Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/čelnъ

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

Of undetermined origin; perhaps from *čeliti (“to cut, to abate”) +‎ *-nъ, itself of unknown origin. Possibly from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kel- (“to crook, to shape”).

Noun

*čȇlnъ m

1. segment, part
2. member (of a group)

Declension

Declension of *čȇlnъ (hard o-stem, accent paradigm c)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*čȇlnъ	*čȇlna	*čȇlni
genitive	*čȇlna	*čelnù	*čẽlnъ
dative	*čȇlnu	*čelnomà	*čelnòmъ
accusative	*čȇlnъ	*čȇlna	*čȇlny
instrumental	*čȇlnъmь, *čȇlnomь*	*čelnomà	*čelný
locative	*čȇlně	*čelnù	*čelně̃xъ
vocative	*čelne	*čȇlna	*čȇlni

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

Derived terms

• *čelnъkъ (“organ, part of the body”)
• *čelnьcь (“article”)

Descendants

• East Slavic:
  • Old East Slavic:
    • Russian: челено́ (čelenó) (dialectal)
    • Ukrainian: челе́н (čelén)
• South Slavic:
  • Old Church Slavonic: *члѣнъ (*člěnŭ)
    • → Russian: член (člen)
    • → Romanian: ciolan
  • Bulgarian: член (člen)
  • Macedonian: член (člen)
  • Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic script: чла̑н

    Latin script: člȃn

  • Slovene: člȇn
• West Slavic:
  • Czech: člen
  • ⇒ Old Polish: członek
    • Polish: członek
    • Silesian: człōnek
  • Slovak: člen
  • Sorbian:
    • Lower Sorbian: cłon

Further reading

• Trubachyov, Oleg, editor (1977), “*čelnъ”, in Этимологический словарь славянских языков [Etymological dictionary of Slavic languages] (in Russian), numbers 4 (*čaběniti – *děľa), Moscow: Nauka, page 44
• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “член”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress