*bord

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs *bord "board, plank" for Proto-West Germanic.^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *burdą (“board, plank”),^[2][3] which Orel cites as *ƀurđan and Köbler as *burda-, *burdam.^[3][4] Kroonen derives Dutch bord, and its dialect form berd, from *burzda-.^[5]

Morphology

A neuter a-stem in Old English,^[6] and so is Old High German bort "plank";^[7] the Old Saxon and Old Frisian words are given as masculine.^[8][9]

Evidence

The word is attested in Old English bord, Old Frisian bord, Old Saxon bord and Old High German bort.^[3] Gamillscheg derives French bord (“edge, ship's side”), recorded from the 12th century, from Frankish *bord;^[10] he takes borde (“farmstead”), also recorded from the 12th century, from a Gallo-Romance collective *borda to Frankish *bord "board", comparing ⟨bordum⟩ "board" in glosses of the 10th century.^[10] ONW knows Old Dutch bort (“plank”) only from place names and its loan into Old French, Old French bort (“plank, partition”).^[11] It enters a homonymous word for "edge, bank" from place names and a toll tariff of Letterswerve of 1159–1164, where a barge ⟨cum bort⟩ pays two pennies and one without it one penny.^[12]

Competing analyses

Whether "board" and "edge" are one word is disputed.^[13][14] Köbler sets up two Proto-Germanic neuters *burda-, one "board, table" and one "edge, border",^[4] and ONW, following the EWN, holds the Old Dutch word for "edge" to be different in origin from the word for "plank".^[12][11] EWA treats the Old High German words for "edge" and "plank" under two heads but holds that they cannot be separated: in the language of seafaring the Germanic word meant both "ship's plank" and "ship's side" very early, since, as Sperber argued, planks were set on the edge of the dugout canoe to make it more seaworthy.^[13] Wiktionary reconstructs a separate weak noun *bordō "border, edge, trim" and argues against linking it with *bord, because the words for "edge" were masculine and weak, those for "plank" neuter and strong.^[14]

Meanings

1. board, plank^[1]

Old English also used the word for "table", "side of a ship" and "shield",^[6][15] Old Frisian for "side of a ship" and "table",^[16] Old Saxon for "shield" and "railing",^[17] and Old High German for "ship's plank" and "thin metal plate".^[7]

Derivatives

• Proto-Germanic *bakaburdaz (“larboard”), a compound which Wiktionary reconstructs;^[18] Wiktionary cites Old English bæcbord,^[18] and Köbler lists the compound under the simple word.^[6]

Reflexes

• Old English: bord (“board, plank, table, side of a ship, shield”)^[6]
• Old Frisian: bord (“side of a ship, board, table”)^[16]
• Old Saxon: bord (“shield, railing”)^[17]
• Old Dutch: bort (“plank”)^[11]
• Old High German: bort (“ship's plank, edge, rim of a shield”)^[13][7]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *bord
2. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *burdą
3. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 63
4. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *burda-
5. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 77
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. bord
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. bort²
8. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. bord
9. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altfriesisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. bord
10. ^ a b Gamillscheg, Ernst (1966–1969), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der französischen Sprache, 2nd, fully revised ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 139
11. ^ a b c Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. bort II
12. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. bort I
13. ^ 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. bort¹
14. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *bordō
15. ^ Boutkan, Dirk; Siebinga, Sjoerd Michiel (2005), Old Frisian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 1, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. bord
16. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. bord
17. ^ a b Tiefenbach, Heinrich (2010), Altsächsisches Handwörterbuch / A Concise Old Saxon Dictionary, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, p. s.v. bord
18. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *bakaburdaz