berge

Forms

berġe f (weak n-stem; genitive singular berġan, nominative plural berġan)^[1] Also written berie and beriġe;^[1][2] Bosworth and Toller head the word berie.^[1][2] The plant-name dictionary lists further spellings, among them berigie, bergan, bergean and byrgena.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *baʀi, from Proto-Germanic *bazją (“berry”).^[1][4] The word appears as Old Norse ber, Old Saxon beri and Old High German beri;^[4][5][6] Gothic has the form *basją with voiceless ⟨s⟩, in Gothic 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌽𐌰𐌱𐌰𐍃𐌹 (weinabasi, “grape”), which Dutch bes continues.^[4][5][6]

Its further origin is unclear.^[4][1] De Vries reports two proposals: Bugge's connection with a Norwegian word for a small shrub, the berry being named as growing on shrubs, and Lidén's with Old English basu (“red”).^[4] Holthausen also mentions the colour word, with a question mark.^[6] Köbler compares Pokorny's Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- (“to shine”).^[5] Wiktionary calls the Germanic word uncertain, perhaps from a pre-Indo-European substrate.^[1]

Hogg and Fulk count the word among the weak feminine nouns that keep /j/ after /r/ or show gemination.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first dated records are of the mid-tenth century.^[8][9] Bald's Leechbook (Royal 12 D. xvii) prescribes of the herb terebinth swa micel swa ele berge “as much as an olive berry”.^[8][10] The third Cleopatra glossary, in a manuscript of the second quarter or middle of the century, has the dative plural berġeum for Latin “racemis” “bunches of grapes”.^[9][11][12]

Semantic evolution

Bosworth and Toller give two senses, berry and grape.^[2] In the glossaries it renders Latin “bacca” “berry”, “vaccinia” “whortleberries”, “corymbus” “cluster of berries” and “racemus” “bunch of grapes”.^[12][3] The grape is usually wīnberiġe, but the simple word is also used: Deuteronomy 23:24 has et ðæra bergena swa fela swa ðu wylle “eat as many of the grapes as you like” in a friend's vineyard, and Gregory's Dialogues speak of þa feawa clystru þæra bergena “the few clusters of grapes” left in a vineyard.^[2][10] Ælfric writes that wine is pressed from many berries.^[12]

The word forms many plant names: blæcberiġe, strēawberiġe, hindberiġe, mōrberiġe and heorotberiġe.^[2][12] It lived on as Middle English berie, used of a berry or any small fruit and of a grape, now English berry.^[13][14] Etymonline notes that berry and apple are the only native English fruit names.^[14]

Timeline

• s. x²/⁴ or x med. – berġeum glossing “racemis” in the Cleopatra glossaries.^[9][11]
• s. x med. – ele berge “olive berry” in Bald's Leechbook.^[8][10]
• s. xi¹ – clystru þæra bergena “clusters of grapes” in Gregory's Dialogues (Hatton 76).^[15][10]
• a1250 – Middle English berien in the Ancrene Riwle.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. a berry.^[2][5][3]
2. a grape.^[2][12]

Word family

• wīnberiġe
• blæcberiġe
• strēawberiġe
• hindberiġe
• mōrberiġe
• heorotberiġe

Descendants

• Middle English berie (→ English berry; Middle Scots bery; Middle Scots berrie)^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 89
3. ^ a b c Bierbaumer, Peter; Sauer, Hans; Klug, Helmut W.; Krischke, Ulrike, eds. (2007–), Dictionary of Old English Plant Names, Graz, oldenglish-plantnames.org, p. s.v. berie
4. ^ a b c d e de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 32
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. bėrie
6. ^ a b c Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 2
7. ^ Hogg, Richard M.; Fulk, R. D. (2011), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 2: Morphology, Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, p. § 2.82
8. ^ a b c Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 412
9. ^ a b c Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 268
10. ^ a b c d Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
11. ^ a b Hogg, Richard M. (1992), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 1: Phonology, Oxford: Blackwell, p. § 2.68
12. ^ a b c d e Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 82
13. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
14. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
15. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 503