But what about Beer

From: x99lynx@...
Message: 15193
Date: 2002-09-06

Piotr wrote:
<<The river Bzura in Poland (from Brzura < *brjura < *breura:) matches one of
the hypothetical etymologies of "beer". Perhaps it is Germanic rather than
"Old European".>>

The Original OED dismissed the "barley" word as the source of beer. The
Oxford Dict. of Eng Etymology dismiss the "brew" word.

Is there a phonological objection to <bier> < <biber>? Is there any logic
consistent with <bier, beor, bjorr> that follows other intra-Germanic
patterns where other words with similar sounds were either of common descent
or tranfered between those languages?

Isn't the plausibility of <biber> as a post-Classical noun meaning a potable
the best way to approach the question of whether the beer word is somehow
direct from *PIE or proto-Germanic or some other source?

Regards,
Steve Long