*birkijā

Reconstruction

Ringe and Taylor reconstruct *birkijā for Proto-West Germanic,^[1] and Wiktionary has the same form.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *birkijǭ (“birch”),^[2] which Orel reconstructs as *ƀerkjōn, derived from *ƀerkō "birch",^[3] and Köbler as *berkjō-, *berkjōn.^[4] Wiktionary analyses it as *berku with the suffix *-jā.^[2] The k after r shows no trace of West Germanic consonant gemination.^[5]

Morphology

A feminine noun: in Old High German a stem in *-jō- or *-jōn-,^[5] in Old English a weak feminine.^[4] EWA takes such derivatives in *-jō(n)-, frequent in the names of trees, to continue adjectival formations, and finds them in competition with plain stems in *-ō- and *-ōn-.^[5]

Evidence

Ringe and Taylor cite Old High German birka and Mercian birċe from the Corpus Glossary.^[1] EWA gives Old English bi(e)rce and ⟨birciae⟩ in the Épinal glosses from the form with -j-, beside beorc from the plain *berkō, and a late Old Saxon ⟨birke⟩ of the 13th century; the Old High German word is found only in glosses, all in the nominative singular.^[5] Old Saxon has ⟨birka⟩ and ⟨birke⟩ in glosses.^[6]

Meanings

1. birch^[1][2]

Old High German also used the word for the hornbeam,^[5] as did Old Saxon,^[6] and Old English used it to gloss Latin populus.^[4]

Reflexes

• Old English: bierċe (“birch”)^[7]
• Old Saxon: birka (“birch, hornbeam”)^[6]
• Old High German: birka (“birch, hornbeam”)^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 183
2. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *birkijā
3. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 42
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. bierce
5. ^ a b c d e f 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. birka
6. ^ a b c Tiefenbach, Heinrich (2010), Altsächsisches Handwörterbuch / A Concise Old Saxon Dictionary, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, p. s.v. birka
7. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. bierce