*brekaną

Reconstruction

The infinitive is *brekaną in Wiktionary and Ringe,^[1][2] *ƀrekanan in Orel^[3] and *brekan in Köbler.^[4] Kroonen cites the verb by its stem *brekan-.^[5]

Etymology

It is from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg- (“to break”), continuing the thematic present *bʰrég-e-ti;^[1] Kroonen likewise starts from *bʰrég-e-.^[5] Ringe notes that the verb has no exact cognates in other branches, though it looks as if it reflects *bhreg-, perhaps a conflation of *bheg-, well attested in Indo-Iranian and Armenian, and *bhrag-, well attested in Latin and Old Irish.^[2] Mailhammer counts it among the strong verbs with an uncertain Indo-European etymology.^[6]

Morphology

A strong verb of class IV, with the principal parts *brekaną, *brak, *brēkun, *brukanaz.^[7] Ringe calls it the only verb with a root of the shape *CReC- that clearly belonged to this class; its past participle shows the zero grade *bruk-, a reanalysis of the regular *burk-.^[8] Mailhammer's list files it under class V.^[6] Kroonen sets beside it the iterative *bruk(k)ōn- and an o-grade intensive *brakan-, which he infers from Old English bracan (“to break, to bruise”).^[5]

Evidence

The verb is attested in Gothic and West Germanic: Gothic 𐌱𐍂𐌹𐌺𐌰𐌽 (brikan), Old English brecan, Old Frisian breka, Old Saxon brekan and Old High German brehhan.^[5] Old Norse has lost the verb,^[7] though it keeps the noun Old Norse brak (“crash”).^[9] Ringe gives the Gothic preterite 𐌱𐍂𐌰𐌺 (brak) and past participle 𐌱𐍂𐌿𐌺𐌰𐌽𐍃 (brukans).^[2] LÄGLOS finds plausible Öhmann's view that Finnish rikkoa (“to break, to spoil”) is a loan from Gothic or Proto-Germanic *brekan-, which SKES doubts,^[10] while Finnic studies rather derive it from rikka (“speck”).^[10]

Competing analyses

Kroonen thinks that the iterative may be identical with Latin frangō (“to break”), if that continues *bʰrg-néh₂-.^[5] Orel relates the verb itself to the Latin one and to Lithuanian bróžti (“to whisk”).^[3] Feist compared Latin fragor (“crash”), Old Irish air-brech (“crash”) and Welsh brau (“fragile”).^[9]

Meanings

1. to break^[5][3][4][1]

Gothic also used the verb for "to fight",^[9] Old English for "to burst" and "to conquer",^[11] and Old Frisian for "to commit an offence" and "to forfeit".^[12]

Derivatives

• *brukiz "breach", an i-stem,^[13][14] and a homonymous adjective "breakable, fragile".^[14]
• *brukkōną "to break, to crumble", the iterative.^[13][15]
• *braką "creaking noise, breaking"^[16][17] and *brahtaz "crash, noise".^[18]
• *ƀrekōn "breaker", in Orel.^[19]
• Kroonen thinks the intensive *brakan- probably underlies *brōk- "breeches".^[5]

Reflexes

• Gothic: 𐌱𐍂𐌹𐌺𐌰𐌽 (brikan, “to break, to fight”)^[9]
• Old English: brecan (“to break, to tear, to destroy; to burst”)^[11]
• Old Frisian: breka (“to break, to destroy, to break in”)^[12]
• Old Saxon: brekan (“to break, to tear”)^[20]
• Old High German: brehhan (“to break, to destroy, to split”)^[21]
• Old Norse has no reflex of the verb^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *brekaną
2. ^ a b c Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 103
3. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *ƀrekanan
4. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *brekan
5. ^ a b c d e f g Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 75
6. ^ a b Mailhammer, Robert (2007), The Germanic Strong Verbs: Foundations and Development of a New System, Trends in Linguistics 183, Berlin / New York: Mouton de Gruyter, p. 221
7. ^ a b c Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 272
8. ^ Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 103, 257, 272
9. ^ a b c d Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. brikan
10. ^ a b Kylstra, A. D.; Hahmo, Sirkka-Liisa; Hofstra, Tette; Nikkilä, Osmo (1991–2012), Lexikon der älteren germanischen Lehnwörter in den ostseefinnischen Sprachen, 3 vols, Amsterdam / Atlanta / New York: Rodopi, p. 156
11. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. brecan
12. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. breka
13. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 79
14. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *brukiz
15. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *brukkōną
16. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *braką
17. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *ƀrakan
18. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *brahtaz
19. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *ƀrekōn
20. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. brekan
21. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. brehhan