Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/vъšь

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, possibly ultimately connected with Proto-Germanic *lūs, Pokorny deriving both from Proto-Indo-European *lewH- (“louse”).

Possibly related to Baltic *ut-, cf. Lithuanian utėlė̃, utìs, Latvian uts. Compare also Lithuanian vievesà. The forms may have been distorted because of linguistic taboos.

Noun

*vъ̏šь f

1. louse

Inflection

Declension of *vъ̏šь (i-stem, accent paradigm c)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*vъ̏šь	*vъ̏ši	*vъ̏ši
genitive	*vъší	*vъšьjù, *vъšu*	*vъšь̀jь
dative	*vъ̏ši	*vъšьmà	*vъ̏šьmъ
accusative	*vъ̏šь	*vъ̏ši	*vъ̏ši
instrumental	*vъšьjǫ́	*vъšьmà	*vъšьmì
locative	*vъší	*vъšьjù, *vъšu*	*vъ̏šьxъ
vocative	*vъši	*vъ̏ši	*vъ̏ši

^* 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:
  • Old East Slavic: въшь (vŭšĭ)
    • Belarusian: вош (voš)
    • Russian: вошь (vošʹ)
    • Carpathian Rusyn: уша (uša)
    • Ukrainian: во́ша (vóša), вош (voš)
• South Slavic:
  • Old Church Slavonic:

    Old Cyrillic script: въшь (vŭšĭ)

    Glagolitic script: ⰲⱏⱎⱐ (vŭšĭ)

    • Bulgarian: въ́шка (vǎ́ška)
    • Macedonian: вошка (voška)
  • Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic script: ва̑ш, у̑ш

    Latin script: vȃš, ȗš

  • Slovene: ȗš, ȕš (tonal orthography)
• West Slavic:
  • Old Czech: veš
    • Czech: veš
  • Old Polish: wesz
    • Polish: wesz
    • Silesian: wesz
  • Old Slovak: voš
    • Pannonian Rusyn: вша (vša)
    • Slovak: voš
  • Polabian: vås
  • Pomeranian:
    • Kashubian: wesz
    • Slovincian: wesz
  • Sorbian:
    • Lower Sorbian: woš, weš
    • Upper Sorbian: woš

Further reading

• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “вошь”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress
• Skok, Petar (1973) “Proto-Slavic/vъšь”, in Etimologijski rječnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika [Etymological Dictionary of the Croatian or Serbian Language] (in Serbo-Croatian), volumes 3 (poni² – Ž), Zagreb: JAZU, page 550
• Melnychuk, O. S., editor (1982), “воша”, in Етимологічний словник української мови [Etymological Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language] (in Ukrainian), volume 1 (А – Г), Kyiv: Naukova Dumka, page 431