Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/plěna

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

From Proto-Balto-Slavic *plēnāˀ, from Proto-Indo-European *plēn-eh₂, from the root *pel- (“to cover, wrap; covering, skin, hide”). Baltic cognates include Latvian plẽne, Lithuanian plėnė̃ (“membrane”), Old Prussian pleynis (“cerebral membrane”).

Noun

*plěna f

1. membrane

Declension

Declension of *plěna (hard a-stem)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*plěna	*plěně	*plěny
genitive	*plěny	*plěnu	*plěnъ
dative	*plěně	*plěnama	*plěnamъ
accusative	*plěnǫ	*plěně	*plěny
instrumental	*plěnojǫ, *plěnǫ**	*plěnama	*plěnami
locative	*plěně	*plěnu	*plěnasъ, *plěnaxъ*
vocative	*plěno	*plěně	*plěny

^* -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).

Descendants

• East Slavic:
  • ⇒ Belarusian: плёнка (pljónka, “film”)
  • Russian: плена́ (plená, “membrane”)
    • ⇒ Russian: плёнка (pljónka, “film”)
  • Ukrainian: пліна́ (pliná, “membrane”), плінь (plinʹ)
• South Slavic:
  • Slovene: plẹ́na
• West Slavic:
  • Czech: plena (“membrane”)
  • ⇒ Polish: plama (“stain”)
    • → Ukrainian: пля́ма (pljáma)

Further reading

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