-ело

Bulgarian

Etymology 1

Sparsely attested, from an earlier -ѣло (-ělo). Possibly built upon the instrumental suffix Proto-Slavic *-dlo, appended to forms ending in ě-stem (similar to Bulgarian -ало (-alo), -ило (-ilo)), or less likely from Proto-Slavic *-ělь + *-o (“neuter marker”). Virtually unproductive in Modern Bulgarian and in other Slavic languages.

Episodic cognates include Czech stavědlo (“controlling center”), Russian сиде́лка (sidélka, “post, guardian, caretaker”) (diminutive).

Suffix

-ело • (-elo) n

1. Deverbal, forming neuter instrumental or effect nouns.

   dialectal одея (odeja, “to serve as a covering”) (ě/V-conj) → одеяло (odejalo, “blanket”)

2. Denominal, forming neuter instrumental or effect nouns, probably via an intermediate (often obsolete) stative/essive verb.

   кола (kola, “car”), dialectal коло (kolo, “wheelwright”) → *колея (*koleja) → колело (kolelo, “wheel”) (probably)

Alternative forms

• -яло (-jalo) — after roots ending in a vowel

Derived terms

• -елка f (-elka) (diminutive)
• -елица f (-elica)

Related terms

• -ло (-lo)
• -ало (-alo)
• -ило (-ilo)

Etymology 2

From Proto-Slavic *-elo, possibly reanalyzed from Etymology 1.

Suffix

-ело • (-elo) n

1. Deverbal, forming neuter instrumental or effect nouns.

   чуча (čuča, “to stand/stick in one place”) (dialectal) → чучело (čučelo, “dummy, stuffed animal”)

   кръщавам (krǎštavam, “to baptize”) → кръщело (krǎštelo, “baptism”)