From: Francisco Antonio Doria
Message: 60143
Date: 2008-09-19
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> --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "tgpedersen" <tgpedersen@> wrote:
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> > so perhaps *bhreg- (Lat. frango:, etc),
> > with some Celtic-like *-re- > *-ri- ?
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> As I think I had mentioned at the start of this exchange, according to
> the _Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology_ (1996 edn.),
> which repeats a claim already made in O. Pianigiani's 1907
> etymological dictionary, the Vulgar Latin term briga would derive, as
> a foreign loan word, from Gothic brikan 'to break' (< PIE *bhreg- 'to
> make a noise, to crack, to break'), which by ablaut originated
> brajka 'strife, struggle' (a secondary meaning derived by the noisy
> shouting which characterizes fighting). The last mentioned meaning in
> Gothic matches one of the meanings of the Italian term briga, 'strife,
> brawl, fight, quarrel'. Yet the earliest attested meaning of briga
> (found in Dante Alighieri) seems to be 'strength, vigour', which is
> best explained if this word is regarded not as a Gothism, but as an
> ancient loan from Celtic (*bri:go- 'strength' > Old Irish brig 'power,
> strength, force', Middle Welsh bri 'honor, dignity, authority') not
> attested in Latin.
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> Regards,
> Francesco
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