*bebru

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs *bebru "beaver" for Proto-West Germanic.^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *bebruz (“beaver”),^[2][1] which Orel writes *ƀeƀruz, Fulk *beƀruz, Köbler *bebru- beside *bibru- and *beburu-, and Kroonen *bebura-.^[2][3][4][5] EWA derives the Germanic forms from an original u-stem: in West Germanic the unstressed -u- was lost by sound law after the long root syllable, a secondary vowel then arose before the r, and the word passed to the masculine a-stems.^[6] The -i- of the root in Old High German, also found in Old Saxon beside the older -e-, is generally put down to the u of the following syllable, though the details are disputed and analogical levelling has often to be assumed.^[6] Old English beofor shows the back mutation of ⟨e⟩ to ⟨eo⟩.^[3][6]

Morphology

A masculine noun, an a-stem in Old Saxon and Old High German;^[7][6] Köbler leaves open whether the Old English noun is an a-stem or a u-stem.^[8]

Evidence

The noun is attested in Old English beofor,^[9] Old Saxon bivar, in glosses from the beginning of the 11th century,^[7] and Old High German bibar, from the middle of the 9th century.^[10] EWA concludes from the correspondences found everywhere that the animal once lived throughout the Germanic area, and notes the word in many river names, such as ⟨Bibaraha⟩ of 715 and ⟨Biuerna⟩ of 786.^[6] Wiktionary gives Old Frisian and Old Dutch forms only as unattested reconstructions.^[1] Gamillscheg derives French bièvre (“beaver”), recorded from the 12th century, from Gaulish *bebros, but allows that its forms with open e may have been influenced by Frankish *bever.^[11] EWA too thinks that Gaulish *bebro- or Germanic *bebru- may have shaped the Late Latin form beber.^[6]

Meanings

1. beaver^[1][5]

Old High German also used the word for "otter" and for "castoreum".^[6]

Reflexes

• Old English: beofor (“beaver”)^[9]
• Old Saxon: bivar (“beaver”)^[7]
• Old High German: bibar (“beaver, otter”)^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *bebru
2. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 40
3. ^ a b Fulk, R. D. (2018), A Comparative Grammar of the Early Germanic Languages, Studies in Germanic Linguistics 3, Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins
4. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *bebru-
5. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 56
6. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. bibar
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. bivar
8. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. beofor
9. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. beofor
10. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. bibar
11. ^ Gamillscheg, Ernst (1966–1969), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der französischen Sprache, 2nd, fully revised ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 121