Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/vila

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

Unknown. Sometimes compared with *viljati or vyti. Perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *h₂weh₁- (“to blow (of wind)”).

Noun

*vila f

South Slavic: a kind of female nature spirit with supernatural powers, similar to a nymph or a fairy

Declension

Declension of *vila (hard a-stem)

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	*vila	*vilě	*vily
Accusative	*vilǫ	*vilě	*vily
Genitive	*vily	*vilu	*vilъ
Locative	*vilě	*vilu	vilasъ, vilaxъ^*
Dative	*vilě	*vilama	*vilamъ
Instrumental	vilojǫ, vilǫ^**	*vilama	*vilami
Vocative	*vilo	*vilě	*vily

^* -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

South Slavic:
- Old Church Slavonic:
  Old Cyrillic: вила (vila)
  Glagolitic: ⰲⰻⰾⰰ (vila)
  - → Old East Slavic: вила (vila)
    - Belarusian: віла (vila)
    - Russian: вила́ (vilá)
    - Ukrainian: вила (vyla)
- Bulgarian: вила (vila)
- Macedonian: вила (vila)
⇒ Macedonian: самовила (samovila)
- Serbo-Croatian:
  Cyrillic: вила
  Latin: vȉla
- Slovene: vila
- → Czech: víla
  - → Upper Sorbian: wiła
- → German: Wilis pl (in the context of Giselle)
  - → Russian: вилисы pl (vilisy) and виллисы pl (villisy) (in the context of Giselle)
- → Polish: wiła
- → Slovak: víla

References

Reiter, Norbert (1973). "Mythologie der alten Slaven". In Haussig, Hans Wilhelm (ed.). Wörterbuch der Mythologie (in German). 2. pp. 163–208.