Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/běsъ

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 1

Inherited from Proto-Balto-Slavic *baiˀsás (“someone frightening”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyh₂- (“to fear, be afraid”).

Noun

*bě̑sъ m^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]

demon, evil spirit
Synonym: *čь̑rtъ

Inflection

Declension of *bě̑sъ (hard o-stem, accent paradigm c)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*bě̑sъ	*bě̑sa	*bě̑si
genitive	*bě̑sa	*běsù	*bě̃sъ
dative	*bě̑su	*běsomà	*běsòmъ
accusative	*bě̑sъ	*bě̑sa	*bě̑sy
instrumental	bě̑sъmь, bě̑somь^*	*běsomà	*běsý
locative	*bě̑sě	*běsù	*běsě̃xъ
vocative	*běse	*bě̑sa	*bě̑si

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

Derived terms

verbs

*běsiti impf (“to drive madness”)
*běsovati impf (“to go crazy”)

adjectives

*běsьnъ (“devilish”)
*běsovъ (“devilish”)

Related terms

nouns

*běsьnikъ (“a possessed man, a madman”)

Descendants

East Slavic:
- Old East Slavic: бѣсъ (běsŭ)
  - Old Ruthenian: бѣсъ (běs)
    - Belarusian: бес (bjes)
    - Ukrainian: біс (bis)
    - → Old Polish: bies, bis
      - Polish: bies, bis
    - → Lithuanian: bíesas
  - Russian: бес (bes)
South Slavic
- Old Church Slavonic: бѣсъ (běsŭ)
- Bulgarian: бя́с (bjás)
- Serbo-Croatian:
  Cyrillic script: бе̑с, бије̑с
  
  Latin script: bȇs, bijȇs
- Slovene: bẹ̑s (tonal orthography)
West Slavic:
- Old Czech: běs, bies, bís
  - Czech: běs
- Kashubian: biés
- ⇒ Old Polish: Biasowice (toponym)
  - Polish: Biasowice
- Slovak: bes
- Sorbian:
  - Old Lower Sorbian: běs
  - Upper Sorbian: běs

References

^ Derksen, Rick (2008) “*bě̑sъ”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 4), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 40: “m. o (c) ‘demon’”
^ Olander, Thomas (2001) “běsъ běsa”, in Common Slavic Accentological Word List‎^[1], Copenhagen: Editiones Olander: “c (SA 81; PR 137; RPT 98, 102)”
^ Snoj, Marko (2016) “bẹ̑s”, in Slovenski etimološki slovar [Slovenian Etymology Dictionary] (in Slovene), 3rd edition, https://fran.si: “Pslovan. *bě̑sъ”
^ Trubachyov, Oleg, editor (1975), “běsъ”, in Этимологический словарь славянских языков [Etymological dictionary of Slavic languages] (in Russian), numbers 2 (*bez – *bratrъ), Moscow: Nauka, page 88
^ Sławski, Franciszek, editor (1974), “běsъ 1”, in Słownik prasłowiański [Proto-Slavic Dictionary] (in Polish), volume 1 (a – bьzděti), Wrocław: Ossolineum, page 244

Etymology 2

From *běsiti (“to enrage”).