*bʰleh₁-

Reconstruction

LIV sets up one root *bʰleh₁- 'to howl', citing under it both of Pokorny's entries, 'to howl, weep' and 'to blow'.^[1] Kroonen, de Vaan and Derksen write *bʰleh₁- or *bhleh₁-,^[2][3][4] and Mallory and Adams *bhleh₁- 'bleat', a North-West word.^[5] Schrijver notes that Gothic 𐌿𐍆𐌱𐌻𐌴𐍃𐌰𐌽 (ufblesan, “to blow up”) points to *bhleh₁-, not to the *bhleh₃- that Martinet assumed.^[6]

Morphology

LIV reconstructs an amphidynamic root present *bʰléh₁-/bʰl̥h₁- and an s-desiderative *bʰléh₁/bʰl̥h₁-s-, the latter continued in the Gothic verb for 'to blow'.^[1] Kroonen reaches the same athematic present, 3rd singular *bʰléh₁-ti and 3rd plural *bʰlh₁-énti, from Proto-Germanic *blēan- (“to blow”) beside Latin flō (“to blow”).^[2] He takes Proto-Germanic *blēsan- (“to blow”) from a sigmatic aorist *bʰléh₁-s-, following Kortlandt.^[7] For the Latin verb LIV prefers a secondary ye-present to Schrijver's generalised zero grade of the plural.^[1] De Vaan objects that LIV does not say how *bʰl̥h₁-i̯e- would give the Latin present stem.^[8]

Evidence

The root is attested in Italic, Germanic, Baltic and Slavic.^[1] Kloekhorst adds Hittite palu̯ae- (“to cry out”) as a derivative,^[9] and Adams follows Pinault in deriving a Tocharian B word for a wind instrument from it.^[10] Mallory and Adams count it among the regional words of the North-West.^[5]

Competing analyses

LIV holds that 'to blow' and 'to cry' are one root, and that the double meaning was already there in the proto-language, as it still is in Latin.^[1] De Vaan considers separating 'to blow' from 'to cry', since the meanings differ enough, and setting up *bhlh₂- for Latin flō (“to blow”), but notes that this leaves the *ē of Old High German blāen (“to blow”) and the Gothic verb unexplained.^[8] Pokorny set up *bhlē- 'to howl, weep' as an entry of its own;^[11] Watkins also set up *bhlē- 'to blow', which he thought possibly identical with *bhel-.^[12]

Meanings

1. to howl,^[1] to cry, to roar,^[9] to weep^[13]
2. to bleat^[5][3]
3. to blow^[2][10][8]

LIV takes 'to howl' as basic: from it came 'to blow, waft', of the wind, on one side and 'to bleat' on the other.^[1] Latin keeps the two apart in form, Latin fleō (“to weep”) against Latin flō (“to blow”).^[1]

Derivatives

• *bʰlh₁-uo- 'crying, roaring', with the ye-verb *bʰlh₁uo-i̯é/ó- behind Hittite palu̯ae-.^[9]
• *bʰléh₁-s-, the base of Proto-Germanic *blēsan- (“to blow”).^[7]

Reflexes

• Italic: Latin fleō (“to weep, cry”), Latin flō (“to blow”).^[3][8]
• Germanic: Proto-Germanic *blēan- (“to blow”), whence Old English blāwan (“to blow”); Gothic 𐌿𐍆𐌱𐌻𐌴𐍃𐌰𐌽 (ufblesan, “to blow up”).^[14]
• Balto-Slavic: Proto-Slavic *blějati (“to bleat”), Latvian blêt (“to bleat”).^[4]
• Anatolian: Hittite palu̯ae- (“to cry out, to shout for joy”), if Kloekhorst's derivation is right.^[9]
• Tocharian: Tocharian B ploriyo (“a kind of flute”), as a derivative of 'blow'.^[10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert, p. s.v. *bʰleh₁-
2. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 67
3. ^ a b c 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. fleō
4. ^ a b Derksen, Rick (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 4, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 43
5. ^ a b c Mallory, J. P.; Adams, D. Q. (2006), The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European World, Oxford: OUP, p. 364
6. ^ Schrijver, Peter (1991), The Reflexes of the Proto-Indo-European Laryngeals in Latin, Amsterdam: Rodopi, p. 156
7. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 68
8. ^ 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. flō
9. ^ a b c d Kloekhorst, Alwin (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Hittite Inherited Lexicon, Leiden: Brill, p. 623
10. ^ a b c Adams, Douglas Q. (2013), A Dictionary of Tocharian B, 2nd ed., Amsterdam: Rodopi, p. 463
11. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke, p. s.v. bhlē-
12. ^ Watkins, Calvert (2000), "Indo-European Roots", appendix to The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin, p. s.v. bhlē-
13. ^ Fortson, Benjamin W., IV (2010), Indo-European Language and Culture: An Introduction, 2nd ed., Malden, MA / Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, p. ch. 5
14. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 67–68