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Indo-European Lexicon

PIE Etymon and IE Reflexes

Below we display: a Proto-Indo-European (PIE) etymon adapted from Pokorny, with our own English gloss; our Semantic Field assignment(s) for the etymon, linked to information about the field(s); an optional Comment; and Reflexes (derived words) in various Indo-European languages, organized by family/group in west-to-east order where Germanic is split into West/North/East families and English, our language of primary emphasis, is artificially separated from West Germanic. IE Reflexes appear most often as single words with any optional letter(s) enclosed in parentheses; but alternative full spellings are separated by '/' and "principal parts" appear in a standard order (e.g. masculine, feminine, and neuter forms) separated by commas.

Reflexes are annotated with: Part-of-Speech and/or other Grammatical feature(s); a short Gloss which, especially for modern English reflexes, may be confined to the oldest sense; and some Source citation(s) with 'LRC' always understood as editor. Keys to PoS/Gram feature abbreviations and Source codes appear below the reflexes; at the end are links to the previous/next etyma [in Pokorny's alphabetic order] that have reflexes.

Fans of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings may appreciate the source & meaning tips that pop up when the mouse pointer hovers over a non-obvious word or name that he coined from Indo-European (usually Old English or Old Norse) stock. But only reflexes of PIE etyma can be included, and these tend to concentrate in the vocabulary of Rohan and the Shire.

All reflex pages are currently under active construction; as time goes on, corrections may be made and/or more etyma & reflexes may be added.

Note: this page is for systems/browsers with Unicode^® support, but fonts for only the Unicode 2.0 character set (including combining diacritics). Versions of this page rendered in alternate character sets are available via links (see Unicode 3 and ISO-8859-1) in the left margin.

Pokorny Etymon: bhereg̑h-, bherg̑hos- 'high, noble; barrow, mountain'

Semantic Fields: High; Noble, Nobleman; Hill, Mountain

Indo-European Reflexes:

Family/Language	Reflex(es)	PoS/Gram.	Gloss	Source(s)
Celtic
Old Irish:	borg/brog/brugh	n	castle	RPN
	brigh	n	barrow	CDC
	brī/brig	n.fem	brae	GED
Irish:	bri	n	barrow	CDC
Breton:	bre	n	barrow	CDC
Cornish:	bre	n	brae	LRC
Welsh:	bera	n	heap	GED
	bre	n	brae, barrow	CDC
Gaulish:	Berg-	prop.n	Berg-	GED
	Brig-antes	prop.n	Brigantes	GED
	Brig-antia	prop.n	Bregenz	GED
English
Old English:	beorg/beorh	n.masc	barrow	LRC
	beorgan	vb	to cover, protect	CDC
	biorg/biorh	n.masc	barrow	ASD
	bre(o)go/bregu/brega	n.masc	lord, prince, king, ruler	ASD
	burg/bur(u)h	n	borough, fortified place/town/city	RPN/CDC
	mund-beorh	n.masc	sheltering-hill	ASD
Middle English:	berfreid/belfray	n	belfry	CDC
	berfrey/belfry	n	belfry	W7
	bergh/berw/ber(u)z/beoruh	n	barrow	W7/CDC
	borwe/borowe/boruz/buruh	n	borough	CDC
	bourg/bor(u)gh	n	bourg	W7/MEV
	bra	n	brae	W7
	burgeis	n	burgess, bourgeois	W7
	burgh	n	borough	W7
	comforten	vb	to comfort	W7
	deforcen	vb	to deforce	W7
	enforcen	vb	to enforce	W7
	fabour	n	faubourg	W7
	force	n	force	W7
	fortalice	n	fortalice	W7
	forte	n	fort	W7
	forteresse	n	fortress	W7
	fortifien	vb	to fortify	W7
	fortitude	n	fortitude	W7
English:	barrow	n	hill, mountain; mound, tumulus	AHD/W7
	Barrow-downs	prop.n	Shire area in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings	LRC
	Barrowfield	prop.n	Rohan cemetery in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings	LRC
	Barrow-wight	prop.n	tomb-wraith in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings	LRC
	belfry	n	siege tower	AHD/W2I
	borough	n	fortified group of houses forming town	AHD/W7
	bourg	n	town, village	AHD/W7
	bourgeois	n	burgher	AHD/W7
	brae	n	hill, hillside, highland	W7
	Bree	prop.n	hillside town in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings	LRC
	Bree-land	prop.n	highland area in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings	LRC
	Brego	prop.n	2nd Rohan king in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings	LRC
	burg	n	borough, walled bourg, (ancient) fortress	W7
	burgess	n	burgher, citizen of British borough	AHD/W7
	burgher	n	town/borough inhabitant	W7
	burglar	n	thief, one who commits burglary	AHD/W7
	burgomaster	n	mayor, chief magistrate of town	AHD/W7
	comfort	vb.trans	to cheer, give strength/hope to	AHD/W7
	deforce	vb.trans	to keep (lands) by force from rightful owner	AHD/W7
	Dwimorberg	prop.n	haunted mountain in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings	LRC
	effort	n	conscious exertion of power	AHD/W7
	enforce	vb.trans	to strengthen, give force to	AHD/W7
	faubourg	n	suburb	AHD/W7
	force	n	strength/energy exerted/brought to bear	AHD/W7
	fort	n	strong/fortified place	AHD/W7
	fortalice	n	fortress	AHD/W7
	forte	adj/adv	loud(ly), powerful(ly)	AHD/W7
	forte	n	one's strong point	AHD/W7
	fortify	vb	to make strong	AHD/W7
	fortis	adj	produced with strong expiration/articulatory tenseness	AHD/W7
	fortissimo	adv	very loud	AHD/W7
	fortitude	n	strength	AHD/W7
	fortress	n	stronghold, fortified place	AHD/W7
	Hornburg	prop.n	Rohan fortress in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings	LRC
	iceberg	n	large floating ice mass detached from glacier	AHD/W7
	inselberg	n	isolated mountain	AHD/W2I
	Mundberg/Mundburg	prop.n	a.k.a. Minas Tirith in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings	LRC
	Norbury	prop.n	town a.k.a. Fornost in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings	LRC
	reinforce	vb.trans	to strengthen, give more force/effectiveness to	AHD
	Tuckborough	prop.n	Shire village in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings	LRC
W-Germanic
Old Frisian:	berch/birg	n.str.masc	barrow	GED/ASD
	berg	n	barrow	CDC
	bur(i)ch	n	burg, castle, fortified place	CDC
Middle Dutch:	bergfert/bergfrede	n	protecting shelter	CDC
	burch/borch	n	burg, castle, fortified place	CDC
Dutch:	berg	n	barrow	CDC
	burg	n	burg, castle, fortified place	W7
	burgemeester	n	burgomaster	W7
	herberg	n	inn	TLL
	schouwburg	n	theater	TLL
Old Saxon:	berg	n.str.masc	barrow	GED
	bur(u)g	n	burg, castle, fortified place	CDC
Middle Low German:	borch	n	burg, castle, fortified place	CDC
Old High German:	berg	n.str.masc	barrow	GED
	bergan	vb	to cover, protect	CDC
	bur(u)g/bur(u)c	n	burg, bourg, castle, fortified place	RPN/CDC
	perac	n	barrow	ASD
Middle High German:	berc	n	barrow	ASD
	bercfrit/bercvrit	n	belfry	CDC
	berchfrit/berhfride	n	belfry	CDC
	bergen	vb	to cover, protect	CDC
	burc	n	burg, bourg, castle, fortified place	CDC
German:	Berg	n.masc	barrow	ASD
	bergen	vb	to cover, protect	CDC
	Brieg	prop.n	Brieg	GED
	Burg	n.fem	burg, castle, fortified place	LRC
	Bürger	n.masc	burgher	LRC
	Fort	n.neut	fort	LRC
	Gebirge	n.neut.coll	mountains, mountain range	TLL
N-Germanic
Old Norse:	berg	n.neut	barrow	ASD
Old Icelandic:	berg	n.str.masc	rock, barrow	GED
	bjarg	n.str.masc	rock, barrow	GED
Icelandic:	berg/bjarg	n	rock, precipice	CDC
	borg	n	burg, castle, fortified place	CDC
	bragr	n.masc	prince, leader	ASD
Norwegian:	berg	n	barrow	W7
	isberg	n	iceberg	W7
Danish:	bjærg	n.neut	barrow	ASD
	borg	n	burg, castle, fortified place	CDC
Swedish:	berg	n.neut	barrow	ASD
	borg	n	burg, castle, fortified place	CDC
E-Germanic
Gothic:	*bairgahei	n.fem	mountainous area	GED
	bairgan	vb	to cover, protect	CDC
	*bairgs	n	barrow	RPN
	baurgs	n.str.fem	burg, tower, fortified place	GED
	baurgs-waddjus	n.masc	city wall	KGW
Italic
Latin:	burgus	n.masc	burg, bourg	W7
	fortis, fortis	adj	fortified	LRC
	fortitudo, fortitudinis	n.fem	fortitude	W7
Vulgar Latin:	fortia	n.fem	strength	W7
Late Latin:	conforto, confortāre	vb	to strengthen greatly	W7
	fortifico, fortificāre	vb	to fortify	W7
Middle Latin:	ber(e)fredus/berefridus	n	belfry	CDC
	burgus	n	burg, bourg, castle, fortified place	CDC
Medieval Latin:	burgator	n.masc	burglar	W7
	burglator	n.masc	burglar	W7
	burgo, burgare, burgatus	vb	to commit burglary	W7
	fortalitia	n.fem	strength	W7
Portuguese:	burgo	n	burg, castle, fortified place	CDC
	fôrça	n	force	TLL
	forte	adj	strong, forte	TLL
Spanish:	burgo	n	burg, castle, fortified place	CDC
	fuerte	adj	strong, forte	TLL
	fuerza	n	force	TLL
Old French:	berfrai/berfray/berefreit	n	belfry	CDC
	berfroi/belefroi	n	belfry	CDC
	borc	n.masc	bourg	W7
	borg/burc	n	burg, castle, fortified place	CDC
	borjois	n.masc	burgess	W7
	burgeis	n	bourgeois	CDC
	conforter	vb	to console, stengthen	W7
	deforcier	vb	to force, compel	W7
	enforcier	vb	to make stronger	W7
	esforcier	vb	to force	W7
	esfort	n.masc	effort	W7
	force	n.fem	force; scissors, cutters	W7
	forcier	vb	to force	W7
	fors	adv	outside	W7
	forsborc	n.masc	faubourg	W7
Old North French:	belfroi	n	belfry	AHD
Anglo-French:	burgler	n.masc	burglar	W7
Middle French:	berfrei	n.masc	bell-tower	W7
	bourg	n.masc	bourg	W7
	bourgeois	n.masc	town-dweller	W7
	effort	n.masc	effort	W7
	enforcier	vb	to enforce	W7
	force	n.fem	force	W7
	forsbourg, fauxbourg	n.masc	faubourg, suburbs	W7
	fort	adj	strong	W7
	forteresce	n.fem	fortress	W7
	fortifier	vb	to fortify	W7
French:	beffroi	n	belfry, watchtower, bell tower	CDC
	bourg	n	burg, castle, fortified place	CDC
	bourgeois	n	bourgeois	CDC
	force	n.fem	force	LRC
	fort	adj	strong, forte	TLL
Provençal:	borc	n	burg, castle, fortified place	CDC
Italian:	battifredo	n	belfry	CDC
	borgo	n	burg, castle, fortified place	CDC
	forte	adj	strong, forte	W7
	fortissimo	adj.sup	strongest	W7
	forza	n	force	TLL
Slavic
Polish:	brzeg	n	bank, shore	CDC
Czech:	breh	n	bank, shore	CDC
Serbian:	brijeg	n	bank, shore	CDC
Old Church Slavonic:	brěgъ	n	bank, cliff	GED
Russian:	beregŭ	n	bank, shore	CDC
Hellenic
Greek:	πύργος	n	tower	RPN
Anatolian
Hittite:	parkatar	n	height	GED
	párkuš	adj	high	GED
Armenian
Armenian:	barjr	adj	high	GED
	-berj	n	height	GED
	erkna-berj	adj	sky-high	GED
Iranian
Avestan:	barəzah-	n	height	GED
	berezanh	n	height, barrow	CDC
	bərəz(ant)-	adj	high, great, lofty	GED
Indic
Sanskrit:	bṛhánt-	adj	high, tall, great, strong	RPN
	brihant	adj	strong, mighty, lofty	CDC
	brih/barh	vb	to be thick/strong	CDC
Tocharian
Tocharian B:	pärk-	vb	to rise (sun)	RPN
Tocharian A:	pärk-, park-	vb	to rise (sun)	RPN

Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:

Abbrev.		Meaning
adj	=	adjective
adv	=	adverb(ial)
coll	=	collective
fem	=	feminine (gender)
masc	=	masculine (gender)
n	=	noun
neut	=	neuter (gender)
prop	=	proper
str	=	strong (inflection)
sup	=	superlative
trans	=	transitive
vb	=	verb

Key to information Source codes (always with 'LRC' as editor):

Code		Citation
AHD	=	Calvert Watkins: The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots, 2nd ed. (2000)
ASD	=	Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller: An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary (1898)
CDC	=	W.D. Whitney and B.E. Smith: The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia (1889-1911)
GED	=	Winfred P. Lehmann: A Gothic Etymological Dictionary (1986)
KGW	=	Gerhard Köbler: Gotisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed. (1989)
LRC	=	Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin
MEV	=	J.R.R. Tolkien: A Middle English Vocabulary (1922)
RPN	=	Allan R. Bomhard: Reconstructing Proto-Nostratic (2002)
TLL	=	Frederick Bodmer: The Loom of Language (1944)
W2I	=	Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language, 2nd ed. (1959)
W7	=	Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963)

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