*dʰer-

Reconstruction

LIV sets up *dʰer- "to fasten, fix".^[1] Cheung, citing LIV, glosses *dher- "to hold",^[2] and ALEW *dʰer- "to make firm".^[3] De Vaan notes that the root did not end in a laryngeal and that it was aoristic.^[4]

Morphology

LIV reconstructs a root aorist *dʰér-/dʰr-, a reduplicated present *dʰi-dʰér/dʰr-, a perfect *dʰe-dʰór/dʰr- in Sanskrit दाधार (dādhā́ra, “holds, supports”), and an iterative *dʰor-éi̯e- in Sanskrit धारयति (dhāráyati, “holds fast, supports”), Old Persian dārayāmiy (“I have”) and Lithuanian darýti (“to make, do”).^[1] A thematic present in Lithuanian is doubtful, and a i̯e-present, an s-aorist and an essive are later formations.^[1]

Evidence

LIV's secure forms are Indo-Iranian and Baltic, with a doubtful Greek gloss in Hesychius,^[1] and de Vaan adds Latin nominal derivatives.^[5]

Competing analyses

Beekes reports that Ancient Greek θρόνος (thrónos, “seat, throne”) has been derived from *dher- "to hold, support", but notes formal problems and allows a Pre-Greek origin.^[6] De Vaan derives Latin frētus (“relying on”) from a stative *dhr-eh₁-to-, with *dher- or *bʰer- as its base.^[4]

The senses "to make muddy" and "to defecate" belong to two of Pokorny's homonymous roots, one for "dregs", verbally "to stir up sediment, make muddy", and one for "to defecate", which he sets up beside his root for "to hold, support" and tentatively relates to each other.^[7][8] Mallory and Adams also list a root *dher- "shit" restricted to the North-West.^[9]

Meanings

1. to fasten, to fix,^[1] to hold,^[2] to make firm^[3]

Lithuanian has developed "be fit" and "to bargain", and, in the o-grade iterative, "to make, do".^[1] Smoczyński gives the original sense of that verb as "to make suitable, useful".^[10]

Derivatives

• *dher-mo- "holding", in Latin firmus (“firm, stable, strong”).^[5]
• Sanskrit धर्मन् (dhárman-, “support, firm hold, fixed order, law”).^[5]

Reflexes

• Indo-Aryan: Sanskrit धारयति (dhāráyati, “holds fast, supports”), cited by LIV.^[1]
• Iranian: Proto-Iranian *dar- (“to hold”).^[2]
• Baltic: Lithuanian darýti (“to do”).^[10]
• Italic: Latin firmus (“firm, stable, strong”).^[5]
• Greek: doubtful Ancient Greek ἐνθρεῖν (enthreîn, “to guard”).^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert, p. s.v. *dʰer-
2. ^ a b c Cheung, Johnny (2007), Etymological Dictionary of the Iranian Verb, Leiden: Brill, p. 82
3. ^ a b Hock, Wolfgang, et al. (2015), Altlitauisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (ALEW), online and Hamburg: Baar, p. s.v. derti
4. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. frētus
5. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. firmus
6. ^ a b Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. θρόνος
7. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke, p. 251–252
8. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke, p. 256
9. ^ Mallory, J. P.; Adams, D. Q. (2006), The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European World, Oxford: OUP, p. 472
10. ^ a b Smoczyński, Wojciech (2018), Lithuanian Etymological Dictionary, Berlin: Peter Lang, p. 293