brekka

Forms

brekka f (genitive brekku, plural brekkur) (weak ōn-stem)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *brinkǭ (“steep slope”),^[1][2][3] with Middle Low German brink (“edge, bank, edge of a field”) and Middle Dutch brink (“edge, grassy border”) beside it.^[4][2] The ⟨kk⟩ is assimilated from ⟨nk⟩, as in drekka.^[5]

Its further origin is uncertain.^[4][6] De Vries and Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon prefer the root Proto-Indo-European *bʰren- (“to project, stand out”), with bringa (“chest”) and brandr.^[4][6] Torp instead derives it from the root of “break” with a nasal infix, and others compare Gothic 𐌱𐍂𐌹𐌺𐌰𐌽 (brikan, “to break”), so that the first sense would be a break in the landscape; Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon thinks this doubtful.^[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Menota's first record is the definite form brekconne in DG 8 II, dated 1225–1250.^[7] ONP's earliest citation is from the laws of Grágás in the Konungsbók, dated 1250, in the special sense of the assembly slope: Ef þræli er gefit frelse oc er hann eigi leiddr i lög eþa i brecco þa ... “If a slave is given his freedom and is not led into the law or onto the slope, then ...”.^[8]

Semantic evolution

Almost all of ONP's citations mean a hillside or slope; the legal sense is the slope at the assembly where laws were proclaimed, and leiða þræl í brekku was to proclaim a slave free.^[8][9][10] In skaldic poetry brekka is a base-word of kennings for a woman, as in menbrekka “slope of the necklace”.^[11][12]

Icelandic and Faroese keep brekka and Norwegian has brekke.^[6] De Vries traces Orkney and Shetland breck and Manx breck to the Norse word.^[4] English brink, recorded from the early thirteenth century, is from Middle Low German brink or from a Scandinavian form; the MED names both.^[13][14]

Timeline

• 1225–1250 – brekconne in DG 8 II.^[7]
• 1250 – leiddr i lög eþa i brecco in Grágás.^[8]
• 1275 – hann ... hvilldiz er hann com a breccona “he rested when he came up the slope”.^[8]
• 1320–1350 – brekkur and brekku in Egils saga, AM 132 fol.^[15]

Meanings

Noun

1. a slope, hillside, steep hill.^[8][10][16]
2. (law) the assembly slope, the hill at the thing where laws were proclaimed (= þingbrekka).^[8][9][10]

Word family

• þingbrekka
• brekkubrún
• brekkumegin
• brekkumunr
• túnbrekka
• halsbrekka
• sandbrekka
• heiðarbrekka

Descendants

• Icelandic brekka^[1]
• Faroese brekka^[1]
• Norwegian Nynorsk brekke^[6]
• Swedish bräkka^[1]
• Middle English brinke (→ English brink)^[14]

Related words

• bringa

Usage notes

Brekka, singular or plural, is very common in place-names in Iceland and Norway.^[9][17]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
3. ^ a b Torp, Alf (1909), Wortschatz der germanischen Spracheinheit (Fick, Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der indogermanischen Sprachen, 4th ed., vol. 3), Göttingen, p. 277
4. ^ a b c d de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 55
5. ^ Noreen, Adolf (1923), Altisländische und altnorwegische Grammatik, 4th ed., Halle, p. § 266
6. ^ a b c d e Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. brekka
7. ^ a b Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. DG 8 II
8. ^ a b c d e f Ordbog over det norrøne prosasprog / A Dictionary of Old Norse Prose, Copenhagen, onp.ku.dk (CC BY-SA 4.0), p. s.v. brekka
9. ^ a b c Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 78
10. ^ a b c Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. brekka
11. ^ Sveinbjörn Egilsson (1860), Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis, Hafniæ: Societas regia antiquariorum septentrionalium, p. 78
12. ^ Finnur Jónsson (1931), Lexicon Poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis, 2nd ed., Copenhagen: S. L. Møller, p. 63
13. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com, p. s.v. brink
14. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018), p. s.v. brinke
15. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. AM 132 fol
16. ^ Baetke, Walter (1965–1968), Wörterbuch zur altnordischen Prosaliteratur, Berlin (digital ed. Greifswald 2006), p. 68
17. ^ Fritzner, Johan (1886–1896), Ordbog over det gamle norske Sprog, 2nd ed., Kristiania, p. s.v. brekka