Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/molto

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 forms

*molta, *moltъ

Etymology

Unknown whether from the past passive participle of *melti (“to grind”) +‎ *-o, respectively from *melti (“to grind”) +‎ *-to—neuter form of *-tъ—, or borrowed from Proto-West Germanic *malt; but rather the latter, considering that the term is only strong in West Slavic and otherwise, though so only in Sorbian, one employs *soldъ.

See also Ancient Greek βύνη (búnē, “malt”), Iranian borrowing, and in recent modernity Arabic مَلْت (malt) and Persian (mâlt) had to be borrowed from English for the concept—though, or corresponding to the circumstance, that most other Arabic terms for beer and wine are also of loan origin, to illustrate the prevalence of such occurrences.

Noun

*molto n

malt
Synonym: *soldъ

Declension

Declension of *molto (hard o-stem)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*molto	*moltě	*molta
genitive	*molta	*moltu	*moltъ
dative	*moltu	*moltoma	*moltomъ
accusative	*molto	*moltě	*molta
instrumental	moltъmь, moltomь^*	*moltoma	*molty
locative	*moltě	*moltu	*moltěxъ
vocative	*molto	*moltě	*molta

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

Descendants

East Slavic:
- Belarusian: мо́лат m (mólat)
- ⇒? Russian: мо́лодь (mólodʹ), молоди́зна (molodízna)
- Ukrainian: мо́лот m (mólot)
South Slavic:
- Bulgarian: мо́лът m (mólǎt)
- Serbo-Croatian:
  Cyrillic script: мла̏та f, мла́та f, мла̑т m or f, млато n
  
  Latin script: mlȁta f, mláta f, mlȃt m or f, mlato n
- Slovene: mláta, mlátọ
West Slavic:
- Old Czech: mláto, młáto (alternative writing)
  - Czech: mláto
- Old Polish: młoto
  - Polish: młoto, młóto, młóta
- Slovak: mláto

Václav Machek (1968) “mláto”, in Etymologický slovník jazyka českého [Etymological Dictionary of the Czech Language], 2nd edition, Prague: Academia, page 368
Martynaŭ, V. U., editor (1991), “молат”, in Этымалагічны слоўнік беларускай мовы [Etymological Dictionary of the Belarusian Language] (in Belarusian), volumes 7 (мгла – не́марасць), Minsk: Navuka i technika, →ISBN
Trubachyov, Oleg, editor (1992), “*molto, *moltъ, *molta”, in Этимологический словарь славянских языков [Etymological dictionary of Slavic languages] (in Russian), numbers 19 (*męs⁽'⁾arь – *morzakъ), Moscow: Nauka, →ISBN, page 196