Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/volstь

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 *walˀstis, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wolh₁dʰh₁-ti-s, from *h₂welh₁dʰh₁-, from *h₂welh₁- (“to rule”). Morphologically as if from *vold- (“to rule”) +‎ *-tь, from the root of one of the verbs *volsti, *voldati or *volděti all meaning "to rule".

Cognate with Latvian valsts (“state, realm”), Lithuanian valstybė.

Noun

*vȏlstь f

power, authority, rule

Declension

Declension of *vȏlstь (i-stem, accent paradigm c)

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	*vȏlstь	*vȏlsti	*vȏlsti
Accusative	*vȏlstь	*vȏlsti	*vȏlsti
Genitive	*volstí	volstьjù, volsťu^*	*volstь̀jь
Locative	*volstí	volstьjù, volsťu^*	*vȏlstьxъ
Dative	*vȏlsti	*volstьmà	*vȏlstьmъ
Instrumental	*volstьjǫ́	*volstьmà	*volstьmì
Vocative	*volsti	*vȏlsti	*vȏlsti

^* 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

*obolstь

Related terms

*volsti, *volděti (to rule)

Descendants

East Slavic:
- Old East Slavic: волость (volostĭ)
  - Old Ruthenian: волость (volostʹ)
    - Belarusian: во́ласць (vólascʹ, “county”) (obsolete)
    - Ukrainian: во́лость (vólostʹ, “county”) (obsolete)
  - Russian: во́лость (vólostʹ, “county”) (obsolete)
South Slavic:
- Old Church Slavonic:
  Old Cyrillic: власть (vlastĭ)
  Glagolitic: ⰲⰾⰰⱄⱅⱐ (vlastĭ)
  - → Russian: власть (vlastʹ, “power, authority”)
  - → Rusyn: власть (vlastʹ, “power, authority”)
- Bulgarian: власт (vlast)
- Macedonian: власт (vlast)
- Serbo-Croatian:
  Cyrillic: вла̑ст
  Latin: vlȃst
- Slovene: lȃst (tonal orthography)
West Slavic:
- Old Czech: vlast (“homeland”)
  - Czech: vlast
    - Bohemian (Chod dialect): vlast
- Old Polish: włość (“manor”)
  - Polish: włość (“manor”)
- Slovak: vlasť (“homeland”)

References

Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), “во́лость”, in Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), transl. and suppl. by Oleg Trubachyov, Moscow: Progress
Derksen, Rick (2008) Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 4), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 526