Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/bragną

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

Usually from Proto-Indo-European *mrogʰnom, possibly a thematicized form of original *mrégʰmn̥ (whence Ancient Greek βρέχμα (brékhma, “brainpan”)), from the root *mregʰ- (“marrow, sinciput”).

Liberman instead sees this word as borrowed from a putative Proto-Celtic *bragnom, *bregnom (“bran”) (compare *bragnos (“rotten”)), deriving it from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg- (“to break”) while proposing that it was used as a metaphor for the brain's appearance.[1]

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈbrɑɣ.nɑ̃/

Noun

*bragną n[2]

  1. brain

Inflection

Declension of *bragną (neuter a-stem)
singular plural
nominative *bragną *bragnō
vocative *bragną *bragnō
accusative *bragną *bragnō
genitive *bragnas, *bragnis *bragnǫ̂
dative *bragnai *bragnamaz
instrumental *bragnō *bragnamiz

Synonyms

Descendants

  • Proto-West Germanic: *bragn

References

  1. ^ Liberman, Anatoly (2008), “Brain”, in An Analytic Dictionary of English Etymology: An Introduction, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 23.
  2. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), “*bragna-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11)‎[1], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 73
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