Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/kaliti

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 1

From *kalъ (“mud, dirt”) +‎ *-iti.

Verb

*kaliti

1. to soil, muddle (e. g. water)

Derived terms

• *kaľati

Descendants

• South Slavic:
  • Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic script: ка́лити

    Latin script: káliti

  • Slovene: kalíti
• West Slavic:
  • Czech: kaliti
  • Kashubian: kalëc
  • Polish: kalić (obsolete)
  • Slovak: kaliť

Etymology 2

Uncertain.

According to one hypothesis, cognate with Latin callus (“hard”) and a group of Celtic words with senses like 'hard, strong, cruel', e. g. Gaulish Caleti, Old Irish calad, Welsh caled etc. Thus possibly derived from Proto-Indo-European *keHl-/*kHl-.

According to Trubachev, a Slavic semantical development in the Iron Age from *kaliti I, explained by clay (which was used in the tempering process) muddling the water in which the metal ware was tempered. In such a case the aforementioned Celtic words may have developed from *ḱlH-eto (“cold”), see Proto-Celtic *kaletos, as proposed by Joseph (leaving callus without an etymology).

Relation to Latvian kàlstu, kàlst (“to dry up, solidify”) is unclear.

Verb

*kaliti

1. to temper
2. to case-harden

Descendants

• East Slavic:
  • Russian: кали́ть (kalítʹ, “to heat, roast”)
  • Ukrainian: кали́ти (kalýty)
• South Slavic:
  • Bulgarian: каля́ (kaljá, “to temper, case-harden”)
  • Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic script: ка́лити (“to temper, case-harden”)

    Latin script: káliti

  • Slovene: kalíti (“to temper, case-harden”)
• West Slavic:
  • Czech: kalit (“to temper, case-harden”)
  • Slovak: kaliť (“to temper, case-harden”)

Further reading

• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “кали́ть”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress