (Črni vrh, Idrija): bȩlȋcḁ (“white cherry”)
West Slavic:
- Old Czech: bělicě
  - Czech: bělice
    - Moravian (Mistřice): bjelica (“white cherry”)
- Old Polish: bielica
  - Polish: bielica
  - Silesian: bielica
- Slovak: belica
- Sorbian:
  - Lower Sorbian: bělica
  - Upper Sorbian: bělica

Non-Slavic:
- → Albanian: belcë

References

^ Hrynchyshyn, D. H., editor (1996), “бѣлица”, in Словник української мови XVI – 1-ї пол. XVII ст. [Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language of 16ᵗʰ – 1ˢᵗ half of 17ᵗʰ c.] (in Ukrainian), numbers 3 (богъ – весъной), Lviv: KIUS, →ISBN, page 147

Trubachyov, Oleg, editor (1975), “*bělica”, in Этимологический словарь славянских языков [Etymological dictionary of Slavic languages] (in Russian), numbers 2 (*bez – *bratrъ), Moscow: Nauka, page 64

[1] Hrynchyshyn, D. H., editor (1996), “бѣлица”, in Словник української мови XVI – 1-ї пол. XVII ст. [Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language of 16ᵗʰ – 1ˢᵗ half of 17ᵗʰ c.] (in Ukrainian), numbers 3 (богъ – весъной), Lviv: KIUS, →ISBN, page 147

[1]