Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/bernuz

This Proto-Germanic entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Germanic

Etymology

Reanalyzed as a u-stem from *bernunz, accusative plural of *berô (“bear”).^[1]^[2]^[3] Also note *barō (“man”), *barn (“child”).

Noun

*bernuz m^[4]^[5]^[3]

bear

Inflection

Declension of *bernuz (u-stem)
	singular	plural
nominative	*bernuz	*birniwiz
vocative	*bernu	*birniwiz
accusative	*bernų	*bernunz
genitive	*bernauz	*birniwǫ̂
dative	*birniwi	*bernumaz
instrumental	*bernū	*bernumiz

Derived terms

*birnijǭ

Descendants

Proto-West Germanic: *bernu
- Old English: beorn (“man, hero, warrior”), biorn
  - Middle English: beorn, bern, berne, beren, barn (merged with beron, baroun)
    - (English: baron)
    - Scots: bern, beirn
- Old Saxon: *bern^[6]
- Old High German: *bern^[7]
Proto-Norse: *bernuʀ^[8]
- Old Norse: bjǫrn (“bear”)
  - Icelandic: björn m
  - Faroese: bjørn f
  - Norwegian Bokmål: bjørn m
  - Norwegian Nynorsk: bjørn, bjønn m
  - Jamtish: bjenn
  - Elfdalian: byönn
  - Old Swedish: biørn, biorn
    - Swedish: björn c
  - Old Danish: biørn, biorn
    - Danish: bjørn c
  - Old Gutnish: biorn
    - Gutnish: bjånn
  - → Proto-Samic: *piernë
    - Northern Sami: bierdna
    - Southern Sami: bïerne

References

^ Kroonen, Guus Jann (2009), Consonant and vowel gradation in the Proto-Germanic n-stems (PhD thesis)‎^[1], Leiden: Leiden University, page 26: “*bernu-”
^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), “*beran- 2”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11)‎^[2], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 59-60: “In Nordic, it was replaced by the u-stem *bernu-, cf. ON bjǫrn, Far. bjørn (f.), Elfd. byönn, which split off from the acc.pl. case *bernuns < *bʰer-n-ń̥s”
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 Nedoma, Robert (2018), “Germanic personal names before AD 1000 and their elements referring to birds of prey. With an emphasis upon the runic inscription in the eastern Swedish Vallentuna-Rickeby burial”, in Gersmann, Karl-Heinz, Grimm, Oliver, editors, Raptor and human – falconry and bird symbolism throughout the millennia on a global scale (Advanced studies on the archaeology and history of hunting; 1.1–1.4), Kiel; Hamburg: Wachholtz Verlag – Murmann Publishers, →ISBN, page 1589: “The accusative plural PGmc. *ber-n-unz showing zero-grade suffix was reanalyzed as u-stem form *bernu-nz that gave rise to a second paradigm PGmc. *bernu-”
^ Vladimir Orel (2003), “*bernuz”, in A Handbook of Germanic Etymology‎^[3], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 43
^ Torp, Alf (1919), “Bjørn”, in Nynorsk Etymologisk Ordbok, Oslo: H. Aschehoug and Co. (W. Nygaard), page 26: “*bernu-”
^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), “*bern?”, in Altsächsisches Wörterbuch‎^[4] (in German), 5th edition
^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), “*bern?”, in Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch‎^[5] (in German), 6th edition
^ Peterson, Lena (2007), “Biǫrn”, in Story, Joanna, editor, Nordiskt runnamnslexikon. Femte, reviderade utgåvan. (Dictionary of proper names in Scandinavian Viking Age runic inscriptions (Studies in Early Medieval Britian)‎^[6] (in Swedish), 5th edition, Uppsala: Institutet för språk och folkminnen, →ISBN, page 44: “urnord. *bernuʀ”