Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/lilъ

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

Probably substantivized adjective from Proto-Balto-Slavic *léilas (“thin, slim”), cognate with Lithuanian leĩlas (“slim, slender”), Latvian liẽls (“upright, high, great”). Further origin uncertain.

Compared by Berneker to Sanskrit लयते (láyate, “to melt, to dissolve”), ॡयति (līyati, “to stick, to cling to”) (root ली (lī)), Ancient Greek λειρός (leirós, “smooth, thin”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ley- (“to slip, to slide, to stick”).

Alternatively, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *leh₁y- (“to release, to disappear, to pour”) distantly akin to Proto-Germanic *lītilaz, *lūtilaz (“little”) and Ancient Greek λιτός (litós, “delicate”). In the later case, effectively equivalent to *liti (“to pour, to drift”) +‎ *-lъ with semantics shifted from driven away → peeled → thin membrane.

Noun

*lilъ m

1. thin membrane, bark (of plants), skin (of animals)

Alternative forms

• *lila f

Declension

Declension of *lilъ (hard o-stem)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*lilъ	*lila	*lili
genitive	*lila	*lilu	*lilъ
dative	*lilu	*liloma	*lilomъ
accusative	*lilъ	*lila	*lily
instrumental	*lilъmь, *lilomь*	*liloma	*lily
locative	*lilě	*lilu	*lilěxъ
vocative	*lile	*lila	*lili

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

Derived terms

• *liliti (“to peel, to skin; to molt”)
• *lilikъ, *liľakъ (“bat”) (probably)
  • → Romanian: liliac

Related terms

• *liněti (“to loose wieght, to weaken, to dwindle”) (possibly)
• *listъ (“leaf”) (possibly)

Descendants

• South Slavic:
  • Bulgarian: лил (lil) (dialectal)
  • Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic script: лѝла f

    Latin script: lìla f

  • ⇒ Slovene: lílek (“molten snakeskin”) (dialectal)

Further reading

• Trubachyov, Oleg, editor (1988), “*lila II”, in Этимологический словарь славянских языков [Etymological dictionary of Slavic languages] (in Russian), numbers 15 (*lětina – *lokačь), Moscow: Nauka, →ISBN, page 107
• Georgiev, Vladimir I., editor (1986), “лил”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volumes 3 (крес¹ – мѝнго¹), Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Pubg. House, page 401
• Snoj, Marko (2016) “liliti se”, in Slovenski etimološki slovar [Slovenian Etymology Dictionary] (in Slovene), 3rd edition, https://fran.si
• “leilas”, in Lietuvių kalbos etimologinio žodyno duomenų bazė [Lithuanian etymological dictionary database], 2007–2012