proper noun · femininefirst declension
Vī̆stula
Vī̆stula f sg (genitive Vī̆stulae)
Classical[ˈwiːs.tʊ.ɫa]Ecclesiastical[ˈvis.tu.la]
Meaning
- Vistula
Sclavini a Civitate Novidunensi (Mss. : Civitate Nova et Sclavino Rumunensi), et lacu qui appellatur Mursianus (var. : Musianus, Murianus), usque ad Danastrum, et in Boream Viscla tenus commorantur: hi paludes silvasque pro civitatibus habent.
The Slavs abide from Noviodunum ad Istrum now known as Isákča and the Mursa lake to the Dniester, and farther north up to the Vistula: here they have the swamps and forests for municipalities.551, Jordanes, De origine actibusque Getarum, section V:
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | Vī̆stula | — |
| genitive | Vī̆stulae Visclae, Vislae, Vistlae, Visulae | — |
| dative | Vī̆stulae Visclae, Vislae, Vistlae, Visulae | — |
| accusative | Vī̆stulam Visclam, Vislam, Vistlam, Visulam | — |
| ablative | Vī̆stulā | — |
| vocative | Vī̆stula | — |
Vistŭla, ae, f.,
I. a river in Eastern Germany, the mod. Weichsel or Vistula, Mel. 3, 4, 1; Plin. 4, 12, 25, § 81; 4, 13, 27, § 97; 4, 14, 28, § 100.—Called also Vistillus, i, m., Plin. 4, 14, 28, § 100.
Origins
In the form Visula and Visla at least sometimes directly acquired from Proto-Slavic *Visъla. The form Viscla resolves the /sl/ cluster like in Sclavus, uncommon in Latin, and in Germanic, via which it has sometimes been acquired. Often explained as from the Proto-Indo-European root *weys- (“to flow”) as in Proto-Germanic *waisǭ (“mire”), although if of Slavic origin then *visěti (“to hang”) would afford a readier stem, suffixed + *-lo + *-a or + *-sla, for which ever reason they would have called it the “hanging river” or “saggy stream”. Considering how both the Germanic and Baltic cognates clearly shows a long vowel, it is not impossible it may have one in Latin as well, which however cannot be ascertained, as it is hidden quantity.