< Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic
Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/mělь
Proto-Slavic
Etymology
From Proto-Balto-Slavic *(s)mēl-i-. Cognate with Lithuanian smė̃lis (“sand”), smėlỹs (“sand”), Latvian smēlis (“fine sand”), Old Norse melr (“sandbank”) (dialectal), Swedish smula (“chunk”) (dialectal). Related to *mělъkъ (“small, shallow”). Likely related to *melti (“to grind, mill”).
Usage notes
Apparently by Late Common Slavic times the two variants had started to diverge in meaning, with the feminine i-stem variant meaning "sand, sandbank" while the masculine o-stem variant meant "chalk, powder".
Declension
Declension of *mě̑lь (i-stem, accent paradigm c)
singular | dual | plural | |
---|---|---|---|
nominative | *mě̑lь | *mě̑li | *mě̑li |
genitive | *mělí | *mělьjù, *měľu* | *mělь̀jь |
dative | *mě̑li | *mělьmà | *mě̑lьmъ |
accusative | *mě̑lь | *mě̑li | *mě̑li |
instrumental | *mělьjǫ́ | *mělьmà | *mělьmì |
locative | *mělí | *mělьjù, *měľu* | *mě̑lьxъ |
vocative | *měli | *mě̑li | *mě̑li |
* 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).
Alternative forms
- *mělъ m
Descendants
- East Slavic:
- South Slavic:
- West Slavic:
References
- Derksen, Rick (2008) “*mělь; *mělъ”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 4), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 310: “f. i; m. o”
- Olander, Thomas (2001) “mělъ”, in Common Slavic Accentological Word List, Copenhagen: Editiones Olander: “c kalk, mel (PR 137)”
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