< Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic
Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/telę
 | 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 Proto-Balto-Slavic *tel- + *-ę (diminutive suffix), cognate with Latvian teļš, telēns, Lithuanian tẽlias. Three types of hypotheses exist for the origin of the root:
- Native origin: Perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *telh₂- (“to bear”), akin to Latin tollo (“to carry”), possibly Proto-Slavic *telěga (“cart”) (supported by Snoj). Machek tentatively proposes as an alternative ad hoc simiplificaiton of (formally incompatible) Proto-Indo-European *wetélas (“yearling”) cognate with Latin vitulus (“calf”), Ancient Greek ἔταλον (étalon, “yearling”) and akin to Proto-Germanic *weþruz (“wether, year-old lamb”).
- Temematic origin: Per Holzer, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁(y)- (“to suckle”) via a hypothetical Indo-European dialect which devoiced aspirated stops. If right, then akin to directly inherited Proto-Slavic *dětę (“child”) and further Latin filius (“son”), Albanian dele (“ewe”). Disputed by Matasović.
- Turkic loanword: From Proto-Turkic *tẹ̄l (“calf”), attested in Kazakh тел (tel), Yakut тиил (tiil) (supported by Matasović).
Noun
*telę̀ n[1][2][3]
- calf (young bovine)
Declension
Declension of *telę̀ (nt-stem, accent paradigm b)
| Singular | Dual | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | *telę̀ | *telę̀ti | *telę̀tā |
| Accusative | *telę̀ | *telę̀ti | *telę̀tā |
| Genitive | *telę̀te | *telę̀tu | *telę̀tъ |
| Locative | *telę̀te | *telę̀tu | *telę̀tьxъ |
| Dative | *telę̀ti | *telę̀tьma | *telę̀tьmъ |
| Instrumental | *telę̀tьmь | *telę̀tьma | *telę̀tȳ |
| Vocative | *telę̀ | *telę̀ti | *telę̀tā |
Derived terms
- *telenьce, *telenъkъ (diminutive)
Related terms
- *telьcь (“calf of taurus”)
- *telica (“cow with a (recently born) youngling”)
Descendants
- East Slavic:
- Belarusian: цяля́ (cjaljá)
- Russian: теля́ (teljá) (regional)
- Rusyn: теля́ (teljá)
- Ukrainian: теля́ (teljá)
- South Slavic:
- Old Church Slavonic: телѧ (telę)
- Bulgarian: теле́ (telé)
- Macedonian: теле (tele)
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: тѐле
- Latin: tèle
- Slovene: téle (tonal orthography)
- West Slavic:
- Czech: tele
- Moravian (Mistřice): tela
- Polish: cielę
- Polabian: tilą
- Silesian: cielã
- Slovak: teľa
- Slovincian: cìe̯lą
- Sorbian:
- Upper Sorbian: ćelo
- Lower Sorbian: śele
- Czech: tele
Further reading
- Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), “телёнок”, in Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), transl. and suppl. by Oleg Trubachyov, Moscow: Progress
- Todorov T., editor (2010), “теле”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volume 7, Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, page 914
- “telias”, in Lietuvių kalbos etimologinio žodyno duomenų bazė [Lithuanian etymological dictionary database], 2007–2012
References
- Olander, Thomas (2001), “telę telęte”, in Common Slavic accentological word list, Copenhagen: Editiones Olander: “b (SA 143)”
- Snoj, Marko (2016), “tele”, in Slovenski etimološki slovar3 (in Slovene), https://fran.si: “Pslovan. *telę̋, rod. *telę̋te”
- Matasović, Ranko (2013), “Substratum words in Balto-Slavic”, in Filologija, volume 60, Zagreb, published 2014, page 80 of 75–102