Re: Etymology of the Italian surname 'Brighenti'

At 5:17:47 AM on Friday, September 19, 2008, Francesco
Brighenti wrote:

> --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Jonathan Morris
> <jonatas9@...> wrote:

>> Have you checked Pokorny p. 166 -- original IE idea: cut
>> with sharp object, but takes on meaning of 'quarrel' in
>> Celtic (as well as Baltic/Slavic). Must say I find his
>> semantics rather too relaxed for my taste -- but it's
>> there.

> What I find in that page of Pokorny's dictionary is the
> following (I quote from Starostin and Lubotsky's
> recognized machine-translation into English):

> http://dnghu.org/indoeuropean.html

> << PIE *bhre:i-, *bhri:>- 'to pierce, cut with something
> sharp'

> (Note: Extension from *bher-)...

> With s-extension here... M.Ir. bress 'din, fuss, noise,
> fight, struggle'..., M.Bret. bresel 'fight', Bret. bresa
> 'quarrel'...

> Hereupon probably also Cymr. brwydr 'fight, struggle',
> O.Ir. briathar 'word' [Starostin & Lubotsky's added gloss:
> *'argument'], as *bhrei-tra:- 'quarrel, argument' (to
> Cymr. brwyd 'torn, perforates'), compare Lit. baìrti
> 'scold, chide', refl. 'be quarrelsome', Old Church Slavic
> brati 'fight'... >>

Matasovic' derives OIr <bríathar> 'word' and MWel <brwydr>
'fight, combat' from PCelt *bre:tra: 'word'; he offers no
PIE source. For the semantic connection between the OIr
and Welsh words he refers to LEIA B-88.

However, he derives OIr <bres> 'fight, combat', MWel
<Conbresel> (PN), MBret <brezel> 'war', and Corn. <bresel>
'war' from PCelt *brissV- 'fight, combat', which he derives
from PIE *bHers-t- 'break' (whence, e.g., OE <berstan>),
noting also an OIr denominative verb <brissid> 'break' from
this root.

Brian