Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/metъla

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

Alternative reconstructions

  • *metla (per Vaillant)
  • *metьla (per Bernecker, Vasmer, Georgiev, Mladenov)

Etymology

From *mesti (“to sweep”) +‎ *-ъla (instrumental).

Scholars have variously reconstructed it with *ъ or *ь. Trubachev argues that derivatives such as the Polish diminutive miotełka or the Russian diminutive метёлка (metjólka) do not provide unambiguous evidence for either *ъ or *ь. Ultimately Trubachev opts for *ъ on the basis of the /u/ found in the presumed borrowings into Albanian and Romance listed below.

Noun

*metъlà f[1]

  1. broom, besom
  2. grass plant used for making brooms

Alternative forms

  • *metъlo n

Inflection

Declension of *metъla (hard a-stem)
singular dual plural
nominative *metъla *metъlě *metъly
genitive *metъly *metъlu *metъlъ
dative *metъlě *metъlama *metъlamъ
accusative *metъlǫ *metъlě *metъly
instrumental *metъlojǫ, *metъlǫ** *metъlama *metъlami
locative *metъlě *metъlu *metъlasъ, *metъlaxъ*
vocative *metъlo *metъlě *metъly

* -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).

Derived terms

  • *metъlъka (diminutive)
  • *metъlica, *metъličina (“windgrass (Apera)”)
  • *metъlikъ, *metъliga (“meadow-grass (Роа)”)
  • *metъlařь (“broom-maker”)
  • *mesti (“to throw”)
  • *metati (“to toss, to throw”)
  • *metъka (“sweeper”)
  • *metyľь (“parasite affecting the guts”) (possibly)
  • *motati (“to reel”)
  • *motyľь (“moth”) (possibly)

Descendants

  • East Slavic:
    • Old East Slavic: метъла (metŭla)
  • South Slavic:
  • West Slavic:
    • Old Czech: metla
    • Old Polish:
    • Old Slovak: metla
    • Polabian: metlă
    • Sorbian:
      • Upper Sorbian: mjetla (“wand”, with -l- spread from mjetlica); mjetło n
      • Lower Sorbian: mjetła

Further reading

  • Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “метла”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress
  • Trubachyov, Oleg, editor (1992), “*metъla/*metъlo”, in Этимологический словарь славянских языков [Etymological dictionary of Slavic languages] (in Russian), numbers 18 (*matoga – *mękyšьka), Moscow: Nauka, →ISBN, page 123
  • Georgiev, Vladimir I., editor (1986), “метла”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volume 3 (крес¹ – мѝнго¹), Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Pubg. House, page 769

References

  1. ^ Snoj, Marko (2016) “metla”, in Slovenski etimološki slovar [Slovenian Etymology Dictionary] (in Slovene), 3rd edition, https://fran.si: “Pslovan. *metъla̋”
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