*brām

Reconstruction

Ringe and Taylor reconstruct *brām- for Proto-West Germanic, the name of a prickly plant,^[1] and Wiktionary reconstructs *brām "blackberry, bramble".^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *brēmōn (“bramble”) in Köbler's reconstruction, who lists it with variants such as *brēma-, *brēmjō- and *brǣmō-.^[3] EWA puts the West Germanic words in an ablaut relation with Old High German brema (“thornbush, bramble”) and brimma (“broom”), and sets up a base *bhrem- "to be pointed, to stick out", a meaning that suits the thorny shrub.^[4]

Morphology

Old High German has a feminine brāma and a masculine brāmo, both n-stems; variants with a double ⟨mm⟩ and the uneven umlaut in the later language point to old doublets with and without *-j-.^[4] The Old English word is a masculine a-stem.^[5]

Evidence

Ringe and Taylor cite Old High German brāma (“thornbush”), and trace Old English brōm (“broom”), the plant, to *brām- through *brą̄m, with the vowel nasalised before *m.^[1] Old Saxon has the word only in compounds such as Old Saxon brāmberi (“blackberry”) and brāmlōf (“broom leaf”), and in place names.^[4] EWA finds no related words for bramble or broom in Scandinavian.^[4]

Meanings

1. name of a prickly plant^[1]
2. blackberry, bramble^[2]

In Old High German the word meant "thornbush" and "bramble", and perhaps "buckthorn";^[4] Old English used it for "broom".^[6] In the German dialects the upper German meaning is "bramble, thornbush", while Central German also has "broom", the meaning that prevails in Low German.^[4]

Derivatives

• *brāmil "bramble", which Wiktionary reconstructs;^[7] Ringe and Taylor trace Old English brēmel (“briar, bramble”) to a diminutive *brą̄mil.^[1]
• *brāmabaʀi "blackberry", which Wiktionary reconstructs;^[8] Old Saxon brāmberi and Old High German brāmberi have the compound.^[9][10]

Reflexes

• Old English: brōm (“broom”)^[6]
• Old Saxon: only in compounds, as brāmberi (“blackberry”)^[9]
• Old High German: brāma (“thornbush, bramble”)^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 143
2. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *brām
3. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *brēmō-
4. ^ a b c d e f g 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. brâma
5. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. brōm
6. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. brōm
7. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *brāmil
8. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *brāmabaʀi
9. ^ a b Tiefenbach, Heinrich (2010), Altsächsisches Handwörterbuch / A Concise Old Saxon Dictionary, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, p. s.v. brāmberi
10. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. brāmberi