Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/bala

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

Uncertain:

• Most likely a cognate of Proto-Germanic *pōlaz (“pool”), possibly Sanskrit जम्बाल (jambāla, “clay”); perhaps from a substrate language. May be related to Proto-Turkic *balkas (“tussock in a swamp”), whence the name of lake Balkaš.
• In the past, has been compared to Lithuanian balà (“swamp”), balùtė (“puddle”), Latvian bala (“loamy meadow, marsh”), Sudovian bala (attested in toponyms) typically linked to Proto-Slavic *bolto (“swamp, mud”), from formally unrelated Proto-Indo-European *bʰelH- (“to shine”). Dismissed as potential cognates by Smoczyński.
• Marusenko (in regard to the Russian/Ukrainian descendants) proposes native back-formation from Proto-Slavic *obaliti (“to submerge, to collapse”) < *ob-valiti.

Compare also superficial homophone Ukrainian ба́ла (bála, “enchanting”) (< *badla), related to Proto-Slavic *balagovati (“to mumble”), *balakati (“to babble, to make noise”) (whence dial. Bulgarian бала́кам (balákam, “to play in water”)).

Noun

*bala f

1. (dialectal) marsh, moor, pool

   Synonyms: *molka, *kaluga, *luža

2. (by association) ravine

Declension

Declension of *bala (hard a-stem)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*bala	*balě	*baly
genitive	*baly	*balu	*balъ
dative	*balě	*balama	*balamъ
accusative	*balǫ	*balě	*baly
instrumental	*balojǫ, *balǫ**	*balama	*balami
locative	*balě	*balu	*balasъ, *balaxъ*
vocative	*balo	*balě	*baly

^* -asъ is the expected Balto-Slavic form but is found only in some Old Czech documents; -axъ is found everywhere else and is formed by analogy with other locative plurals in -xъ.
^** The second form occurs in languages that contract early across /j/ (e.g. Czech), while the first form occurs in languages that do not (e.g. Russian).

Derived terms

• *balъka (diminutive)
• *bališče (augmentative)

Related terms

• *baly (probably)
  • ⇒ Czech: balviště (“large pond”)
  • ⇒ Slovene: balovína (“feather grass”)

Descendants

• South Slavic:
  • ⇒ Kajkavian Serbo-Croatian: bala, balka (“feather grass”) (dial. Croatian)

From augmentative *bališče:

• East Slavic:
  • Ukrainian: ба́лище (bályšče, “depression, drainage”) (dialectal)

Further reading

• Trubachyov, Oleg, editor (1974), “*balъka”, in Этимологический словарь славянских языков [Etymological dictionary of Slavic languages] (in Russian), numbers 1 (*a – *besědьlivъ), Moscow: Nauka, page 149
• Georgiev, Vladimir I., editor (1971), “балакам”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volume 1 (А – З), Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Pubg. House, →ISBN, page 28
• “bala”, in Lietuvių kalbos etimologinio žodyno duomenų bazė [Lithuanian etymological dictionary database], 2007–2012