Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/vъšь

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Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/vъšь

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

Uncertain, possibly ultimately connected with Proto-Germanic *lūs, Pokorny deriving both from Proto-Indo-European *lewH- (“louse”).[1]

Possibly related to Baltic *ut-, cf. Lithuanian utėlė̃, utìs, Latvian uts. Compare also Lithuanian vievesà. The forms may have been distorted because of linguistic taboos.

Noun

*vъ̏šь f[2]

1. louse

Inflection

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

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	*vъ̏šь	*vъ̏ši	*vъ̏ši
Accusative	*vъ̏šь	*vъ̏ši	*vъ̏ši
Genitive	*vъší	*vъšьjù, *vъšu*	*vъšь̀jь
Locative	*vъší	*vъšьjù, *vъšu*	*vъ̏šьxъ
Dative	*vъ̏ši	*vъšьmà	*vъ̏šьmъ
Instrumental	*vъšьjǫ́	*vъšьmà	*vъšьmì
Vocative	*vъši	*vъ̏ši	*vъ̏ši

^* 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

• East Slavic:
  • Old East Slavic: въшь (vŭšĭ)
    • Belarusian: вош (voš)
    • Russian: вошь (vošʹ)
    • Rusyn: уша (uša)
    • Ukrainian: во́ша (vóša), вош (voš)
• South Slavic:
  • Old Church Slavonic:

    Cyrillic: въшь (vŭšĭ)

    Glagolitic: ⰲⱏⱎⱐ (vŭšĭ)

  • Bulgarian: въ́шка (vǎ́ška)
  • Macedonian: вошка (voška)
  • Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic: ва̑ш, у̑ш

    Latin: vȃš, ȗš, (Kajkavian) vus

  • Slovene: ȗš, ȕš (tonal orthography)
• West Slavic:
  • Old Czech: veš
    • Czech: veš
  • Kashubian: wesz
  • Polabian: vås
  • Old Polish: wesz
    • Polish: wesz
  • Slovak: voš
  • Slovincian: vẽi̯š
  • Sorbian:
    • Lower Sorbian: woš, weš
    • Upper Sorbian: woš

Further reading

• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), “вошь”, in Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), transl. and suppl. by Oleg Trubachyov, Moscow: Progress
• Skok, Petar (1973) Etimologijski rječnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika (in Serbo-Croatian), volume 3, Zagreb: JAZU, page 550
• Melnychuk, O. S., editor (1982–2012), “воша”, in Етимологічний словник української мови [Etymological Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language] (in Ukrainian), Kyiv: Naukova Dumka

References

1. Pokorny, Julius (1959) Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 2, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 692
2. Derksen, Rick (2008), “*vъ̑šь”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 4), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 532