*barō

Reconstruction

The word is *barō in Wiktionary and Köbler,^[1][2] *ƀarō in Orel.^[3]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain: Wiktionary tentatively has it from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH- (“to strike, to pierce”), comparing Latin forus (“gangway, plank”) and Russian забор (zabór, “fence”), or alternatively from *bʰoréh₂, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to bear, to carry”), through a meaning "support".^[1]

Morphology

A feminine ō-stem.^[3][4] Orel relates it to the verb *ƀarjanan.^[3]

Evidence

EWA names only one reliable relative of Old High German bara (“round shield”): the diminutive Old Norse berlingr (“short beam”), poetically also a dwarf's name.^[5] The handbooks since Fick (1909) and Prellwitz nevertheless set up a Germanic *barō "beam, barrier, enclosed land", and Holthausen added an obscure feminine Old English bær.^[5] EWA holds that Middle High German bar and barre with a short vowel, like Middle English barre, are most probably Romance and perhaps ultimately Celtic, so not Germanic.^[5] De Vries likewise derives Old Swedish bar (“pole”) from Middle High German barre (“bolt, barrier”).^[6] Orel cites the English and Middle High German words for "beam, barrier".^[3] Köbler lists no Gothic form.^[2]

Competing analyses

Köbler sets up three homonyms *barō.^[2] The first means "stretcher, bier", with Old Norse barar, Old English bǣr and Old High German bāra.^[2] The second means "bar", is of unknown origin and has only Old Norse berlingr.^[2] The third means "cutting", from a root *bʰer- "to scratch, to cut", with Old High German bara (“shield”).^[2] Kroonen, Orel and Wiktionary instead put the word for "bier" under a lengthened-grade *bērō, from *beraną "to carry".^[7][8][9] EWA traces the base of the Norse diminutive to an IE root *bher- "to work with a sharp tool, to cut, to split".^[5] Orel compares Latin forum and Lithuanian bãras (“swath”),^[3] de Vries Latin forus (“enclosed passage”) and the Russian word for "fence".^[6]

Meanings

1. beam, bar, rail^[1][2]
2. barricade, barrier; paling, fence^[1]

Köbler gives the Old Norse diminutive as "short beam".^[4]

Reflexes

• Old Norse: berlingr (“short beam; a dwarf's name”), a diminutive^[6]
• Old High German: bara (“small round shield”), recorded once^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *barō
2. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *barō
3. ^ a b c d e Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *ƀarō
4. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard, Altnordisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary database copy), p. s.v. berlingr
5. ^ a b c d e Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. s.v. bara
6. ^ a b c de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. berlingr
7. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 61
8. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *ƀarwōn
9. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *bērō