Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/metъla

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

Alternative reconstructions

• *metla (per Vaillant)
• *metьla (per Bernecker, Vasmer, Georgiev, Mladenov)

Etymology

From *mesti (“to sweep”) +‎ *-ъla (instrumental).

Scholars have variously reconstructed it with *ъ or *ь. Trubachev argues that derivatives such as the Polish diminutive miotełka or the Russian diminutive метёлка (metjólka) do not provide unambiguous evidence for either *ъ or *ь. Ultimately Trubachev opts for *ъ on the basis of the /u/ found in the presumed borrowings into Albanian and Romance listed below.

Noun

*metъlà f

1. broom, besom
2. grass plant used for making brooms

Alternative forms

• *metъlo n

Inflection

Declension of *metъla (hard a-stem)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*metъla	*metъlě	*metъly
genitive	*metъly	*metъlu	*metъlъ
dative	*metъlě	*metъlama	*metъlamъ
accusative	*metъlǫ	*metъlě	*metъly
instrumental	*metъlojǫ, *metъlǫ**	*metъlama	*metъlami
locative	*metъlě	*metъlu	*metъlasъ, *metъlaxъ*
vocative	*metъlo	*metъlě	*metъly

^* -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

• *metъlъka (diminutive)
• *metъlica, *metъličina (“windgrass (Apera)”)
• *metъlikъ, *metъliga (“meadow-grass (Роа)”)
• *metъlařь (“broom-maker”)

Related terms

• *mesti (“to throw”)
• *metati (“to toss, to throw”)
• *motati (“to reel”)
• *metъka (“sweeper”)
• *metyľь (“parasite affecting the guts”) (possibly)
• *motyľь (“moth”) (possibly)

Descendants

• East Slavic:
  • Old East Slavic: метъла (metŭla)
    • Old Ruthenian: метла (metla)
      • Belarusian: мятла́ (mjatlá); метла́ (mjetlá), мітла́ (mitlá), мытла́ (mytlá) (dialectal)
      • Ukrainian: мітла́ (mitlá); метла́ (metlá) (dialectal)
    • Russian: метла́ (metlá); метло́ n (metló), мятло́ n (mjatló) (dialectal)
• South Slavic:
  • Bulgarian: метла́ (metlá)
  • Macedonian: метла (metla)
  • Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic script: мѐтла; метла̏ (dialectal)

    Latin script: mètla; metlȁ (dialectal)

  • Slovene: métla
• West Slavic:
  • Old Czech: metla
    • Czech: metla
  • Old Polish:
    • Polish: miotła; miotło n (dialectal)
  • Old Slovak: metla
    • Pannonian Rusyn: метла (metla)
    • Slovak: metla
  • Polabian: metlă
  • Sorbian:
    • Upper Sorbian: mjetla (“wand”, with -l- spread from mjetlica); mjetło n
    • Lower Sorbian: mjetła

• Non-Slavic: (presumed borrowings)
  • → Albanian: nétull, nétullë, netëll — Dibër, Mat, Krujë
  • → Vulgar Latin: *metula
    • Aromanian: meturã
    • Istro-Romanian: méturę, métulę
    • Megleno-Romanian: metură, mietură
    • Romanian: mătură, mătoră, mătără — regional or obsolete

Further reading

• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “метла”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress
• Trubachyov, Oleg, editor (1992), “*metъla/*metъlo”, in Этимологический словарь славянских языков [Etymological dictionary of Slavic languages] (in Russian), numbers 18 (*matoga – *mękyšьka), Moscow: Nauka, →ISBN, page 123
• Georgiev, Vladimir I., editor (1986), “метла”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volume 3 (крес¹ – мѝнго¹), Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Pubg. House, page 769