Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/bernu

This Proto-West 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-West Germanic

Etymology

Suggested to be cognate with Old Norse bjǫrn (“bear”),[1] from Proto-Germanic *bernuz.[2] For the semantic shift from “bear” to “man, warrior”, compare Old Norse jǫfurr (“prince, monarch”), from Proto-Germanic *eburaz (“boar”). See also *barō (“man”), *barn (“child”).

Noun

*bernu m

  1. man
  2. hero, warrior

Inflection

u-stem
Singular
Nominative *bernu
Genitive *bernau
Singular Plural
Nominative *bernu *birniwi
Accusative *bernu *bernū
Genitive *bernau *birniwō
Dative *birniwi *bernum
Instrumental *bernu *bernum

Descendants

  • Old English: beorn (“man, hero, warrior”), biorn
    • Middle English: beorn, bern, berne, beren, barn (merged with beron, baroun)
  • Old Saxon: *bern[3]
  • Old High German: *bern[4]

References

  1. ^ Förstemann, Ernst (1900), “BERA, BERIN.”, in Altdeutsches Namenbuch‎[1] (in German), 2nd edition, volume I: Personennamen, Bonn: P. Hanstein's Verlag, →OCLC, column 258
  2. ^ Vladimir Orel (2003), “*bernuz”, in A Handbook of Germanic Etymology‎[2], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 43
  3. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), “*bern?”, in Altsächsisches Wörterbuch‎[3] (in German), 5th edition
  4. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), “*bern?”, in Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch‎[4] (in German), 6th edition
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