*beraną

Reconstruction

The infinitive is *beraną in Wiktionary,^[1] *beranan in Orel^[2] and *beran in Köbler.^[3] Kroonen cites the verb by its stem *beran-.^[4]

Etymology

It is from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to carry, to bring”):^[5] Kroonen derives it from the PIE thematic present *bʰer-e-, and calls it an old PIE thematic verb.^[4] Wiktionary starts from the PIE third person *bʰéreti.^[1]

Morphology

A strong verb of class IV.^[6][3][7] Mailhammer puts it among the strong verbs with an accepted Indo-European etymology.^[6]

Evidence

The verb is attested in all three branches: Gothic 𐌱𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌰𐌽 (bairan) in Gothic, Old Norse bera in Old Norse, and Old English beran, Old Frisian bera, Old Saxon beran and Old High German beran in West Germanic.^[4] EWA calls it an inherited Germanic verb found in all the Germanic languages.^[7] Outside Germanic, Kroonen compares Tocharian B pär- (“to bring, to carry”), Sanskrit भरति (bhárati), Ancient Greek φέρω (phérō), Latin ferō and Old Irish beirid, all "to carry".^[4]

Competing analyses

Orel thinks the PIE verb *bher- "to bear" merged with a homonymous *bher- "to give birth", and equates the compound Gothic 𐌰𐍄𐌱𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌰𐌽 (atbairan, “to bring, to offer”) with the imperfect Phrygian αββερετ (abberet) and Latin adferō (“to bring”).^[2]

Meanings

1. to bear, to carry, to give birth^[4][1]

Gothic also used the verb for "to endure, to suffer", Old Norse for "to wear" and "to yield", and Old Saxon for "to possess".^[4]

Derivatives

• *barną "child", a derivative with the o-grade of the root.^[8]
• *buriz "son", an i-stem, and *burjaną "to raise".^[9]
• *bēriz "bearable, fruitful", a vṛddhi gerundive,^[10][11] and *bērō "bier", a lengthened-grade ō-stem.^[10]
• *burþiz "birth, carrying", a ti-stem.^[9][12]
• With prefixes: *gaberaną "to give birth" and *fraberaną "to endure, to refrain".^[1]

Reflexes

• Gothic: 𐌱𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌰𐌽 (bairan, “to carry”)^[13]
• Old Norse: bera (“to carry, to lead”)^[14]
• Old English: beran (“to carry, to endure, to bring, to give birth”)^[15]
• Old Frisian: bera (“to carry; in the passive, to be born”)^[16]
• Old Saxon: beran (“to carry, to possess”)^[17]
• Old High German: beran (“to bring forth, to carry, to beget, to give birth”)^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *beraną
2. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *beranan
3. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *beran
4. ^ a b c d e f Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 59
5. ^ Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert, p. s.v. *bʰer-
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 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. beran
8. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 53
9. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 85
10. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 61
11. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *bēriz
12. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *burþiz
13. ^ Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. bairan
14. ^ de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. bera
15. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. beran
16. ^ Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. bera
17. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. beran