Reconstruction:Proto-Balto-Slavic/lēiˀstei

This Proto-Balto-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-Balto-Slavic

Alternative reconstructions

Alternative forms

*laiˀstéi

Etymology

Exact origin disputed, but perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)leh₁- (“to release”) ~ *(s)ley- (“to slide, to slip”) whence Hittite [script needed] (lāⁱ-, “to release”):

Derksen (EDBIL): From Proto-Indo-European *leyd- (“to play, contend”), related to Old Irish láidid (“to exhort”), Latin lūdō (“to play”).
Rasmussen, Klingenschmitt: From Proto-Indo-European *leh₁id-, related to Proto-Germanic *lētaną (“to let”), perhaps Old Church Slavonic лѣть (lětĭ, “permissibly”), лѣтьба (lětĭba, “possibility”), Ancient Greek λαιδρός (laidrós, “bold, impudent”) (via alternative extensions).
Smoczyński: Rebracketed from a dʰé-present of Proto-Indo-European *leyH-, whence Proto-Balto-Slavic *leiˀtéi (“to pour”).

Reconstruction notes

Long grade per Stang (affirmed by Bammesberger), eventually shortened due to lenition of V̄R-diphthongs. Oxytone due to Latvian broken tone, hence no application of Hirt's law.^[2]

Rasmussen proposes short grade (due to pre-Balto-Slavic laryngeal metathesis) and stress on the root.

Verb

*lēiˀstei

to let, to allow
to release, to set in motion
(in modern descendants) → to publish, to launch

Conjugation

Varying:

athematic present in Old Lithuanian
je-present in modern descendants

Fixed accent for later je-present conjugation. Possibly mobile accent for earlier athematic conjugation.

Derived terms

*láiˀdas (resultant nominal)
- East Baltic:
  - ⇒ Latvian: palaidējs m, palaidēja f (“launcher”)
  - ⇒ Lithuanian: paláidas (“lax, slack”)
  - ⇒ Lithuanian: nuolaidùs (“pliable”)
  - ⇒ Lithuanian: láidoti (“to burry”)
- West Baltic:
  - ⇒ Old Prussian: palayde (per Cīzemers: "Nachlass eines Verstorbenen")

Related terms

*leiˀtéi (“to pour”) (possibly)
*līˀd-
- ⇒ Lithuanian: lýsti (“to give away”), lydė́ti (“to escort”)

Descendants

With е̄-vocalism:

East Baltic:
- Lithuanian: léisti (standard)

With a-vocalism:

East Baltic:
- Latgalian: laist
- Latvian: laîst
- Lithuanian: láisti (dialectal, Fraenkel)

References

^ Jense Rasmussen (1989) “I. Interaktion von Laryngalen und Halbvokalen”, in Studien zur morphophonemik der indogermanischen Grundsprache, Innsbruck: Institut für Sprachwissenschaft der Universität Innsbruck, page 55
^ Derksen, Rick (2015) “leisti”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Baltic Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 13), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 277

[1] Jense Rasmussen (1989) “I. Interaktion von Laryngalen und Halbvokalen”, in Studien zur morphophonemik der indogermanischen Grundsprache, Innsbruck: Institut für Sprachwissenschaft der Universität Innsbruck, page 55

[2] Derksen, Rick (2015) “leisti”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Baltic Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 13), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 277

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