Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/bʰerH-

This Proto-Indo-European 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-Indo-European

Root

*bʰerH-[1]

to pierce
to strike

Extensions

*bʰer-dʰ-
- Proto-Hellenic:
  - Ancient Greek: πέρθω (pérthō)

Derived terms

Terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *bʰerH- (pierce)

*bʰorH-(e)-ti (o-grade root present?)
- Proto-Balto-Slavic: *bárˀtei
  - Latvian: bãrt
  - Lithuanian: bárti
  - Proto-Slavic: *bòrti (see there for further descendants)
*bʰér-ye-ti (with synchronic laryngeal deletion as in *wéryeti)[note 1]
- Proto-Albanian: *berja (“to strike > to fall”)
  - Albanian: bie, bjej, bjerrë
- Proto-Italic: *ferjō[2]
  - Latin: feriō (see there for further descendants)
*bʰorH-ye-ti (o-grade ye-present?)
- Proto-Germanic: *barjaną (see there for further descendants)
*bʰorH-eh₂yé-ti
- Proto-Italic: *forāō[3] (or from *bʰorH-ye-ti above?)[note 1]
  - Latin: forō (see there for further descendants)
*bʰer-ano-
- Proto-Armenian:
  - Old Armenian: բերան (beran, “mouth”)
    - Armenian: բերան (beran)
*bʰorH-ni-s
- Proto-Balto-Slavic: *barˀnis (see there for further descendants)
*bʰr̥H-eh₂
- Proto-Germanic: *burō > (?) *burōną (see there for further descendants)
  - Old High German: bora
*bʰr̥H-o-m
- Proto-Germanic: *burą > (?) *burōną (see there for further descendants)
  - Old English: bor
  - Old Saxon: *bor
    - Middle Low German: bor
Unsorted formations:
- Proto-Albanian: *birjā
  - Albanian: birë (“hole, orifice, opening”)
- Proto-Albanian: *brima[4]
  - Albanian: brimë (“hole”)
- Armenian:
  - Old Armenian: բիր (bir)
    - Armenian: բիր (bir)
- >? Sanskrit: श्वभ्र (śvábhra)
- >? Proto-Balto-Slavic: *burˀnāˀ (“snout”) (see there for further descendants)

Notes

De Vaan maintains that the root-final laryngeal was vocalized in Latin, against the controversial *CHY > *CY rule of which he makes no mention. To explain Latin feriō, he suggests that the laryngeal was lost prevocalically in other formations and that the new root *bʰer- was back-formed to those.

References

Pokorny, Julius (1959) Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 1, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, pages 133–134
De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “feriō, -īre”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 213: “PIt. *fer-je/o-”
De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “forō, -āre”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 235–236: “PIt. *foraje/o-”
Orel, Vladimir (1998), “Proto-Indo-European/bʰerH-”, in Albanian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden, Boston, Cologne: Brill, →ISBN, page 163

Alternative reconstructions

*bʰer-[1][2]

Root

*bʰerH-[3][4]

brown

Derived terms

Terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *bʰerH- (brown)

*bʰérH-ō ~ *bʰr̥H-nés[3] (possibly, alternatively perhaps from *ǵʰwer- (“wild (animal)”)[2])
- Proto-Germanic: *berô (“bear”) (see there for further descendants)
*bʰerH-o-s[4][3]
- Proto-Balto-Slavic: *bērˀas (“bay, reddish brown”) (secondary lengthening[4])
  - Lithuanian: bė́ras
  - Latvian: bȩ̃rs
*bʰérH-u-s ~ *bʰr̥H-éw-s[5] (possibly)
- ⇒ *bʰruH-nó-s (possibly from metathesized *bʰr̥Hu-nó-s)
  - Proto-Germanic: *brūnaz (“brown”)[6] (see there for further descendants)
- ⇒ *bʰruH-ró-s (possibly from metathesized *bʰr̥Hu-ró-s)
  - Proto-Indo-Iranian: *bʰruHrás[7]
    - Proto-Indo-Aryan: *bʰruHrás
      - Hindi: भूरा (bhūrā, “brown”)
    - Proto-Iranian: *buHráh (“reddish/yellowish-brown”)
      - Ossetian: (“yellow”)
        Digor: бор (bor)
        Iron: бур (bur)
      - Khotanese: [script needed] (baurakhä, “yellow leaf”)
      - Sogdian: (/βōr/, “blonde”)
        Syriac: ܒܘܪ‎ (βwr)
      - Yagnobi: вур (vur, “brown”)
      - Yidgha: وور‎ (vūr, “pale red”)
      - Baluchi: بور‎ (/bōr/, “bay horse”)
      - Northern Kurdish: bor (“grey”)
      - Middle Persian: (/bōr/, “reddish-brown, bay [horse]”)
        Book Pahlavi: [Book Pahlavi needed] (bwl)
        Classical Persian: بور‎ (/bōr/, “reddish-brown”)
        Dari: بور‎ (/bōr/)
        Iranian Persian: بور‎ (/būr/, “blonde, brown”)
        Tajik: бӯр (bür)
        → Old Armenian: բորենի (boreni, “hyena”)
        Northern Luri: بۊر‎ (bur, “brown”)
- ⇒ *bʰé-bʰr-u-s (“beaver”)[1][5][8] (possibly, or perhaps via *bʰé-bʰr̥ ~ *bʰi-bʰr-ós[9][10])
Unsorted formations:
- Armenian:
  - Old Armenian: բորենի (boreni, “hyena”) (or borrowed from the Iranian cognate)

References

Pokorny, Julius (1959), “5. bher-”, in Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 1, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, pages 136-137
Ringe, Donald (2006) From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic (A Linguistic History of English; 1)‎, Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 106
Kroonen, Guus (2013), “*beran-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 59-60
Derksen, Rick (2015), “bėras”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Baltic Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 13), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 87
Fortson, Benjamin W. (2004, 2010) Indo-European Language and Culture: An Introduction, Oxford: Blackwell
Orel, Vladimir (2003), “*ƀrūnaz”, in A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 60
Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985), “*bhrūra”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press
Derksen, Rick (2015), “bebras”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Baltic Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 13), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 84-85
Beekes, Robert S. P. (2011) Comparative Indo-European Linguistics: An Introduction, revised and corrected by Michiel de Vaan, 2nd edition, Amsterdam, Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company, pages 265
Kroonen, Guus (2013), “*bebura-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 57-58

[note_1-2] De Vaan maintains that the root-final laryngeal was vocalized in Latin, against the controversial *CHY > *CY rule of which he makes no mention. To explain Latin feriō, he suggests that the laryngeal was lost prevocalically in other formations and that the new root *bʰer- was back-formed to those.

[1] Pokorny, Julius (1959) Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 1, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, pages 133–134

[3] De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “feriō, -īre”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 213: “PIt. *fer-je/o-”

[4] De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “forō, -āre”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 235–236: “PIt. *foraje/o-”

[5] Orel, Vladimir (1998), “Proto-Indo-European/bʰerH-”, in Albanian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden, Boston, Cologne: Brill, →ISBN, page 163

[IEW-6] Pokorny, Julius (1959), “5. bher-”, in Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 1, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, pages 136-137

[Ringe-7] Ringe, Donald (2006) From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic (A Linguistic History of English; 1)‎, Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 106

[EDPG_beran-8] Kroonen, Guus (2013), “*beran-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 59-60

[EDBIL-9] Derksen, Rick (2015), “bėras”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Baltic Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 13), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 87

[IELC-10] Fortson, Benjamin W. (2004, 2010) Indo-European Language and Culture: An Introduction, Oxford: Blackwell

[HGE-11] Orel, Vladimir (2003), “*ƀrūnaz”, in A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 60

[12] Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985), “*bhrūra”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press

[13] Derksen, Rick (2015), “bebras”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Baltic Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 13), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 84-85

[14] Beekes, Robert S. P. (2011) Comparative Indo-European Linguistics: An Introduction, revised and corrected by Michiel de Vaan, 2nd edition, Amsterdam, Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company, pages 265

[EDPG_bebura-15] Kroonen, Guus (2013), “*bebura-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 57-58