--- In cybalist@..., "tgpedersen" <tgpedersen@...> wrote:
> --- In cybalist@..., Piotr Gasiorowski <piotr.gasiorowski@...>
> wrote:
> >
>*baira- is
> not reconstructible beyond West Germanic, and is extremely unlikely
> to have anything to do with any of the above, especially as it
> coexists with a normal reflex of *h1epros (e.g. OE ba:r and eofor).
>
> Let me see: eofor is IE, ba:r is not, they coexist in the same
> language, and therefore none of them were borrowed from elsewhere?
> Why? Would they attack each other otherwise?
>
>
More peacefully coexisting similar looking non-cognates from Dansk
Etymologisk Ordbog.
"
basse "wild boar; heavy animal; big, strong, well-nourished person",
Old Da bassi, Norw., Sw. basse, cf ON valbassi "wild boar".
Hypochoristic formation with suffix -se, older -si from *-s-an- of
Germanic *barh-, *barG-, cf. Sw. dial barre, "ram" ON bo,rgr "hog",
Old Sax. OHG bar(u)g, German Barch "castrated boar", Old Engl. bearh,
Eng barrow idem ...
"
There was that pesky velar suffix again (none such in *baira-). And
strange how the meaning spreads from hogs to non-suiform [love that
word; good for an argument] males.
In the Danish army, when you transfer from boot camp ("rekrut" is the
derogatory word for the, should I say, inmates) you graduate to true
soldier, or "basse". There is (was) also a noble Danish family Basse.
Since its origin is contested I won't drag in
"
bas "leader"; borrowed fron Dutch, Low German baas, corresponding to
Fris. baes, High German Baas is from Low German; Engl. sl.
boss "master" is via Amer. from Dutch. The origin of the word, which
occurs first in Dutch, is disputed...
"
Perhaps I should check Falk & Torp?
>
> Torsten