Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/polxъ

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.

Likely originally meaning “hasty, uneasy, anxious” from Proto-Indo-European *pelh₁- (“to sway”) or Proto-Indo-European *pelh₂-, *pelHk- (“to get approached”) + *-xъ. Comparable with Gothic 𐌿𐍃𐍆𐌹𐌻𐌼𐌰 (usfilma, “scared”), Proto-Germanic *felhaną (“to conceal, to hide”).

*pȏlxъ^[1][2]

1. frightful, fearful, afraid
2. timid, shy (for behavior)

Accent paradigm a.

• *polšiti (“to scare”)
• *polšidlo (“scarecrow”)
• *polxostь (“anxiety”)

• *ploxъ (“plain, simplistic, meek, frivolous”) (probably related to *polxъ via schwebeablaut)
  • Old East Slavic: плохъ (ploxŭ)
    • Belarusian: пло́хі (plóxi)
    • Russian: плохо́й (ploxój)
    • Ukrainian: плохи́й (ploxýj)
  • Czech: plochý

• South Slavic:
  • Bulgarian: плах (plah)
  • Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic script: пла̏х (“hasty”)

    Latin script: plȁh (“hasty”)

  • Slovene: plȃh (tonal orthography)
• West Slavic:
  • Old Czech: plachý
    • Czech: plachý
  • Polish: płochy (obsolete)
  • Slovak: plachý

• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “плохо́й”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress
• Duridanov, I. V., Racheva, M., Todorov, T. A., editors (1996), “плах”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volume 5 (падѐж – пỳска), Sofia: Prof. Marin Drinov Pubg. House, →ISBN, page 322

Substantivation of Etymology 1.

*polxъ m

1. fright, fear

   Synonym: *straxъ

• *polxa (“cause for fear”)

• East Slavic:
  • Belarusian: по́лах (pólax, “horror”)
  • Russian: поло́х (polóx)
  • Ukrainian: по́лох (pólox, “horror”), поло́х (polóx, “fear”)
• South Slavic:
  • Old Church Slavonic: плахъ (plaxŭ)
  • Bulgarian: плах (plah) (dialectal)
    • ⇒ Bulgarian: у́плах (úplah, “scare”), запла́ха (zapláha, “danger”)

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