Cognate Set 1190 – Meaning: white

IE-CoR reference form:
*bʰelH-
IE-CoR reference language:
Proto-Indo-European
Ideophonic:
no
Parallel derivation:
no
Justification:
The connection of the Baltic and Slavic lexemes to each other is generally agreed upon, but extra Balto-Slavic connections, and subsequently any precise IE root reconstruction, remain debated. ALEW (90-91 s.v. OLith. *bálti 'weiß, blass, bleich werden') suggests that a connection with PIE *bʰeh₂- 'shine' is not inconceivable; Derksen 2008:40 and Derksen 2015:80 postulate a root *bʰelH-. The reconstructed PIE root ref. form for this class follows that of Derksen, but it should be borne in mind that this form remains provisional as the morphological analysis of the Balto-Slavic forms and their proposed further IE connections have yet to be satisfactorily explained. Cf. also ESSJa 2:79-81.
Found in clades:
Baltic, Slavic
Revised by:
Matthew Scarborough
Found in 2 clades by 26 lexemes.
Language Lexeme Native script Phonetic Phonemic Notes
79   Bulgarian bâl бял bʲɑ̈ɫ bjal
98   Belarusian bely белы ˈbʲɛɫɨ ˈbʲeli
93   Czech bílý ˈbiːliː ˈbiːliː
76   Lithuanian báltas ˈbɑˑltɐs ˈbaˑltas
95   Sorbian: Lower běły ˈbʲɪwɘ̟ ˈbɪwɘ̟
94   Sorbian: Upper běły ˈbɪwɘ̟ ˈbɪwɘ̟
80   Macedonian bel бел be̞ɫ bel
88   Polish biały ˈbʲjɑ̈wɘ̟ ˈbjawɨ
97   Russian belyj белый ˈbʲɛɫɘj ˈbʲelij
83   Serbo-Croat bijel bjê̞ːɫ bjêːl Ekavian variant: 'beo, bel' /bê.o, bêːl/ [bɛ̂.ɔ, bê̞ːl].
91   Slovak biely ˈbiɛli ˈbieli
85   Slovene bel bèːw bèːv
99   Ukrainian bìlij білий ˈbʲiɫɪ̽j ˈbilɪj
78   Old Church Slavonic bělŭ бѣлъ bælʊ̆ bælʊ
74   Latvian balts bɑlts bɑlts spaces or dashes inserted
90   Polabian b́olĕ ˈbʲɔlɘ ˈbjolɘ
89   Kashubian biôłi ˈbjɛ̽wɘ̟ ˈbjɜwi
75   Latgalian bolts bɔlts bɔlts
87   Old Polish biały ˈbʲɒːɫɨː ˈbʲaːliː
92   Old Czech bielý ˈbʲeːɫɨː ˈbjeːliː
96   Old Novgorod bělyi бѣлыи ˈbʲelɛjɪ̆ ˈbʲelɛjɪ
100   Rusyn bílωj bilɤ̟j ˈbilɯj
81   Macedonian: Suho b′ä̀ł bʲæɫ bæl
82   Macedonian: Visoka b′ä̀ł bʲæɫ bæl
86   Slovene: Kostel bel be̝ːw be̝ːl
84   Slovene: Early Modern beil
References
  • Derksen, Rick: 40
    S.v. Proto-Slavic *bělъ 'white' (ESSJa II 79-81), from earlier *bʰelH- (cf. Lith. bãlas 'white', Latv. bā̀ls, bãls 'pale'; bal̃ts 'white').
  • Derksen, Rick: 80
    S.v. Lith. báltas 'white' (Latv. bal̃ts 'white'), from PIE *bʰolH-to- (cf. PSl. *bòlto 'swamp', Alb. baltë 'mud, swamp', Mod.Gk. βάλτος 'swamp', Rom. baltă 'mud, swamp'). For the semantics cf. Lith. balà 'swamp' = PSl. bělъ 'white'.
  • Hock, Wolfgang and Fecht, Rainer and Feulner, Anna Helene and Hill, Eugen and Wodtko, Dagmar S.: 87, 89-91
    S.v. OLith. báltas 'weiß' (BSl. cf. Latv. bal̃ts 'weiß', OCS blato 'Sumpf', etc.). The East Baltic word for white is morphologically closest to the past passive participle of OLith. *bálti 'weiß, blass, bleich werden'. The also lexicalised Slavic correspondence shows that the adjective was already Proto-Balto-Slavic. On the semantic development of 'white' > 'swamp' in Slavic, see ESSJa 2:180. Lith. bálti is a denominal incohative to Lith. bãlas 'weiß' which has been replaced by báltas. Lith. bãlas is put together with Gk. φαλός (Hesych.) 'weiß', φαλιός 'hell; weißfleckig' (cf. Frisk 1960-1972 2.988f.), Arm. bal 'Nebel, weißer fleck' (cf. Martirosyan 2010:162f.), and Alb. bálë 'weißer Fleck auf der Stirn von Tieren, Blässe' (cf. Demiraj 1997:87). Lith. bãlas is not to be separated from the Slavic lexemes, e.g. OCS bělъ. Ru. bélyj, Cz. bílý, etc., which apparently have a reflex of Proto-Slavic *ē in the root. The morphological relationship within the family and the identification of a common is yet to be explained. The often assumed connection with PIE *bʰeh₂- 'glänzen, leuchten' (cf. Ved. 3.sg.pres. bhā́ti, Gk. φάντα (Hesych.) 'leuchtend') is conceivable.
  • Scarborough, Matthew:
    The connection of the Baltic and Slavic lexemes to each other is generally agreed upon, but extra Balto-Slavic connections, and subsequently any precise IE root reconstruction, remain debated. [ALEW](src-352) (90-91 s.v. OLith. *bálti 'weiß, blass, bleich werden') suggests that a connection with PIE *bʰeh₂- 'shine' is not inconceivable; [Derksen 2008](src-81):40 and [Derksen 2015](src-353):80 postulate a root *bʰelH-. The reconstructed PIE root ref. form for this class follows that of Derksen, but it should be borne in mind that this form remains provisional as the morphological analysis of the Balto-Slavic forms and their proposed further IE connections have yet to be satisfactorily explained. Cf. also [ESSJa](src-458) 2:79-81.
  • Trubačev, O. N.: 2: 79-81
    An issue in the reconstruction of PS *bělŭ is the root vowel. However, it can be established that the output form was *belo-, with a short monophthong. It is related to Greek φαλός 'white', Breton bal 'white spot on the forehead (of a horse, cow, dog)' and Lithuanian bãlas 'white'. PIE *bʰel- / *bʰol-.