*brōþer

Reconstruction

Ringe and Taylor give the nominative singular *brōþer in their Proto-West Germanic paradigm of the r-stems,^[1] and Wiktionary has the same form.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *brōþēr (“brother”),^[3][4] which Kroonen cites by its stem *brōþer- and Orel as *ƀrōþēr.^[3][4] Fulk assumes a Proto-Germanic nominative *brōþēr, which would explain Old High German bruoder, though the stem *brōþer- of the accusative and vocative, extended to the nominative, would give the same result.^[5] In Gothic and Old Icelandic the weak stem of the r-stems spread to all cases but the nominative and accusative singular, while in West Germanic the strong stem prevailed.^[5]

Morphology

A masculine r-stem.^[1][6] Ringe and Taylor's Proto-West Germanic paradigm has the singular nominative *brōþer, accusative *brōþar, genitive *brōþur (perhaps *brōþuraz), dative-instrumental *brōþri, and the plural nominative *brōþar (with a query), accusative *brōþar, genitive *brōþrō, dative-instrumental *brōþrum.^[1] They assume that the dative and instrumental had merged in the singular of the consonant stems as well as in the plural, since no daughter has a distinct instrumental.^[1] The early Mercian dative singular brœ̅ðer, West Saxon brēðer, can only continue the inherited form in *-ri, and the old genitive ending survives in brōður.^[7] Fulk notes that the plural has no umlaut anywhere in West Germanic, while North Germanic has it, as in Old Icelandic brœðr.^[8]

Evidence

The noun is attested in all the West Germanic languages: Old English brōþor, Old Frisian brōther, Old Saxon brōthar, Old Dutch bruother and Old High German bruoder.^[9][3] EWA counts it among the kinship terms that have regular counterparts in all the Germanic languages and in almost all the other Indo-European ones.^[9] Old Dutch has it in the psalms of the 9th century, glossing Latin frāter,^[10] and in Williram's commentary of about 1100.^[11] In Old English the vowel of the second syllable varies by dialect: early Mercian brōður, early West Saxon brōðor, Kentish brōðar.^[7] EWA explains the vowel of the Old English second syllable by vowel harmony.^[9]

Competing analyses

The Proto-Germanic nominative is disputed.^[5] The usual view takes the Gothic nominative for a regular outcome of *-ēr;^[5] Stiles argues that it took over the stem of the vocative, Hamp, supporting him, posits a nominative *brōþē, and Fulk finds Stiles's analysis quite likely.^[5]

Meanings

1. brother^[1][2]

Old Frisian also used the word for a lay brother of a monastery,^[12] and Old High German also for a fellow man or a brother in faith or in a religious order.^[9]

Derivatives

• *brōþerlaus "without a brother", which Wiktionary reconstructs;^[13] Old English has the adjective brōþorlēas.^[14]
• Orel reconstructs the Proto-Germanic compounds *ƀrōþur-ƀanōn "fratricide", continued by Old English brōþorbana, and *fōstra-ƀrōþēr "foster-brother", continued by fōsterbrōþor.^[15][16]

Reflexes

• Old English: brōþor (“brother”)^[14]
• Old Frisian: brōther (“brother, lay brother”)^[12]
• Old Saxon: brōthar (“brother”)^[17]
• Old Dutch: bruother (“brother”)^[11]
• Old High German: bruoder (“brother, fellow man, brother in faith”)^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 117
2. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *brōþer
3. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 79
4. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 57
5. ^ a b c d e Fulk, R. D. (2018), A Comparative Grammar of the Early Germanic Languages, Studies in Germanic Linguistics 3, Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins, p. §7.36
6. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. brōthar
7. ^ a b Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 382
8. ^ Fulk, R. D. (2018), A Comparative Grammar of the Early Germanic Languages, Studies in Germanic Linguistics 3, Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins, p. §7.35
9. ^ a b c d e 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. bruoder
10. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Altniederfränkisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. bruother
11. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. bruother
12. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. brōther
13. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *brōþerlaus
14. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. brōþor
15. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 58
16. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 110
17. ^ Tiefenbach, Heinrich (2010), Altsächsisches Handwörterbuch / A Concise Old Saxon Dictionary, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, p. s.v. brōthar