Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/wérsēn

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

Etymology

Uncertain; possibly from *h₂wers- (“to rain, sprinkle (water, urine, semen)”)[1], or perhaps from *wers- (“to rise (up)”)[2], +‎ *-ḗn.

Noun

*wérsēn m[3][4]

virile man
male animal

Inflection

Athematic, hysterokinetic
	singular
nominative	*wérsēn
genitive	*wr̥snés
	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*wérsēn	*wérsenh₁(e)	*wérsenes
vocative	*wérsen	*wérsenh₁(e)	*wérsenes
accusative	*wérsenm̥	*wérsenh₁(e)	*wérsenm̥s
genitive	*wr̥snés	*?	*wr̥snóHom
ablative	*wr̥snés	*?	*wr̥sn̥mós
dative	*wr̥snéy	*?	*wr̥sn̥mós
locative	wérsen, wérseni	*?	*wr̥sn̥sú
instrumental	*wr̥snéh₁	*?	*wr̥sn̥mís

Alternative reconstructions

*wŕ̥sēn[1][5][6]
*(h₁)r̥sēn[7][6]
*h₂wŕ̥sēn[8][6]

Related terms

*wrés-i-s ~ *wr̥s-y-és
- Proto-Germanic: *(w)risiz (“hero, giant”)[9] (see there for further descendants)
*wr̥s-yó-s
- Proto-Indo-Iranian: *wr̥šyás
  - Proto-Indo-Aryan: *wr̥šyás
    - Sanskrit: वृष्य (vṛṣya, “strong”)

Derived terms

*gʷou-wr̥sēn[10] or *gʷeh₃u-wr̥sēn[3][4] or *gʷh₃u-wr̥sēn (“bull”)[3] (+ *gʷou- (“cattle”))
- Proto-Germanic: *kursô[11]
  - Old Norse: kursi, kussi (“bull calf”)
- Proto-Indo-Iranian: *gauwr̥šyás
  - Proto-Indo-Aryan: *gauwr̥šyás
    - Sanskrit: गोवृष (govṛṣa)
- Proto-Tocharian: *këwə́wərṣe
  - Tocharian A: kayurṣ
  - Tocharian B: kauᵤrṣe
*wr̥sn̥-bʰó-s[12][6]
- Proto-Indo-Iranian: *(w)r̥šabʰás
  - Proto-Indo-Aryan: *(w)r̥ṣabʰás
    - Sanskrit: वृषभ (vṛṣabhá), ऋषभ (ṛṣabhá, “bull, male animal”) (see there for further descendants)
*wr̥sn-í-s
- Proto-Indo-Iranian: *wr̥šníš (“ram”) (see there for further descendants)
Unsorted formations:
- Balto-Slavic:
  - Latvian: vērsis (“ox”)
  - Lithuanian: ver̃šis (“calf; ox”)
  - Old Prussian: werstian (“calf”)

Descendants

>? Proto-Armenian:[1] (or < *wr̥h₁ḗn (“lamb”))
- Old Armenian: գառն (gaṙn, “lamb”) (see there for further descendants)
>? Proto-Armenian:
- Old Armenian: առն (aṙn, “wild ram”) (see there for further descendants)
>? Proto-Germanic: *(w)urzô ~ *ūrziniz (“grouse”) (see there for further descendants)
>? Proto-Germanic: *(w)urznô (“boar, male pig”)[13]
- Old Norse: *urni[13]
  - Danish: orne, (dialectal) urne
  - Old Swedish: orne
    - Swedish: orne
Proto-Hellenic: *(w)érsēn, *(w)ə́rsēn
- Ancient Greek: (“male (animal)”)
  Aeolic Greek, Ionic Greek, Cretan Ancient Greek: ἔρσην (érsēn)
  Attic Greek: ἄρρην (árrhēn)
  Epic Greek: ἄρσην (ársēn)
  Laconic Greek: ἄρσης (ársēs)
  - ⇒ Ancient Greek: ἀρνειός (arneiós)
Proto-Indo-Iranian: *(w)ŕ̥šā (see there for further descendants)
- →? Proto-Northeast Caucasian: *weršē (“bull-calf, male”)[14] (see there for further descendants)
Proto-Italic: *wersēn or *worsēn[8]
- Latin: verrēs, verris (“boar, male pig”) (see there for further descendants)

References

Pokorny, Julius (1959), “u̯ₑr̥sen-”, in Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 3, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 1170
Kümmel, Martin Joachim (2000) Das Perfekt im Indoiranischen, page 476f
Pronk, Tijmen (2009), “(v)ṛṣabhá-, Greek ἂρσην, ἔρσην: the spraying bull of Indo-European?”, in Historische Sprachforschung, volume 122, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht: “.*uers-ēn, acc.sg. *urs-en-m, gen.sg. *urs-n-os”
Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), “άρσην,-ενος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 141: “*uers-n- ‘male’”
Pokorny, Julius (1959), “u̯r̥sen-”, in Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 1, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 81
Wodtko, Dagmar S.; Irslinger, Britta; Schneider, Carolin (2008), “1. *u̯ers-”, in Nomina im indogermanischen Lexikon [Nouns in the Indo-European Lexicon] (in German), Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter, pages 722-724: “*wŕ̥s-en-”
Kölligan, Daniel (2017–2018), “Chapter XX: Proto-Indo-European”, in Klein, Jared S.; Joseph, Brian D.; Fritz, Matthias, editor, Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics: An International Handbook (Handbücher zur Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft [Handbooks of Linguistics and Communication Science]; 41.2), Berlin; Boston: De Gruyter Mouton, →ISBN, § The lexicon of Proto-Indo-European, page 2275: “*(h₁)r̥sen-”
De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “verrēs, -is”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 666: “*h₂u̯ŕ̥s-en-”
Vercoullie, Jozef (1925), “reus”, in Beknopt etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal (in Dutch), 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff, page 287
Adams, Douglas Q. (2017–2018), “Chapter XII: Tocharian”, in Klein, Jared S.; Joseph, Brian D.; Fritz, Matthias, editor, Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics: An International Handbook (Handbücher zur Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft [Handbooks of Linguistics and Communication Science]; 41.2), Berlin; Boston: De Gruyter Mouton, →ISBN, § The lexicon of Tocharian, page 1368: “*gʷou-wṛsen-”
Kroonen, Guus (2013), “*kursan-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 312
Pronk, Tijmen (2009), “Sanskrit (v)r̥ṣabhá-, Greek ἄρσην, ἔρσην: the sprayingbull of Indo-European?”, in Historische Sprachforschung, volume 122
Hellquist, Elof (1922), “orne”, in Svensk etymologisk ordbok [Swedish etymological dictionary] (in Swedish), Lund: C. W. K. Gleerups förlag, page 553
Nikolayev, S. L.; Starostin, S. A. (1994), “*wĕršē”, in A North Caucasian Etymological Dictionary, Moscow: Asterisk Publishers

[IEW_1170-1] Pokorny, Julius (1959), “u̯ₑr̥sen-”, in Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 3, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 1170

[2] Kümmel, Martin Joachim (2000) Das Perfekt im Indoiranischen, page 476f

[Pronk-3] Pronk, Tijmen (2009), “(v)ṛṣabhá-, Greek ἂρσην, ἔρσην: the spraying bull of Indo-European?”, in Historische Sprachforschung, volume 122, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht: “.*uers-ēn, acc.sg. *urs-en-m, gen.sg. *urs-n-os”

[Beekes-4] Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), “άρσην,-ενος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 141: “*uers-n- ‘male’”

[5] Pokorny, Julius (1959), “u̯r̥sen-”, in Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 1, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 81

[NIL-6] Wodtko, Dagmar S.; Irslinger, Britta; Schneider, Carolin (2008), “1. *u̯ers-”, in Nomina im indogermanischen Lexikon [Nouns in the Indo-European Lexicon] (in German), Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter, pages 722-724: “*wŕ̥s-en-”

[7] Kölligan, Daniel (2017–2018), “Chapter XX: Proto-Indo-European”, in Klein, Jared S.; Joseph, Brian D.; Fritz, Matthias, editor, Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics: An International Handbook (Handbücher zur Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft [Handbooks of Linguistics and Communication Science]; 41.2), Berlin; Boston: De Gruyter Mouton, →ISBN, § The lexicon of Proto-Indo-European, page 2275: “*(h₁)r̥sen-”

[EDL-8] De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “verrēs, -is”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 666: “*h₂u̯ŕ̥s-en-”

[9] Vercoullie, Jozef (1925), “reus”, in Beknopt etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal (in Dutch), 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff, page 287

[10] Adams, Douglas Q. (2017–2018), “Chapter XII: Tocharian”, in Klein, Jared S.; Joseph, Brian D.; Fritz, Matthias, editor, Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics: An International Handbook (Handbücher zur Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft [Handbooks of Linguistics and Communication Science]; 41.2), Berlin; Boston: De Gruyter Mouton, →ISBN, § The lexicon of Tocharian, page 1368: “*gʷou-wṛsen-”

[11] Kroonen, Guus (2013), “*kursan-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 312

[12] Pronk, Tijmen (2009), “Sanskrit (v)r̥ṣabhá-, Greek ἄρσην, ἔρσην: the sprayingbull of Indo-European?”, in Historische Sprachforschung, volume 122

[SEO-13] Hellquist, Elof (1922), “orne”, in Svensk etymologisk ordbok [Swedish etymological dictionary] (in Swedish), Lund: C. W. K. Gleerups förlag, page 553

[14] Nikolayev, S. L.; Starostin, S. A. (1994), “*wĕršē”, in A North Caucasian Etymological Dictionary, Moscow: Asterisk Publishers