Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/dętelъ

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 *delbtelas, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰelbʰ-tel-o-s, from *dʰelbʰ- (“to dig, excavate”). Equivalent to *dьlbiti +‎ *-telъ (an older variant of *-teľь). The nasal reflex is normally explained as a result of dissimilation l-l > n-l. The etymon is derived from *dьlbti (rather than from a hypothetical *dęti) on account of its dialectal synonyms *dьlbačь and *dьlbadlo (attested in Bulgarian and Ukrainian).

Noun

*dętelъ m

1. woodpecker

   Synonyms: *dьlbačь, *kľьvačь

Declension

Declension of *dętelъ (hard o-stem)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*dętelъ	*dętela	*dęteli
genitive	*dętela	*dętelu	*dętelъ
dative	*dętelu	*dęteloma	*dętelomъ
accusative	*dętelъ	*dętela	*dętely
instrumental	*dętelъmь, *dętelomь*	*dęteloma	*dętely
locative	*dętelě	*dętelu	*dętelěxъ
vocative	*dętele	*dętela	*dęteli

^* -ъmь in North Slavic, -omь in South Slavic.

Related terms

• *delto (“chisel”)
• *dolto (“chisel”)
• *dьlbiti (“to be delving”)
• *dьlti (“to delve”)

Derived terms

• *dętelina (“clover (Trifolium)”)

Descendants

• East Slavic:
  • Belarusian: дзя́цел (dzjácjel)
  • Russian: дя́тел (djátel)
  • Ukrainian: дя́тел (djátel)

• South Slavic:
  • Macedonian: детел (detel)
  • Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic script: дјетао

    Latin script: djetao

  • Slovene: detel

• West Slavic:
  • Czech: datel
  • Polish: dzięcioł
  • Slovak: ďateľ

References

• Derksen, Rick (2008) “*dętelъ”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 4), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 107
• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “дя́тел”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress