Evidence for Basque as an Indo-European Language
Gianfranco Forni
This article provides phonetic, lexical and grammatical evidence that Basque is an Indo-European language. It provides a brief history of previous research into the origins of Basque; a short description of the genesis of this article; a description of the methodology adopted for the present research; an overview of Michelena’s internal reconstruction of Pre-Basque; 23 sets of chronologically arranged sound laws linking Proto-Indo-European to Pre-Basque; Indo-European etymologies for 75% of the Basque native basic lexicon, with systematic cross-references to regular sound laws; Indo- European etymologies of some Basque bound morphemes, including case markers; a discussion of the findings; and Indo- European etymologies of 40 additional, non-basic lexical items.
The current mainstream theory: Basque as a language isolate The current consensus among Vasconists and “orthodox” historical linguists is that Basque is a language isolate. Trask (T 358-429) provides an in-depth analysis of previous attempts at relating Basque to other language families, incl. North-Caucasian, and illustrates why such attempts variously failed, except for Aquitanian, which is considered, beyond doubt, to be related to Basque. In fact, the Basque lexicon looks quite un-Indo-European, as shown by the following subset of the basic lexicon:
• personal pronouns: ni ‘I’, hi ‘thou’, gu ‘we’, zuek ‘you’, ber- ‘self’; • interrogative stems: no-, ze(r)-; • negation: ez ‘no, not’; • numerals: bat ‘1’, bi ‘2’, hiru(r) ‘3’, lau(r) ‘4’, bortz/bost ‘5’, sei ‘6’, zazpi ‘7’, zortzi ‘8’, bederatzi ‘9’, hamar ‘10’; • body parts: aho ‘mouth’, sudur ‘nose’, buztan
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‘tail’, beso ‘arm’, ezur ‘bone’, gibel ‘liver’, hortz ‘incisor tooth’, ile ‘hair’, larru ‘skin’, oin ‘foot, leg’, adar ‘horn’, buru ‘head’, odol ‘blood’, belaun ‘knee’; • adjectives: beltz ‘black’, bero ‘hot’, bizi ‘alive’, gaitz ‘bad’, garbi ‘clean’, mehe ‘thin’, otz ‘cold’, luze ‘long’, argal ‘thin’, handi ‘big’; • actions: ebaki ‘cut’, eran ‘drink’, egin ‘make’, eman ‘give’, entzun ‘hear’, erori ‘fall’, erran ‘say’, igan ‘go up’, ikusi ‘see’, itzuli ‘turn’, jan ‘eat’, joan ‘go’, barre ‘laugh’; • nature: euri ‘rain’, gar ‘flame’, ibai ‘river’, ilun ‘night’, itsaso ‘sea’, izar ‘star’, su ‘fire’, zur ‘wood’, orri ‘leaf’, ke ‘smoke’, hil- ‘moon’, egun ‘day’, zulo ‘hole’; • animals: txori ‘bird’, erle ‘bee’, zorri ‘louse’, inurri ‘ant’; • people: gizon ‘man’, neska ‘girl’, sehi ‘boy’, haur ‘child’, atso ‘old woman’, anaia ‘brother’.
At first glance, the differences between Basque and IE appear to be so insurmountable that one can easily understand the traditional position that the two are genetically unrelated.
Genesis of this article The seemingly insurmountable gap between Basque and PIE can be bridged by two intermediate stepping stones:
1. Rather than working solely from modern Basque one can employ Michelena’s Pre-Basque (masterfully summarized by Trask); it’s an internal reconstruction of the phonology of Basque around two thousand years before present (see next section for details); 2. Rather than working directly from PIE one can employ Proto-Celtic reconstructions and Celtic comparanda. Why Celtic? Simply because the Basque-speaking area is a distinct white spot in a large, compact area that used to be
The Journal of Indo-European Studies Evidence for Basque as an Indo-European Language 3
dominated by Celtic languages.1 Why look as far away as the Caucasus or China for potential relatives of Basque? Let’s rather start from square one: the backyard of the Basque country, as it were, i.e. its neighboring Celtic languages.
As you’ll see in the next section, Pre-Basque had several very interesting features: it had no */m/ phoneme at all, and it did have */p, t, k, d/, but these phonemes could not occur at the beginning of a word. As per Martinet’s hypothesis, a possible explanation might be that the ancestor of Pre-Basque had */m/ and */p-, t-, k-, d-/, but these were lost. So, another device for comparison involves leveraging Martinet’s hypothesis when comparing PIE and Celtic with Pre-Basque and Basque. This yields far more promising results (Table 1).
Basque Pre- Proto- PIE Other IE Basque Celtic reflexes
aho *a[h]o *ás- > Old *h1/4óh1(e)s- Khotanese ‘mouth’ Irish á áha-
aitzin *antzin *antono- *h2ent-h3en- ‘in front ‘forehead’ of’
bi ‘2’ *bi *dwí *dw-ih1 Latin bis (fem.) ‘2’ (fem.) ‘2’ ‘twice’ bizi *bizi *biwo- *gwiHwo-to- Greek ‘alive’ biotos buztan *buztan *buzdo- *gwosdho- ‘tail’ ‘tail’ ‘piece of wood, sprig’
egin *-gin- *gn-iyo- *genh1- ‘to ‘do, ‘do’ > Old beget’ make’ Irish gen-
1See e.g. the map on page 310 of Indo-European Language and Culture by Benjamin W. Fortson IV (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010)
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ezur *enazur *enátro- *h1en-h1eh1- ‘bone’ ‘entrails, tor ‘internal bowels’ > organ’ Middle Irish inathar
gaitz *gaitz *waxto- *weh2k-to- < ‘bad’ ‘bad’ > *weh2k- ‘to Middle be empty, Welsh lacking’ gwaeth, Modern Breton gwazh ‘worse’
h garbi *garbi *gléwi- *g leyh2- ‘to ‘clean’ ‘liquid, shine’ clear’ gizon *gizon *gdonyo- *dhghom-yo- ‘man’ ‘human, ‘human, person’ earthling’
ibai *ibani *abon- *h2ep-h3on- ‘river’
w w ikusi *i-kus-i *ad-k is-o- *h2ed-k eys- ‘see’ ‘see’ ‘perceive’
otz *[h]otz *owg-ro- *h3eug-st- Latv. ‘cold’ Old Irish aÜksts úacht < PIE *h3owg-tu-
sehi *seni *suhx-nu- Gothic ‘boy, ‘son’ sunus, child’ Sanskrit súnú-
The Journal of Indo-European Studies Evidence for Basque as an Indo-European Language 5
belaun *bellaun *kwenno- *gonu ‘knee’ glúnos ‘knee’ ‘kneecap’ > Middle Welsh pen-glin, Middle Breton penn-glin, Old Cornish penclin ‘knee’ Table 1.
Although these examples appear pretty straightforward, they might be loans from Celtic into Basque. Yet, if we could accumulate similar comparisons for several dozen basic terms, borrowing would become less and less likely, and inheritance would be the most compelling explanation. Let’s now look at some slightly less obvious, but still intriguing comparisons (Tables 2-4):
Basque Pre-Basque Proto-Celtic PIE barre ‘laugh’ *barre *swaryo- *swer-yo- ‘laugh’ ‘make a sound’ ber- ‘self’ *bede *swe-(de-) *swe- ‘self’ Table 2: *sw- > b-
Basque Pre-Basque Proto-Celtic PIE
izar ‘star’ *izar *sterá > Old *h2stér Irish, Middle Welsh ser txori ‘bird’ *zori *stor- ‘a kind of bird’ Table 3: *st- > z-:
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Basque Pre-Basque Proto-Celtic PIE zulo ‘hole’ *zullo *tullo- *tuk-slo- < ‘pierced, *tewk- ‘to perforated’ beat, perforate’ zur ‘wood’ *zur *doru ‘tree, wood’ Table 4: *tu-, *do- > zu-
The loss of */m/, */p-/, */k-/, */t-/ yields further comparisons (Table 5).
Basque Pre- Proto- PIE Other IE Basque Celtic reflexes inurri *innaurri *hinna *morwi- ‘ant’ morwi ‘ant’ ‘the ant’ joan ‘go’ *e-on-an *mon-í- *menH- ‘to ‘go’ tread’ larru *larru *fletro- *pl-etro- < ‘skin’ ‘hide, *pel- ‘to leather’ > skin’ Middle Welsh lledr, Modern Breton ler
lau ‘4’ *lau(r) *flámá *pÒh2meh2 ‘palm, ‘palm, hand’ > hand’ Old Welsh lau
adar *adarr *kerh2sr ‘horn’ ‘horn’ hiru ‘3’ *[h]iru *treies Armenian ere-, eri-
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hi ‘thou’ *[h]i *tú, *tu *te ‘thee’ ‘thou’ > Old Welsh, Middle Breton ti Table 5: loss of */m/, */p-/, */k-/, */t-/
Basque gradually starts looking less isolated and the rest of this article will extend this approach to provide IE etymologies for an overwhelming majority of the basic Basque lexicon.
Methodology The present research uses reconstructed Pre-Basque and Martinet’s hypothesis as its starting point. Therefore, this article only contains sound laws connecting PIE to Pre- Basque, since sound laws connecting Pre-Basque to Basque are extensively described in MICH and T (ch. 3). Before testing Martinet’s hypothesis against remote language families, I decided to compare Pre-Basque with the geographically closest family, Indo-European. This comparison very quickly proved to be extremely productive. The present research strictly follows the standard comparative method, i.e. it is based on the principle that, in order to prove that language L belongs to family F, one must prove that the majority of native (=non-borrowed) basic lexicon and grammar of L can be derived from the lexicon and grammar of proto-F through regular sound changes.
Phonology Pre-Basque: an Internal Reconstruction Based on dialect variations, other internal evidence, and phonological treatment of loans, Michelena and Trask (MICH, T) reconstructed so-called Pre-Basque, i.e. the phonology of Basque around two thousand years before present. Such work, combined with an analysis of known loans, led to the creation of a list of native Basque terms and the reconstruction of their Pre-Basque phonological shape.
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Pre-Basque is an excellent starting point for any historical linguist investigating the affiliation of Basque to other language families, because it:
• filters out any terms that have already been recognized as loans, and only reconstructs “native” Basque terms; • provides an accurate segmentation of Basque lexical items, based on internal evidence; • identifies the common sources of current dialectal variations; • provides a standardized inventory of phonemes and phonotactic rules; • is not based on any assumption about external affiliations of Basque.
The phonemic inventory reconstructed for Pre-Basque is the following (T, ch. 3)(Table 6):
Fortes (-p-) -t- -k- -tz-, -ts-, -nn-, -ll-, -rr-, -tz -ts -nn -ll -rr Lenes b-, (d-), g-, z-, s-, n-, l-, -l- -r- -b- -d- -g- -z- -s- -n- Vowels i e a o u Table 6: The phonemic inventory of Pre-Basque.
Lenes never occurred word-finally. Fortes2 never occurred word-initially (and plosive fortes never occurred word-finally, either). Pre-Basque (like Basque) has two lenes and two fortes sibilants: and
2 Fortes consonants can be conventionally represented either by capital letters or by geminates. This article will adopt the latter convention.
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Major sound correspondences Detailed sound laws will be listed in the rest of this section. Such sound laws have been inferred from observed regular sound correspondences between Pre-Basque and PIE. The current sub-section will only list key evidence for major sound correspondences (by phoneme type and by position), whereas an exhaustive list of all examples and sound laws will be provided in the next sub-sections. For convenience, each sound correspondence listed below is cross-referenced to the etymology number used in the lexical etymology section, where the reader can find many additional details. In this section, sound correspondences will be represented as *X : Y, meaning that PIE phoneme *X corresponds to Basque phoneme Y.
PLOSIVES
Word-initial voiceless plosives are usually lost. This dramatic phenomenon will be discussed in detail in the comments at the end of this section. Evidence is abundant for *p- (whose loss is shared with Celtic; Table 7) but rather sparse for *t- (Table 8), *k- (Table 9) and *k- (Table 10). Sound laws 6, 7 and 17 below will propose a more detailed model for this loss.
(pre-)Basque PIE Etymology # *atz ‘paw’ *ped-s ‘foot’ 87 *aur ‘child’ *pau-r ‘little’ 88 *ille, *ulle ‘hair’ *pil-/*pul- ‘body hair’ 89 larru ‘skin’ *pletro- ‘skin’ 90
*lau ‘4’ *pÒh2meh2 ‘palm, hand’ 91
*luze ‘long’ *pÒth2u- ‘broad’ 92 *oin ‘foot’ *pod- ‘foot’ 93 Table 7: Evidence for *p- : .
Pre-Basque PIE Etymology # *i ‘thou’ *tiH ‘thou’ 117 *irur ‘3’ *tisores (fem.) ‘3’ 118 *ar, or ‘that’ *ke- + *tor ‘this + there’ 125 Table 8: Evidence for *t- : -.
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(pre-)Basque PIE Etymology #
*adarr ‘horn’ *kerh2sr ‘horn’ 119
has-erre ‘angry; *keh2d-t- ‘strong negative 123 anger’ emotion’ hau(-), hon- ‘this’ *ke- ‘this’ 124
*orol ‘blood’ *kruh2-lo- ‘gore, raw 126 flesh, blood’ *eulli ‘fly (n.)’ *kúl-lV ‘mosquito’ 122 Table 9: Evidence for * k- : - and *k- : -.
Word-initial aspirated voiced plosives are lost (see sound law set #7 below).
Evidence is fairly solid for *dh- (Table 10).
Pre-Basque PIE Etymology # *bene ‘below, under’ *dheub(h)-Vn- ‘deep’ 113 h h *ezene ‘milk’ *d ed h1i-n- ‘sour milk’ 114 *bin ‘pain’ *dhebh-Vn- ‘harm’ 115 h h *ugatz ‘breast *d ug( )-ha-to- ‘milked’ 116 (female)’ Table 10: loss of *dh-.
Excluding some partially dubious cases, evidence for the loss of other initial voiced aspirated plosives is sparse (Table 11):
Pre-Basque PIE Etymology # *orri ‘leaf’ *bhólio- ‘leaf’ 95 *bulu ‘head’ *ghebhól-os ‘head’ 120 *eli ‘sick, ill’ *ghelH- ‘evil, unhealthy’ 121 Table 11.
Evidence for the reflexes of word-initial non-aspirated voiced plosives is sparse. Word-initial *d- is lost (in accordance with Pre-Basque phonology), as e.g. in 110. Pre-Basque *egu(n) : *dei-wo- ‘day’. The likely reflexes of other voiced plosives are described in sound law set #8 below. The only exception to the loss of word-initial *t- and *d- (Table 12) occurs before /u/ (which may go back to either PIE *u or *o), where such consonants are assibilated
The Journal of Indo-European Studies Evidence for Basque as an Indo-European Language 11 rather than lost:
Pre-Basque PIE Etymology #
*zu ‘you’ *tuhx ‘you’ 84 *zullo ‘hole’ *tuk-slo- ‘hole’ 85 *zur ‘wood’ *doru ‘tree, wood’ 86 Table 12: Initial *t- and *d-.
Such assibilation must obviously have taken place before the loss of *t, *d-. It is also amply attested word- medially, as in the following examples (Table 13; see sound law sets #4 & #18 for more details):
(pre-)Basque PIE Etymology #
antzin (< *antsun < *h2ent-h3en- ‘front, 2 *antun < *anton) forehead’ ‘before, in front of’
*anets (< *anetsu < *h2enh1-to- ‘breath’ 7 *aneto-) ‘breath’ *bizi (< *biutsu) ‘alive’ *gwiHwo-to- ‘alive’ 17
*enazur ‘bone’ *h1en-h1eh1-tor 33 ‘internal organ’ Table 13.
Labialized word-initial plosives *gw- and *dw- yield b- (Table 14; see sound law set #9 for more details):
(pre-)Basque PIE Etymology # *bizi ‘alive’ *gwiHwo-to- ‘alive’ 17 *buztan ‘tail’ *gwos-dho- ‘piece of 18 wood, sprig’ > Proto- Celtic *buzdo- ‘tail’
bi ‘two’ *dw-ih1 (fem.) ‘two’ 15 *bon ‘good’ *dweno- ‘good’ 71 Table 14: Word-initial *gw- and *dw-.
Evidence for the treatment of word-medial plosives is rather sparse. Only well-attested correspondences will be discussed here; see sound law set #10 for more details.
As in Celtic, *–p– : -, whereas *–bh– : –b– (Table 15).
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(pre-)Basque PIE Etymology # gora (< *uor-) ‘up’ *uper- ‘over’ 43 *e-ba- ‘to cut’ *bhag- ‘to divide’ 19 *ebri ‘rain’ *÷bhri- ‘rain’ 31 *bulu (< *hebulu) ‘head’ *ghebhól-os ‘head’ 120 Table 15.
*–t– : –t–, whereas *–dh– : –z– near /i/ and *–dh– : –d– in other contexts (Table 16).
(pre-)Basque PIE Etymology #
eta ‘and’ *h1eti ‘beyond’ 29 *e-torr- ‘to come *tork(w)- ‘to twist, turn’ 30 back’ h *e-da-n ‘to drink’ *d eh1- ‘to suck’ 20 *-gad- ‘to swim’ *wadh- ‘to wade’ 50 h h *ezene ‘milk’ *d ed h1i-n- ‘sour milk’ 114 *gizon ‘man’ (via *dhghom-yo- ‘human’ 40 metathesis of the initial cluster + anaptyxis) Table 16.
*–g– : –g–, whereas *–gh– : –k– (Table 17).
(pre-)Basque PIE Etymology #
*argi ‘bright’ *h2erg-y- ‘white’ 6
*e-gin ‘to make, do’ *genh1- ‘to bear, 22 (semantic shift as in generate’ Celtic) h *ugatz ‘female breast’ *d ug-ha-to- ‘milked’ 116 i-kuz-i (< *-kutsu-) ‘to *ghud-o- ‘to pour’ 52 wash’ *eke (< *meuke) *mewgh- ‘smoke’ 100 ‘smoke’ Table 17.
*–kw– : –b– (compare similar word-initial correspondences; Table 18).
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(pre-)Basque PIE Etymology # *-ba ‘kinship suffix’ *-kwá ‘kinship suffix’ 8 gibel (< *yeber) ‘liver’ *yekw® ‘liver’ 39 Table 18.
NASALS PIE *n is preserved in Pre-Basque (and is subsequently lost between vowels in Basque). See sound law set #12 for details (Table 19).
(pre-)Basque PIE Etymology #
antzin ‘before, in front *h2ent-h3en- ‘front, 2 of’ forehead’
*enezun ‘to hear’ *h1en + *haeus-o- ‘in 24 + ear’
*enazur ‘bone’ *h1en-h1eh1-tor 33 ‘internal organ’
*ibani ‘river’ *h2ep-h3on- ‘river’ 48 *bendi ‘mountain’ *bend- ‘point, pin’ 67 >Proto-Celtic *bando- ‘peak, top’ *ni ‘I, me’ *no- ‘we’ 69 *bon ‘good’ *dweno- ‘good’ 71
*seni ‘boy, child’ *s(e)uhx-nu- ‘son’ 75 zingira ‘lake, swamp’ *steh2ng-ra- ‘shallow 82 water, swamp’ h h *ezene ‘milk’ *d ed h1i-n- ‘sour 114 milk’ Table 19: PIE *n.
*m : ––, whereas *–mm– (whether original or deriving from the simplification of a cluster) corresponds to -m– (see sound law set #2 for more details; Table 20).
(pre-)Basque PIE Etymology #
*-au- ‘to fall’ *meu(hx)- ‘to move’ > 62 Hitt. mau- ‘to fall’ *-on- ‘to go’ *monH- ‘to tread, 63 stamp on’ > Proto- Celtic *mon-í- ‘to go’ argal ‘thin’ *makre-lo-s ‘thin’ 97 *arrats ‘dark’ *merk-e-to- ‘darkened’ 98
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*eke ‘smoke’ *mewgh- ‘smoke’ 100 *erle (< *elile) ‘bee’ *meli-l- ‘honey’ 102
*ill- ‘moon, month’ *meh1-n-lV- ‘month, 107 moon’ *ama ‘mother’ *mamma ‘mommy’ 96
*e-man- ‘to give’ *h1en + *mehan- ‘in’ + 23 ‘hand, give’ Table 20: PIE *m.
SIBILANTS As shown in more detail in sound law sets #11 and #19, *s is preserved (except word-finally after vowels) and is subsequently palatalized in the following environments: word-initially, when followed by /e/; word-medially, when preceded by /e,i/ (note that it is common in Basque for palatalization to be conditioned by the preceding vowel, not by the following one; e.g. /in/ > /ñ/, /il/ > /l/). Such palatalization accounts for (pre-)Basque apico-alveolar , whereas (pre-)Basque lamino-alveolar
(pre-)Basque PIE Etymology # *buztan ‘tail’ *gwos-dho- ‘piece of 18 wood, sprig’ > Proto-Celtic *buzdo- ‘tail’
*enezun ‘to hear’ *h1en + *haeus-o- 24 (< *eneusu-, where /u/ ‘in + ear’ prevented the palatalization of /s/)
*ortz ‘incisor tooth’ (< *h3d-÷t-s ‘tooth’ 47 *ornts < *orints < *odints) *atz ‘paw’ *ped-s ‘foot’ 87 Table 21.
There are examples of *s : apico-alveolar (Table 22).
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(pre-)Basque PIE Etymology #
*seni ‘boy, child’ *seuhx-nu- ‘son’ 75 *sei ‘six’ *seks ‘six’ 76 *beso ‘arm’ *gwésdos ‘branch’ 14 w *ikusi ‘to see’ (< *ad-kuis-) *h2ed-k eys- ‘to 51 perceive’
*sudur ‘nose’ (< *esudur) *h1ens-h3od-o-ro-s 78 ‘having smell inside’ Table 22.
There are examples of loss of word-final *-s after vowels(Table 23)
(pre-)Basque PIE Etymology #
*ao ‘mouth’ *h1/4oh1(e)s ‘mouth’ 1 *sei ‘six’ (< *seis) *seks ‘six’ 76 Table 23.
An exception to the correspondences listed above is *sw- : b- (Table 24).
(pre-)Basque PIE Etymology # ber- (< *bede) ‘self’ *swe-de ‘self’ 12 *belo ‘hot, heat’ *swel- ‘to burn’ 13 Table 24.
RHOTICS AND LATERALS PIE *-r- and *l are both preserved in Pre-Basque (see sound law set #13 for a vast number of examples). Intervocalic */l/ is then rhotacized in Basque.
CONSONANT CLUSTERS Pre-Basque had no initial consonant clusters (T 163). In fact, word-initial consonant clusters have usually undergone anaptyxis (also see sound law set #5; Table 25).
(pre-)Basque PIE Etymology # h garbi ‘clean’ (< *galwi < *g leyh2-w- ‘to shine’ 38 *gelewi) > Proto-Celtic *gléwi- ‘liquid, clear’
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*gizon ‘man’ (via *dhghom-yo- ‘human’ 40 metathesis) gorotz ‘dung’ *grugs ‘dirt’ 44
*orol ‘blood’ (< *kruh2-lo- ‘gore, raw 126 *korulu-) flesh, blood’ Table 25.
Consonant clusters seem to have undergone extensive simplifications, for each of which there usually are a few examples. A full list is provided under sound law sets #5, #15 and #23. Below (Tables 26-27) are the best attested correspondences involving clusters.
(pre-)Basque PIE Etymology # *zori ‘bird’ *stor- ‘a kind of bird’ 79
zingira ‘lake, swamp’ *steh2ng-ra- ‘shallow 82 water, swamp’
*izar ‘star’ *h2stér ‘star’ 58 Table 26: *(-)st- : (-)s- in pre-tonic position (as in Celtic).
(pre-)Basque PIE Etymology #
*gaitz ‘bad’ *weh2k-to- ‘to be 34 empty, lacking’ > Proto-Celtic *waxto- ‘bad’ *itz ‘speech, language’ *yek-to- ‘to say, 55 speak’ *sei ‘six’ (< *seis) *seks ‘six’ 76 Table 27: *Vkto- : Vitz and *Vks : Vi(s).
GLIDES As detailed in sound law sets #14 and #20, both *w and *y correspond to g (Table 28).
(pre-)Basque PIE Etymology #
*gaitz ‘bad’ *weh2k-to- ‘to be 34 empty, lacking’ > Proto-Celtic *waxto- ‘bad’ *-gad- ‘to swim’ *wadh- ‘to wade’ 50 *gu ‘we, us’ *wei ‘we’ 45 *egu(n) ‘day’ *dei-wo- ‘day’ 110
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gora (< *wor- < *uor-) *uper- ‘over’ 43 ‘up’ gibel (< *yeber) ‘liver’ *yekw® ‘liver’ 39 Table 28.
LARYNGEALS Laryngeals have “colored” vowels in a regular way (see sound law set #1 for more details). Below (Tables 29-31) are some of the best attested correspondences.
(pre-)Basque PIE Etymology #
errun ‘to lay eggs’ *h1endro- ‘egg’ 27 eta ‘and’ *h1eti ‘beyond’ 29 *enazur ‘bone’ *h1en-h1eh1-tor ‘internal 33 organ’
*enezun ‘to hear’ *h1en + *haeus-o- ‘in + 24 ear’
Table 29: *h1e : e.
(pre-)Basque PIE Etymology # antzin ‘before, in front of’ *h2ent-h3en- ‘front, 2 forehead’
*annai-a ‘brother’ *h2ed-g(e)nh1-yV- ‘to 4 beget’
*argi ‘bright’ *h2erg-y- ‘white’ 6 *anets ‘breath’ *h2enh1-to- ‘breath’ 7
*anar ‘male’ *h2nér ‘man’ 5
*adarr ‘horn’ (< *hararr) *kerh2sr ‘horn’ 119 *gaitz ‘bad’ *weh2k-to- ‘to be 34 empty, lacking’ > Proto-Celtic *waxto- ‘bad’ has-erre ‘angry; anger’ *keh2d-t- ‘strong 123 negative emotion’
Table 30: *h2(e), *eh2 : a.
(pre-)Basque PIE Etymology #
*ortz ‘incisor tooth’ (< *h3d-÷t-s ‘tooth’ 47 *ornts < *orints < *odints)
*olo ‘all’ *h3ol- ‘all’ 72 Table 31: *h3(e), *h3o : o.
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VOWELS Vowels are generally preserved unchanged: see sound law sets #3, #16 and #22 for details. Notable and well- attested exceptions are listed in Tables 32-37.
(pre-)Basque PIE Etymology # *buztan ‘tail’ *gwos-dho- ‘piece of wood, 18 sprig’ > Proto-Celtic *buzdo- ‘tail’
*enezun ‘to hear’ *h1en + *haeus-o- ‘in + ear’ 24 errun ‘to lay *h1endro- ‘egg’ 27 eggs’
*enazur ‘bone’ *h1en-h1eh1-tor ‘internal 33 organ’
*sudur ‘nose’ *h1ens-h3od-o-ro-s ‘having 78 smell inside’ *zur ‘wood’ *doru ‘tree, wood’ 86 larru ‘skin’ *pl-etro- ‘skin’ 90 *egu(n) ‘day’ *dei-wo- ‘day’ 110 *bulu ‘head’ *ghebhl-os ‘head’ 120 Table 32: *o, * : u (very frequent, but with some exceptions).
(pre-)Basque PIE Etymology #
*anar ‘male’ *h2nér ‘man’ 5 *gar ‘flame’ *gwher- ‘heat’ 36
*izar ‘star’ *h2stér ‘star’ 58 *arrats ‘dark’ *merk-e-to- ‘darkened’ 98 Table 33: *er, *ér : ar.
(pre-)Basque PIE Etymology # *bizi (< *biutsu) ‘alive’ *gwiHwo-to- ‘alive’ 17
*enezun ‘to hear’ *h1en + *haeus-o- 24 (< *eneusu-, where /u/ ‘in + ear’ prevented the palatalization of /s/)
*seni ‘boy, child’ *seuhx-nu- ‘son’ 75 *eke ‘smoke’ *mewgh- ‘smoke’ 100
*otz ‘cold’ (< *ougst) *h3eug-st- ‘cold’ 74 Table 34: *Vu : V.
The Journal of Indo-European Studies Evidence for Basque as an Indo-European Language 19
(pre-)Basque PIE Etymology #
*ibani ‘river’ *h2ep-h3on- ‘river’ 48
*izar ‘star’ *h2stér ‘star’ 58 Table 35: *a- : i- in pre-tonic position.
(pre-)Basque PIE Etymology #
*anets ‘breath’ *h2enh1-to- ‘breath’ 7 *gizon ‘man’ *dhghom-yo- ‘human’ 40
*sudur ‘nose’ *h1ens-h3od-o-ro-s 78 ‘having smell inside’ argal ‘thin’ *makre-lo-s ‘thin’ 97 *arrats ‘dark’ *merk-e-to- ‘darkened’ 98 h h *ugatz ‘breast (female)’ *d ug( )-ha-to- 116 ‘milked’
*orol ‘blood’ *kruh2-lo- ‘gore, raw 126 (< *korulu-) flesh, blood’ Table 36: *-V : -∅ in words which originally had more than two syllables.
(pre-)Basque PIE Etymology #
*sudur ‘nose’ *h1ens-h3od-o-ro-s 78 ‘having smell inside’ *bulu ‘head’ *ghebhl-os ‘head’ 120 h *bini ‘tongue’ *d÷g uh2-VnV- 112 (<*enbini) ‘tongue’ *bene ‘below, under’ *dheub(h)-Vn- ‘deep’ 113 *bin ‘pain’ *dhebh-Vn- ‘harm’ 115 Table 37: *e- : ∅- in pre-tonic position (also in cases where *e- was originally preceded by a lost word-initial plosive).
Also see 142. sortu ‘to be born’ < *esortu < Latin exortu- < exôrîor ‘to appear, derive, spring out’.
Introduction to sound laws The present research identifies 23 sets of regular sound laws connecting PIE to Pre-Basque. For Pre-Basque > Basque sound laws, please refer to MICH and T (ch. 3); note that loss of intervocalic */-n-/ is regular from Pre- Basque to Basque, and that */h/ is not phonemic in Pre- Basque. The PIE and Pre-Basque sound systems are readily
Volume 41, Number 1 & 2, Spring/Summer 2013 20 Gianfranco Forni available (e.g. in M-A and T respectively). An intermediate stage, called Proto-Basque in the present research, has been tentatively reconstructed, and can be derived from sound law sets #1 to #16 listed below. It should be borne in mind, though, that any reconstructed protolanguage is somewhat arbitrary, since it tries to depict a prehistoric language at some given point in time, whereas the evolution of PIE into Pre-Basque was a continuous sequence of diachronic changes. It is therefore more useful to focus on sound laws (i.e. the sequence of changes) than on any given sound system at some intermediate stage. Proto-Basque probably preserved the original stress accent as in PIE; Pre-Basque probably shifted it to the second syllable, causing the loss of final vowels in polysyllables, as well as the loss of initial */e-/ (see T 164- 166). For the sake of legibility, in the following sound laws, reconstructed proto-phonemes are not preceded by an asterisk and are not enclosed within slashes; for example, proto-phoneme /*p/ is simply written p. To make sound laws easy to inspect, each of them is accompanied by the list of Basque terms to which it applies (conversely, each etymology in the lexicon section will be cross-referenced to applicable sound laws). Sound laws with at least three examples will be shown in a bold font.
Sets of sound laws linking Proto-Indo-European to Proto- Basque The high number of lexical etymologies makes it possible to arrange such sound laws in a tentative, relative chronological order. Evidence for relative chronological arrangement is presented below. Laryngeals where lost in the earliest stages of most IE languages, and there is no evidence that Basque was different in this respect. Hence, treatment of laryngeals constitutes sound law set #1. Loss of *m shows no dependence on other sound laws and has therefore been conventionally placed in sound law set #2 (though future evidence might possibly move further it down the list – maybe closer to other lenition phenomena). t-, d-* and *dh- are lost, except before /u/ where they
The Journal of Indo-European Studies Evidence for Basque as an Indo-European Language 21 are assibilated. In turn, in some cases, such “assibilating” /u/ derives from *o (e.g. 86. zur < *doru, 2. antzin < *antsun < *anton < *h2ent-h3en-, etc.), so the sequence must have been: first, *o > *u, then *tu, du*, *dhu > *tsu, then loss of *t-, d-* and *dh- in other positions. This is why sound law sets #3 and #4 come before the loss of *t-, d-* and *dh-. Similarly, initial consonant clusters underwent h anaptyxis: evidence includes e.g. 38. garbi < *g leyh2-w-, 40. gizon < *dhghom-yo- (via metathesis before the anaptyxis), 44. gorotz < *grugs. Yet there are also cases where an initial plosive was originally followed by another consonant in PIE, whereas it appears to have been followed by an anaptyctical vowel in Proto-Basque (e.g. 118. hiru < *hire < *tireies < *treies; 126. odol < *orol < *korulu- < *kruh2-lo-). Hence, anaptyxis must have preceded the loss of word-initial stops, too, and is therefore placed as #5. No other precondition to the loss of initial plosives has been found, so sound law sets #6, #7 and #8 suggest a phonetically plausible initial path towards such eventual loss, i.e. aspiration of word-initial voiceless plosives (if they actually where unaspirated in the first place in PIE, which some theories cast doubts on), followed by a shift of all word-initial aspirated plosives (both voiced and unvoiced) to *h- and, likely, fricativization of word-initial non- aspirated voiced plosives (except *b- and *g-), as per set #8. Around the same time, the evolution of labialized consonants (set #9) and of word-medial plosives (set #10) seems to have taken place: there is no solid evidence that such changes took places immediately thereafter, so putting them here in the sequence may admittedly be somewhat arbitrary, but there is no counter-evidence either. The preservation of *s, *n, *r and *l seems to belong roughly to the same period, and has therefore been conventionally placed in sets #11, #12 and #13. *w > g seems to be a later evolution, since in some cases pre-vocalic *u appears to have shifted to *w and then merged with original *w into > g (see set #20 for evidence), so set #14 assumes original *w to have been
Volume 41, Number 1 & 2, Spring/Summer 2013 22 Gianfranco Forni preserved up to the Proto-Basque stage. Consonant clusters have undergone several dramatic simplifications – not all of them amply attested. Sets #15 and #23 try to depict a possible evolution path, with e.g. *-kr- > *-rk- preceding *-rk- > -rg- as in 97. argal < *makre- lo-), though additional evidence must be collected to unwind the details. Most clusters yielding *s are treated here, because palatalization of such *s clearly takes places later (e.g. 78. sudur < *esudur < *ensudur, where *s would not have been palatalized by preceding *e- if *n had dropped after such palatalization had stopped to operate; ditto for 68. neska < *gnetska, where *t must have dropped before palatalization occurred – again, due to *e immediately preceding *s). Vowel preservation (with some exceptions, such as *er, *en, *el > *ar, *an, *al) has also been conventionally placed here (set #16). To summarize the chronological arrangement of sound laws connecting PIE to Proto-Basque: sets #1 and #3 to #8 have compelling reasons for their relative chronological arrangement, whereas sets #2 and #9 to #16 have been conventionally arranged in this order, but might all be more or less contemporary with each other, based on current evidence.
Set #1: Laryngeals (Table 38).
7. ats; 23. eman; 24. entzun; 27. errun; 29. eta;
h1(e) > e 33. ezur; 54. itsaso; 60. jan; 68. neska; 78. sudur; 104. handi
h1o- > o- 163. oste 1. aho; 10. bederatzi; 15. bi; 80. ur; 84. zu; -Vh (-) > -V(-) 1 104. handi
h1/4- > a- 1. aho 2. ai(n)tzin; 4. anaia; 5. ar; 6. argi; 7. ats; 46. h2(e) > a hartu; 48. ibai; 51. ikusi; 58. izar; 77. su; 91. lau; 119. adar 34. gaitz; 54. itsaso; 82. zingira; 99. atso; 123. eh > a 2 haserre; 160. lan
eha > a 23. eman
uh2 > u 112. mihi; 126. odol
The Journal of Indo-European Studies Evidence for Basque as an Indo-European Language 23
h2ehx > e 26. erre hae > e 24. entzun 2. ai(n)tzin; 10. bederatzi; 47. hortz; 72. oro; h (e/o) > o 3 73. oso; 74. otz; 78. sudur; 146. begi Table 38.
Set #2: Loss of /m/(Table 39).
61. jaugin; 62. jautsi; 63. joan; 96. ama; 97. argal; 98. arrats; 99. atso; 100. eke; m > ∅ 101. ele; 102. erle; 103. ero; 104. handi; 105. herio; 106. hil; 107. hilabete, ilargi; 108. labur; 109. uzki; 134. eri exception: -m- > -u- 91. lau; 137. inurri; 165. ume (under conditions to be clarified) -M > -u 81. zazpi
-M- > -am- 111. hamar -mm- > -mm- 96. ama; 111. hamar -nm- > -mm- 23. eman Table 39.
Loss of */m/ may have taken place via an intermediate [v] or [b] stage; compare, e.g. synchronic lenition of /m/ to [v] in Breton.
Set #3: /o/ > /u/ (Table 40).
2. ai(n)tzin; 7. ats; 10. bederatzi; 17. bizi; 18. buztan; 21. edun; 24. entzun; 27. errun 33. ezur; 52. ikuzi; 69. ni; 77. su; 78. sudur; o, > u 86. zur; 90. larru; 97. argal; 98. arrats; 108. (when unstressed?) labur; 110. egun; 116. ugatz; 118. hirur; 120. buru; 126. odol; 151. esku; 154. haritz; 159. izen; 162. ortzi exception: 40. gizon; 43. gora; 47. hortz; 64. lo; 72. oro; o > o 73. oso; 83. zorri; 95. orri (when stressed?) Table 40.
Volume 41, Number 1 & 2, Spring/Summer 2013 24 Gianfranco Forni
Set #4: Assibilation of dental stops before /u/ (Table 41).
2. ai(n)tzin; 7. ats; 10. bederatzi; 17. bizi; 33. ezur; 52. ikuzi; 56. itzuli; 77. su; tu, du, dhu > tsu 3 81. zazpi; 84. zu; 85. zulo; 86. zur; 92. luze; 98. arrats; 116. ugatz; 154. haritz; 159. izen 162. ortzi Table 41.
Set #5: Anaptyxis (Table 42).
38. garbi; 40. gizon; 44. gorotz; 90. larru; 91. lau; CC- > CVC- 118. hiru; 126. odol;144. baso; 154. haritz Table 42.
Set #6: Aspiration of word-initial voiceless plosives (Table 43). p- > ph- t- > th- see set #7 k- > kh- k- > kh- Table 43.
Set #7: Word-initial aspirated plosives > /h-/ (Table 44). bh- > h- 94. alu; 95. orri; 164. uko dh- > h- 113. behe; 114. esne; 115. min; 116. ugatz gh- > h- 120. buru gh- > h- 121. eri; 151. esku; 159. izen exception: 38. garbi; 40. gizon ghC- > gC- 87. hatz; 88. haur; 89. ile; 90. larru; 91. lau; 92. ph- > h- luze; 93. oin; 153. haize; 162. ortzi 117. hi; 118. hiru(r); 125. hor; 152. euskara; 157. th- > h- huts; 165. ume kh- > h- 122. euli; 126. odol kh- > h- 119. adar; 123. haserre; 124. hau; 148. bihotz exception: 36. gar gwh- > g- Table 44.
3 Compare Ancient Greek s- < PIE *tw-, Japanese tsu < Old Japanese tu, etc.
The Journal of Indo-European Studies Evidence for Basque as an Indo-European Language 25
This set of sound laws does not apply to verb roots: any consonant can occur in root-initial position in verbs (T 178-179), because both finite and non-finite verb forms always have one or more prefixes before the root. Since root-initial plosives were never word-initial in verbs, they follow rule set #10.
Set #8: Word-initial non-aspirated voiced plosives (Table 45). b- > b- 67. mendi d- > d- 93. oin; 110. egun; 111. hamar; 112. mihi g- > - 68. neska; 143. ahizpa g- > g- 40. gizon; 44. gorotz Table 45.
Set #9: /gw-, kw-, dw-, sw-/ > /b-/ (Table 46). kw- > b- 133. belaun; 149. bost gw- > b- 14. beso; 17. bizi; 18. buztan; 144. baso dw- > b- 15. bi, biga; 71. on 9. barre; 11. beltz; 12. ber-; 13. bero; 16. –bil; sw- > b- 66. mehe exception: 28. esan; 83. zorri swVr- > sVrw- Table 46.
gw- > b- is shared with Celtic, and kw- > b- resembles Brittonic kw- > p-.
Set #10: Non-initial plosives (Table 47).
19. ebaki; 31. euri; 113. behe; 115. min; -bh- > -b- 120. buru ∅ 25. erori; 35. gain; 41. goi; 43. gora; 49. -p- > - - igan exception: 48. ibai -ph3- > -b- -d- > -d- near e, i 21. edun; 25. erori; 47. hortz; 60. jan; 78. sudur; 93. oin -d- > -d- near o, u
Volume 41, Number 1 & 2, Spring/Summer 2013 26 Gianfranco Forni
h θ -d - > - - near i 20. edan; 40. gizon; 50. igeri; 114. esne
158. izeki -dh- > -d- elsewhere -t- > -t- 29. eta; 30. etorri -g- > -- 19. ebaki -gh- > -- 64. lo -gwh- > -g- 158. izeki 4. anaia; 6. argi; 22. egin; 44. gorotz; 116. -g- > -g- ugatz -gh- > -k- 52. ikuzi; 100. eke; 164. uko -k- > -h- 21. edun; 111. hamar -kw- > -b- 8. –ba; 39. gibel; 146. begi Table 47.
h ∅ -b - > -b-, -p- > - - and -ph3- > -b- are shared with Celtic.
Set #11: Sibilants (Table 48).
28. esan; 57. izan; 75. sehi; 83. zorri (-)s- > (-)s- etc. -Cs > -Cs 47. hortz; 87. hatz; 148. bihotz 1. aho; 17. bizi; 76. sei; 77. su; 78. sudur; 97. -Vs > -V argal; 118. hiru(r); 120. buru; 164. uko Table 48.
See rule set #19 for subsequent, conditioned palatalization.
Set #12: /n/ (Table 49).
2. ai(n)tzin; 4. anaia; 5. ar; 7. ats; 23. eman; 24. entzun; 33. ezur; 48. ibai; 53. ilun; 63. joan 67. mendi; 68. neska; 69. ni; 71. on; 75. sehi n > n 82. zingira; 104. handi; 112. mihi; 113. behe; 114. es(e)ne; 115. min; 143. ahizpa; 165. ume 166. zahar ÷- > en- 31. euri; 32. ez; 53. ilun; 112. mihi -÷- > -in- 22. egin; 47. hortz -ng- > -n- 113. behe Table 49.
The Journal of Indo-European Studies Evidence for Basque as an Indo-European Language 27
Set #13: Rhotics and laterals (Table 50).
5. ar; 6. argi; 9. barre; 26. erre; 27. errun; 28. erran; 30. etorri; 31. euri, ebri; 33. ezur; 36. gar 37. garai; 43. gora; 44. gorotz; 46. hartu; 58. izar 78. sudur; 79. txori; 80. ur; 82. zingira; 83. zorri -r- > -r- 86. zur; 88. haur; 90. larru; 97. argal; 98. arrats 99. atso; 103. ero; 105. herio; 118. hiru; 119. adar; 125. hor-; 126. odol; 149. bortz; 154. haritz; 156. her(t)ze; 162. ortzi; 163. oste (-)®- > -ra- 108. labur; 144. baso -® > -er 39. gibel -r > -l 11. beltz; 39. gibel; 106. hil 13. bero; 53. ilun; 65. lur; 72. oro; 97. argal l > l 120. buru; 160. lan Ò > lu 92. luze Table 50.
-®- > -ra- is shared with Celtic.
Set #14: Glides (Table 51).
15. biga; 34. gaitz; 43. gora; 45. gu; 50. igeri w > w 110. egun; 135. gazte; 155. (h)ega(l) exception: 17. bizi -wuC- > -uC- y > g 39. gibel; 150. egosi Table 51.
Set #15: Consonant clusters (Table 52).
-kr- > -rk- 97. argal -rk- > -rr- 30. etorri; 46. hartu; 98. arrats -RghuV- > -RgwV- > 108. labur; 112. mihi -RbV- -Vkt-, -Vkt- > -Vits 10. bederatzi; 34. gaitz; 55. itz -Vks > -Vis 76. sei (-)st- > (-)s- 32. ez; 58. izar; 79. txori; 82. zingira in pre-tonic position -st- > -st- 135. gazte in post-tonic position -sdh- > -st- 18. buztan -sd- > -s- 14. beso
Volume 41, Number 1 & 2, Spring/Summer 2013 28 Gianfranco Forni
-dt- > -s- 54. itsaso; 123. haserre -ns- > -s- 32. ez; 78. sudur -ds- > -s- 109. uzki -sr > -rr 119. adar -tr- > -rr- 26. erre; 90. larru -ndr- > -rr- 27. errun -ksl- > -ll- 85. zulo -ksn- > -nn- 53. ilun gn- > gn- 68. neska -tsk- > -sk- 68. neska -dgn- > -nn- 4. anaia Table 52.
-dt- > -s-, (-)st- > (-)s- and -ksl- > -ll- are shared with Celtic.
Set #16: Vowels (Table 53).
3. aita; 34. gaitz; 123. haserre; 135. gazte a > a etc. 76. sei; 114. esne; 133. belaun e > e etc. exception: 5. ar; 9. barre; 35. gain; 36. gar; 37. garai; er, ér > ar 49. igan; 58. izar; 90. larru; 98. arrats; 111. in closed syllables hamar; 141. sartu exception: 20. edan; 104. handi; 143. ahizpa; 166. zahar en > an exception: 38. garbi; 94. alu; 97. argal (-)el- > (-)al- exception: 16. –bil; 106. hil -el > -il ei > e 45. gu; 110. egun; 118. hiru i > i 69. ni; 89. ile; 104. handi -on- > -an- 18. buztan; 48. ibai when unstressed 89. ile; 109. uzki u > u etc. ú > eu 122. euli when stressed ú > au 133. belaun when unstressed Table 53.
The Journal of Indo-European Studies Evidence for Basque as an Indo-European Language 29
Sets of sound laws linking Proto-Basque to Pre-Basque There is evidence for the chronological arrangement of sound laws connecting Proto-Basque to Pre-Basque. Loss of word-initial plosives (initiated with sets #6, #7 and #8) was completed via a loss of all word-initial fricatives *h-, *d- and *g - (set #17). Subsequent evolutions of the assibilation of dental plosives before /u/ (started with set #4) are conventionally placed here (#18) and surely happened after #4. Environment-conditioned palatalization of *s (#19) took place after all sound laws generating *s had taken place (incl. e.g. #15). As explained above, both original *w and pre-vocalic *u merged to *w and finally yielded g (#20). Some additional vowel evolutions (#22) clearly took place later:
• pre-tonic *a- > i- is later than #19, as shown by 58. izar (otherwise we’d have **isar); • *Vu- > V is also later than #19, as shown by 24. *enezun < *eneusu- (otherwise we’d have **enesun) and, vice versa, by 51. *ikusi ‘to see’ < *ad-kuis- (otherwise we’d have **ikuzi, which does exist but means ‘wash’ and has a different etymology: see 52); • loss of pre-tonic *e- took place after loss of word- initial fricatives (#17), as shown by 112. mihi < *bini < *enbini < *denbini 113. behe < *bene < *eben- < *heuben- 115. min < *bin < *hebin 120. buru < *bulu < *hebulu.
Finally, consonant cluster evolutions are still poorly understood in their details, so set #23 has been tentatively placed here but its sound laws (like those in set #15) are hard to precisely arrange chronologically. To summarize the chronological arrangement of sound laws connecting Proto-Basque to Pre-Basque: all sets #17 to #22 have some precondition in previous sets, so, as a whole, they must be placed after them. Internal arrangement of sets #17 to #23 is conventional, except for #22 which is surely later than #17 and #19.
Set #17: Loss of approximants (Table 54).
Volume 41, Number 1 & 2, Spring/Summer 2013 30 Gianfranco Forni
∅ plenty of examples; */h/ was probably not phonemic in h > Pre-Basque, according to T (section 3.11, p. 157-163) ∅ 60. jan; 93. oin; 110. egun; 111. hamar; 112. mihi; d > 114. esne (-)g- > -∅- 19. ebaki; 64. lo; 68. neska; 143. ahizpa exception: 40. gizon; 114. esne; 158. izeki -y- > -z- Table 54.
Set #18: /ts/ > /(t)s/ (Table 55). tsu- > zu- 84. zu; 85. zulo; 86. zur 2. ai(n)tzin; 10. bederatzi; 17. bizi; 33. -(t)su(-) > -(t)zu(-) ezur; 52. ikuzi; 56. itzuli; 77. su; 81. zazpi; /-(t)zi(-) 92. luze; 116. ugatz; 159. izen; 162. ortzi Table 55.
-(t)su(-) > -(t)zi(-) probably because /u/ was [ü] in this environment.
Set #19: Environment-conditioned palatalization of /s/(Table 56). s- +-e > s- 28. esan; 75. sehi; 76. sei 14. beso; 51. ikusi; 77. su; 78. sudur; i-, e- + -s- > -s- 114. esne; 141. sartu; 142. sortu; 150. egosi; 152. euskara 17. bizi; 18. buztan; 24. entzun; 57. s > z izan; 58. izar; 81. zazpi; 83. zorri; 84. in all other environments zu; 85. zulo; 109. uzki; 166. zahar; etc. e- + -ts > -ts 7. ats; 98. arrats ts > tz 10. bederatzi; 34. gaitz; 55. itz; 56. in all other environments itzuli;116. ugatz; 162. ortzi Table 56.
Note that palatalization was often conditioned by the preceding vowel (not by the following one). This phenomenon can still be observed in Pre-Basque > Basque palatalizations, e.g. /in/ > /ñ/, /il/ > //.
The Journal of Indo-European Studies Evidence for Basque as an Indo-European Language 31
Set #20: /w/ > /g/ (Table 57). uV > wV 15. biga; 35. gain; 37. garai; 41. goi; 43. gora 15. biga; 34. gaitz; 37. garai; 41. goi; 43. gora; 45. gu; w > g 49. igan; 50. igeri; 110. egun; 135. gazte; 155. (h)ega(l) Table 57.
Set #21: Voicing of intervocalic stops (Table 58).
-VkV- > -g- 146. begi -VtV- > -t-/-d- 10. bederatzi; 29. eta; 30. etorri under conditions to be clarified Table 58.
Set #22: Vowels (Table 59). a- > i- 48. ibai; 51. ikusi; 58. izar; 138. izeba in pre-tonic position ∅ 2. ai(n)tzin; 7. ats; 40. gizon; 78. sudur; -V > - 91. lau; 97. argal; 98. arrats; 108. labur; in words with more than 116. ugatz; 118. hirur; 126. odol; 154. two syllables haritz 77. su; 78. sudur; 90. larru; 91. lau; e- > ∅- 111. hamar; 112. mihi; 113. behe in pre-tonic position 115. min; 120. buru; 131. neba; 142. sortu; 165. ume 17. bizi; 24. entzun; 74. otz; 75. sehi; Vu > V 100. eke; 113. behe yei- > i- 55. itz -eo > -o 64. lo Table 59.
Set #23: Consonant clusters (Table 60).
-nt- > -nd- 104. handi -rs- > -s- 73. oso; 99. atso; 144. baso; 163. oste see T 163 -rst(-) > -rtz(-)/ 149. bortz, bost; 156. hertze, este; 163. oste -st(-) -gs > -tz 44. gorotz -gst > -tz 74. otz
Volume 41, Number 1 & 2, Spring/Summer 2013 32 Gianfranco Forni
-rk- > -rg- 97. argal -rw- > -rr(-) 28. esan; 83. zorri; 137. inurri -ry- > -rr- 9. barre -ly- > -rr- 95. orri -nl- > -ll- 53. ilun; 107. hilabete, ilargi -ngl- > -ll- 133. belaun -lC- > -ll- 56. itzuli; 89. ile; 101. ele -mm- > -m- 23. eman; 96. ama; 111. hamar Table 60.
Lexicon Introduction to lexical etymologies The choice of terms which should be considered as “basic lexicon” is based on a standard list of basic terms which was designed in 2008 to be applied to long-range comparisons. This list was used to sift through Trask’s works and extract all terms in the standard list which are natively Basque according to Trask. This process makes sure that no Basque term included in the list of the present research had been previously recognized as a loan by Trask or his predecessors. Additionally, since Pre-Basque reconstructions by Trask are systematically included when available, the present research is based on the most ancient form of Basque that can be obtained through internal reconstruction. This also ensures that any known affixes have already been correctly stripped off Pre-Basque reconstructions. The result of this selection is a list of 201 basic native terms. The etymologies in this section are divided as follows:
86 etymologies not based on the loss of initial consonants (1-86); 40 etymologies based on loss of initial consonants (87-126); 5 internal etymologies, i.e. native Basque terms for which an etymology within Basque itself is provided (127-131); 11 likely loans, i.e. previously unrecognized loans, first recognized as such by the present research (132- 142);
The Journal of Indo-European Studies Evidence for Basque as an Indo-European Language 33
25 tentative etymologies, i.e. proposed PIE etymologies of native Basque terms, which present some semantic and/or phonetic irregularity (143- 167); 34 Basque native basic terms for which no IE etymology could be found (168-201).
All etymological entries in this section have the same structure:
Modern Basque term (sequentially numbered), followed by its English translation and its source; dialect variants (when listed) are flagged as c (Common), B (Bizkaian), G (Gipuzkoan), HN (High Navarrese), L (Lapurdian), LN (Low Navarrese), R (Roncalese), Z (Zuberoan) Pre-Basque reconstruction, when available (source: T and/or T-E); in the (very rare) cases where the present research leads to a Pre-Basque reconstruction different from Trask’s, Trask’s reconstruction is presented first, followed by my own reconstruction (preceded by “recte”) Proto-Basque reconstruction by the present author Proto-Indo-European (“PIE”) reconstruction, from M-A, M and/or V Sound laws connecting PIE to Pre-Basque, numbered as in the phonology section of this article, and possibly followed by an explicit list of sound changes Optional comments about the etymology Optional (proto-)Celtic comparanda Other optional IE comparanda
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Etymologies not based on the loss of initial consonants
This section includes virtually all native verbs (see comment to sound rule set #7).
1. aho ‘mouth’ (T 152, 176, 286) Pre-Basque: *a[h]o ‘mouth’ (T-E 388) Proto-Basque: *ao PIE: *h1/4óh1(e)s- (M-A 175)/*h3eh1-os (V 436)/*h1oh1s/*h3eh1s/*h1eh3-es- (M 44) ‘mouth’ Sound laws: 1, 11 Proto-Celtic: *ás- ‘mouth’ (M 44) > Old Irish á ‘mouth’ Other IE reflexes: Avestan áh-, Khotanese áha- ‘mouth’
2. ai(n)tzin, antzin ‘before, in front of’ (T 99, 142) Pre-Basque: N/A Proto-Basque: *antsun PIE: *h2ent-h3en- (M 39) < *h2ent- ‘front, face, forehead’ (V 45, M 39) Sound laws: 1, 3, 4, 12, 18, 22: *h2ent-h3en- > *anton- > *antun- > *antsun- > *antzin- Comment: for an- > ain- compare SANTU > sandu > saindu ‘holy’ (T-E 33, 34, 336) Proto-Celtic: *antono- ‘forehead’ (M 39)
3. aita ‘father’ (T 148, 269) Pre-Basque: *atta ‘father’ (T 148, 269) Proto-Basque: *atta PIE: *atta- (M 46)/*h2et-o- (V 60) ‘daddy’ Sound laws: - Comment: compare Aquitanian atta- (T-E 81) Proto-Celtic: *attyo- ‘father, foster father’ (M 46) > Old Irish aite Other IE reflexes: Greek, Latin, Gothic atta
4. anaia (B, South. L), anai (B, G, L, LN, Z), anaie (B, LN, Z), anae (B) ‘brother (c), brother of a man (B)’ (T 139, 269) Pre-Basque: *annaea (recte *annai-a) ‘brother’ (T 139, 269) Proto-Basque: *ad-gney-
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PIE: *h2ed-gnh1-yV- < *genh1-’to beget’ (M150-151) Sound laws: 1, 10, 12, 15 Comment: *-yo- extension and zero grade of the PIE root as in Proto-Celtic; *h2ed- prefix as in Latin ad- gnatus ‘relative’. Proto-Celtic: *gan-yo- ‘to be born’ (M 150) Other IE reflexes: Latin adgnatus ‘relative’
5. ar ‘male’ (T 178, 271) Pre-Basque: *ar (recte *anar) ‘male’ (T-E 387) Proto-Basque: *anar PIE: *h2nér ‘man’ (M 289) Sound laws: 1, 12, 16 Comment: Pre-Basque *anar then underwent regular loss of intervocalic */n/ Proto-Celtic: *nero- ‘hero’ (M 289)
6. argi ‘light (n.), bright’ (T 161, 175, 210, 262, 312) Pre-Basque: *argi ‘bright (adj), light (n.)’ (T-E 385) Proto-Basque: *argi PIE: *h2erg-y- ‘white’ (M 41) Sound laws: 1, 10, 13 Proto-Celtic: *argyo- ‘white’ (M 41)
7. ats, hats ‘breath’ (T 283) Pre-Basque: N/A (recte *anets) Proto-Basque: *ane-tsV PIE: *h2enh1-to- < *h2enh1- ‘breath’ (M 35) Sound laws: 1, 3, 4, 12, 19, 22: *h2enh1-to- > *aneto- > *anetu- > *anetsu > *anetsu > *anets Comment: subsequent regular loss of intervocalic */n/ from Pre-Basque to Basque Proto-Celtic: *anatlá ‘breath’ (M 35)
8. -ba ‘kinship suffix’ (T 260-270, T-E 123) Pre-Basque: *-ba ‘kinship suffix’ Proto-Basque: *-ba PIE: *-kwá (M 260) ‘kinship suffix’ Sound laws: 10 Proto-Celtic: *-kwá ‘kinship suffix’ (M 260) > Old Cornish modere-b, Welsh modry-b, Old Breton motre-p ‘aunt’ (all < Proto-Celtic *mátír ‘mother’)
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Other IE reflexes: Sanskrit mát®-ka- ‘mother’s brother’
9. barre ‘smile, laugh’ (T 132) Pre-Basque: *barre ‘smile (n.), laughter’ (T-E 389) Proto-Basque: *bary- PIE: *swer-yV- < *swer- ‘to make a sound’ (M 361) Sound laws: 9, 13, 16, 23 Comment: for semantics, compare Proto-Celtic; an alternative etymology might be PIE *sward- ‘to laugh’ (M-A 363) Proto-Celtic: *swar-yo- ‘to laugh’ (M 361)
10. bederatzi ‘9’ (T 272) Pre-Basque: *bederatzu ‘9’ (T 272) Proto-Basque: *bede eta oitsu ‘1 and 8’ PIE: *h3ektoh1 ‘8’ (M 304) Sound laws: 1, 3, 4, 15, 18, 21: *h3ektoh1 > *okto > *oktu > *oktsu > *oitsu ‘8’, whence the phrase *bede eta oitsu ‘1 and 8’ > *bede ta ‘tsu > *bededatzu > *bederatzu Comment: See 145. bede ‘1’ and 29. eta ‘and’. Also see 200. zortzi ‘8’ Proto-Celtic: *oxtú ‘8’ (M 304) > Old Welsh oith
11. beltz ‘black’ (T 127, 173) Pre-Basque: *bel- ‘black, dark’ (T 256, 267) Proto-Basque: *bel PIE: *swer- ‘darken’ (M-A 328, 330) Sound laws: 9, 13 Other IE reflexes: German schwartz ‘black’
12. ber- ‘self’ (T 97) Pre-Basque: N/A Proto-Basque: *be-de PIE: *swe-de < *swe ‘self’ (M 361) Sound laws: 9 Comment: compare *-de- extensions to PIE *swe- and other pronouns in M 361 (under *swe-) Proto-Celtic: *swe-(de-) ‘self, own’ (M 361)
13. bero ‘hot, heat’ (T 99, 177, 210)
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Pre-Basque: *bero/belo ‘heat, hot’ (T-E 136) Proto-Basque: *bel- PIE: *swel- ‘to burn’ (M-A 124) Sound laws: 9
14. beso ‘arm’ (T 173, 283) Pre-Basque: *beso ‘arm’ (T-E 385) Proto-Basque: *beso PIE: *gwésdos ‘branch’ (M-A 161) Sound laws: 9, 15, 19
15. bi, biga ‘2’ (T 173, 175, 272) Pre-Basque: *biga ‘2’ (T-E 389) Proto-Basque: *beu-a (neuter), *bi (fem.) PIE: *dwéh1(u), *dw-ih1 (fem.) ‘2’ (M 110, 111, M-A 61, 97, 308, 316) Sound laws: 1, 9, 14 Comments: Basque biga < neuter *bega < *bewa < *dweh1u-a (compare Umbrian reflex); Basque bi < feminine *dw-ih1 Proto-Celtic: *dwáw (masc.), *dwí (fem.) ‘2’ (M 110, 111) Other IE reflexes: Umbrian tuva ‘2’ (nom., acc., neuter) (V 183)
16. -bil ‘round (suffix)’ (T 255) Pre-Basque: *bil, *bill ‘round’ (T-E 388) Proto-Basque: *bil PIE: *(s)wel- ‘to turn’ (M 362-363) Sound laws: 9, 16 w Comment: a derivation from PIE k elh1- ‘turn’ (> Proto-Celtic *kwal-na- ‘to go around, M 174) is also conceivable Proto-Celtic: *swelo- ‘turn, moment’ (M 362) > Middle Welsh chwyl ‘turn’, Old Irish tuath-bil ‘left turn’
17. bizi ‘alive, life’ (T 129, 313) Pre-Basque: *bizi ‘alive, living’ (T-E 385) Proto-Basque: *biu-tsu PIE: *gwiHwo-to-s < *gwiHwo- ‘alive’ (M 67) Sound laws: 3, 4, 9, 11, 14, 18, 19, 22: *gwiHwo-to-s >
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*gwiwutus > *gwiwutsus > *biwutsus > *biwutsu > *biutsu > *biuzi > *bizi Proto-Celtic: *biwo- ‘alive’ (M 67) Other IE reflexes: Greek biotos (from exactly the same PIE formation)
18. buztan ‘tail’ (AUL) Pre-Basque: *buztan ‘tail’ (T-E 389) Proto-Basque: *busta-n PIE: *gwosdho- ‘piece of wood, sprig’ (M 85) Sound laws: 3, 9, 15, 16, 19 Proto-Celtic: *buzdo- ‘tail, penis’ (M 85)
19. eba-ki ‘to cut’ (T 103, 178, 227) Pre-Basque: *-(e)ba- ‘to cut’ (T-E 160, 386) Proto-Basque: *-bag- PIE: *bhag- ‘to divide’ (M-A 318) Sound laws: 10, 17 Comment: eba-ki has -ki ending (T 227)
20. edan, eran ‘to drink’ (T 136, 178) Pre-Basque: *-da[n]- ‘drink’ (T-E 386) Proto-Basque: *-de- PIE: *dheh1- ‘to suck’ (M-A 256) Sound laws: 10, 16: *e-de-n > edan
21. *edun ‘to have’ (T 135, 136, 227) Pre-Basque: N/A Proto-Basque: *-duh- PIE: *dok- < *dek- ‘to take, accept’ (M-A 270) Sound laws: 3, 10, 17: *-dok- > *-duk- > *-duh- Comment: eduki ‘to have, hold’ also derives from this root, with -ki- suffix (T 227)
22. egin ‘to do, make’ (T 103, 178) Pre-Basque: *-gin- ‘make, do’ (T-E 387) Proto-Basque: *-gin- PIE: *g(e)nh1- ‘to beget’ (M 163) Sound laws: 10, 12: *-g÷h1- > *-g÷- > *-gin- Proto-Celtic: *gn-iyo- ‘to do’ (M 163) > Old Irish gn-, gen- ‘to do’
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23. eman ‘to give’ (T 103, 178, 214) Pre-Basque: *-ban- (recte *-man-) ‘give’ (T-E 387) Proto-Basque: *-emman- PIE: *h1en + *mehan- ‘in’ + ‘hand, give’ (M-A 181) Sound laws: 1, 2, 12, 23: *-h1en-mehan- > *-enman- > *-emman- > *-eman- Comment: for similarly built words, compare 24. entzun and 78. sudur. PIE *mehan- is well-attested with a verbal meaning of ‘giving’ (e.g. in Hittite) or ‘taking’ (e.g. in Albanian). Other IE reflexes: Hittite mániyahh- ‘to hand over’
24. entzun ‘to hear’ (T 178) Pre-Basque: *e-nezun ‘to hear’ (T 178) Proto-Basque: *-en-eus-u- PIE: *h1en + *haeus-o- ‘in + ear’ (M-A 289 + 175; V 63) Sound laws: 1, 3, 12, 19, 22: *-h1en-haeuso- > *-en- euso- > *-eneusu- > *-eneuzu- > *-enezu- Comment: the -u- before -s- explains why we have a - z- in Pre-Basque and Basque (if -e- had immediately preceded Proto-Basque -s- we’d have had **enesun in Pre-Basque and **entsun in Basque). The syncope *enezun > entzun prevented the loss of intervocalic - n- For similarly-built words, compare Greek entizomai ‘listen’ < en ‘in’ + ót- ‘ear’ (from the same PIE root), and, within Basque, 23. eman and 78. sudur. Proto-Celtic: *aws-os- ‘ear’ (M 48-49) Other IE reflexes: Latin auris ‘ear’
25. erori ‘to fall’ (T 145, 178) Pre-Basque: *-ror- (recte *-dor-) ‘to fall’ (T-E 386) Proto-Basque: *-ed-ol/r- PIE: *ped- + -Vl-/-Vr- ‘to fall’ (M-A 401) Sound laws: 10 Comment: PIE root *ped- ‘foot’ is well attested with a verbal meaning ‘to fall’. -Vl- and -Vr- extensions of this PIE root can be found e.g. in German Fessel, English fetter and several cognates thereof. Phonetic
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evolution would be regular with both extensions: (*- edol- >) *-edor- > -eror- (with common rhotacism of – d-) Other IE reflexes: Old English gefetan ‘fall’, Old Church Slavonic pad∞ ‘fall’, Sanskrit pádyate ‘falls’
26. erre ‘burn, bake, grill, roast’ (T 144, 215, 317) Pre-Basque: *erre ‘burn’ (T-E 385) Proto-Basque: *erre PIE: *h2ehx-tr- ‘fire’ < *h2ehx- ‘to burn’, be hot’ (M-A 123) Sound laws: 1, 13, 15: *h2ehxtr- > *etr- > *err- Other IE reflexes: Avestan átars ‘fire’
27. errun ‘to lay eggs’ (T 315) Pre-Basque: N/A Proto-Basque: *-erru- PIE: *h1en-dro- ‘egg, scrotum’ (M-A 183-184) Sound laws: 1, 3, 13, 15: *h1endro- > *endro- > *endru- > *erru- Comment: arraultza/e, arrau(n)tza ‘egg’ also derives from this root, with noun-forming suffix -(k)untza (T 315, T-E 256) Other IE reflexes: Sanskrit án∂á- ‘egg, testicle, scrotum’
28. esa(n), erra(n) ‘to say’ (T 103, 164) Pre-Basque: *eser(r)an ‘to say’ (T-E 180) Proto-Basque: *-serw- PIE: *(s)wer- ‘to say, speak’ (M-A 353) Sound laws: 9, 13, 23: *-swer- > *-serw- > *-serr- Comment: for the metathesis (*swVr- > *sVrw-) cf. 83. zorri (otherwise *sw- would yield **b-)
29. eta ‘and’ (AUL) Pre-Basque: N/A Proto-Basque: *etV PIE: *h1eti ‘beyond’ (M 119) Sound laws: 1, 10 Comment: origin of -a is unclear; otherwise, phonetic and semantic correspondences are regular Proto-Celtic: *eti ‘yet, still, but’ (M 119) > Gaulish eti
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‘yet, still, but’, eti-c ‘and’ Other IE reflexes: Latin et ‘and’
30. etorri ‘to come’ (T 178) Pre-Basque: *-torr- ‘come’ (T-E 386) Proto-Basque: *-torr- PIE: *terk(w)-, *tork(w)- ‘to twist’ (M-A 234, V624) Sound laws: 10, 13, 15: *-tork- > *-torr- Comment: semantics: ‘turn’ > ‘come back’ Other IE reflexes: Tocharian B tärk ‘to turn’ (V624)
31. euri, ebri, ebi ‘rain’ (T 312, T-E 185) Pre-Basque: *euri (recte ebri) ‘rain’ (T-E 388) Proto-Basque: *enbri PIE: *÷bh-r-i- ‘rain’ (M-A 126, V 299) Sound laws: 10, 12, 13 Comment: Basque variants euri, ebi < ebri, which must also have been the original Pre-Basque form Other IE reflexes: Latin imber ‘shower’, Sanskrit abhrá- ‘rain-cloud’
32. ez (also ze in one part of Bizkaia) ‘no, not’ (T 98, 209) Pre-Basque: *eze ‘not, no’ (T-E 388, T 209) Proto-Basque: *en-si PIE: ÷- + *h1s-ti ‘negative prefix’ + ‘is’ Sound laws: 12, 15: ÷ -h1s-ti > *enstí > *ensi, whence ez/ze in clitic position Comment: a perfect parallel can be found in Celtic: in Goidelic and Brittonic, ni ‘not’ causes the gemination of the following consonant; according to M 286, this derives from *ni esti ‘it is not (the case that)’ > *ni ess. Interestingly, T 209 also posits that ez/ze derives from an ancient verb form, with vowel loss. Additionally, William Croft - “The Evolution of Negation” in Journal of Linguistics 27: 1-27, has shown that a marker of negation, combining with a verb ‘to be’, may be reinterpreted as a simple negation. Phonetically, Basque ez/ze must derive from zero- grade PIE root *h1s–: if full grade *h1es– had been the source, it would have yielded an apical sibilant **–s– by sound rule #19, instead of the attested laminal sibilant –z–; via *ensi, on the other hand, *-n-
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prevented the palatalization of *-s- Proto-Celtic: *ne, ni, ní ‘not’ (M 286)
33. ezur, hezur, azur ‘bone’ (T 174, 178, 283, 394; T-E 191) Pre-Basque: *enazur ‘bone’ (T 178, 283, 394) Proto-Basque: *enatsur PIE: *h1en-h1eh1-tor ‘internal organ’ (M 115, M-A 187) Sound laws: 1, 3, 4, 13, 18: *h1enh1eh1tor > *enetor > *enetur > *enetsur > *enatsur > *enazur Comment: *enetsur should probably be expected in Proto-Basque, but *enatsur better corresponds to Pre- Basque and accounts for Basque -z- (*enetsur would yield Pre-Basque *enesur by sound law #19) Proto-Celtic: *enátro- ‘entrails, bowels’ (M 115) > Middle Irish inathar ‘entrails, bowels’ Other IE reflexes: Greek étor ‘heart’, OHG ádara ‘vein’ (both from PIE *h1eh1-tor)
34. gaitz ‘bad’ (T 173) Pre-Basque: *gaitz ‘bad’ (T-E 385) Proto-Basque: *gaits- PIE: *weh2k-to- < *weh2k- ‘to be empty, lacking’ (M 405) Sound laws: 1, 14, 15, 19: *weh2k-to- > *wakto- > *gakto- > *gaits- > gaitz Comment: for semantics, compare Proto-Celtic Proto-Celtic: *waxto- ‘bad’ (M 405) > Middle Welsh gwaeth ‘worse’, Modern Breton gwazh ‘worse’
35. gain ‘top; on top’ (T 99, 173) Pre-Basque: *gain ‘top’ (T-E 389) Proto-Basque: *gar-ai(-)n PIE: *uper- ‘over’ (M 398) Sound laws: 10, 16, 20: *uper- > *uer- > *uar- > *war- > *gar- Comment: related to 37. garai - possibly with a locative -(e)n, or with a “terminative” ending -(r)aino ‘as far as, up to, until’ (T 93); compare o/a alternation in Middle Welsh comparanda. For loss of - r-, compare 41. goi, 49. igan, as well as plural stem
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haie- < distal demonstrative 125. har-. Proto-Celtic: *ufor- ‘over, on’ (M 398) > Middle Welsh gor, gwar ‘over, on’ An alternative etymology might be PIE *h2uer-, as in Greek aeír ‘to raise’ and Armenian ger ‘above, higher, over’ (MART 207)
36. gar ‘flame’ (T 129, 173, 178, 311) Pre-Basque: *gar ‘flame’ (T-E 386) Proto-Basque: *gar PIE: *gwher- ‘heat’ (M 146) Sound laws: 7, 13, 16 Proto-Celtic: *gwer-o- ‘to warm up, to heat’ (M 146)
37. garai ‘high place, height’ (T 173, 177) Pre-Basque: *garai ‘high’ (T-E 387) Proto-Basque: *uar-a-i PIE: *uper- ‘over’ (M 398) Sound laws: 10, 13, 16, 20: *uper- > *uer- > *uar- > *war- > *gar- Comment: related to 43. gora ‘up’ (which see); for -i see T-E 205 Proto-Celtic: *ufor- ‘over, on’ (M 398) > Middle Welsh gor, gwar ‘over, on’ An alternative etymology might be PIE *h2uer-, as in Greek aeír ‘to raise’ and Armenian ger ‘above, higher, over’ (MART 207)
38. garbi ‘clean’ (T 173, 175) Pre-Basque: *garbi ‘clean’ (T-E 386) (recte *galui [galwi]?) Proto-Basque: *gelewi h PIE: *g leyh2- ‘to shine’ (M 161), plus *-w- extension as in Proto-Celtic h Sound laws: 7, 5, 16: *g leyh2-w- > *gleiw- > *geleiw- > *gelew- > (by syncope) > *gelw- > *galw- Comment: the further evolution from Pre-Basque to Basque was rhotacism of intervocalic *-l- (*galui > *garui) and *-u- > -b- strengthening > garbi (compare variants 31. euri/ebri ‘rain’) Proto-Celtic: *gléwi- ‘liquid, clear’ (M 161)
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39. gibel ‘liver’ (T-E 205) Pre-Basque: N/A Proto-Basque: *gebel PIE: *yekw-r ‘liver’ (M-A 185, V 296) Sound laws: 10, 13, 14: *yekw® > *yeb® > *yeber > *yebel > *gebel
40. gizon ‘man’ (T 142, 173, 271) Pre-Basque: *gizon ‘man’ (T-E 387) Proto-Basque: *giyonV PIE: *dhghom-yo- ‘human, earthling’ (M 156) Sound laws: 5, 7, 10, 17, 22 Comment: A similar metathesis (*dhgh- > *gd-) can be seen in Proto-Celtic. In Proto-Basque, the process must have been *dhgh- > *ghdh- (metathesis) > *gdh- (loss of first aspiration) > *gdh- (loss of palatalization) > *gidh- (anaptyxis in consonant cluster) Proto-Celtic: *gdonyo- ‘human, person’ (M 156)
41. goi ‘high place, height, elevation; high’ (T 173, 178, 243) Pre-Basque: *goi ‘height, elevation’ (T-E 387) Proto-Basque: *uor-i PIE: *uper- ‘over’ (M 398) Sound laws: 10, 20 Comment: related to 43. gora ‘up’; for -i see 37. garai; for loss of -r-, compare 35. gain, 49. igan, as well as plural stem hoie- < mesial demonstrative 125. hor-, with exactly the same sound change -ori- > -oi-); for – or-/-ar- alternation, compare demonstrative 125. hor- /har- ‘that’ Proto-Celtic: *ufor- ‘over, on’ (M 398) An alternative etymology might be PIE *h2uer-, as in Greek aeír ‘to raise’ and Armenian ger ‘above, higher, over’ (MART 207)
42. goiz ‘morning’ (T 277) Pre-Basque: *goiz ‘morning, early’ (T-E 388) Proto-Basque: (see comment) PIE: *uper- ‘over’ (M 398)
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Sound laws: (see comment) Comment: a bimorphemic word (T-E 388 ) < 41. goi ‘high’ + -iz (formant of temporal adverbs?) as in no-iz ‘when’ (T-E 297). Originally, goiz was probably an adverb of time, i.e. ‘when (the sun) goes up’, later generalized to nominal status, just like 110. egun ‘day’ (which see)
43. gora ‘up’ (T 144) Pre-Basque: N/A Proto-Basque: *uor-a PIE: *uper- ‘over’ (M 398) Sound laws: 3, 10, 13, 20 Comment: -a might be related to allative -(r)a (T 93). Also compare 37. garai. For -o- vocalism (and o/a alternation) compare Proto-Celtic and Middle Welsh comparanda, as well as Basque demonstrative 125. har- /hor- ‘that’ Proto-Celtic: *ufor- ‘over, on’ (M 398) > Middle Welsh, Old Breton and Cornish gor- ‘over, on’ An alternative etymology might be PIE *h2uer-, as in Greek aeír ‘to raise’ and Armenian ger ‘above, higher, over’ (MART 207)
44. gorotz ‘dung’ (T 261, 284) Pre-Basque: N/A (recte *gorutz) Proto-Basque: *gorugs PIE: *grugs ‘dirt’ (M-A 122) Sound laws: 5, 8, 10, 13, 23: *grugs > *gorugs > *gorugs > *gorutz Other IE reflexes: Greek grúks ‘dirt under the nails’
45. gu ‘we’ (T 96-97, 196-197, 218) Pre-Basque: *gu ‘we, us’ (T-E 389) Proto-Basque: *we PIE: *wei ‘we’ (M-A 60, 83, 97, 108, 416) Sound laws: 14, 16, 20 Comment: -u either by analogy with 84. zu ‘you (plural)’, or through an early *we > *wo rounding due to preceding *w-
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46. har-tu ‘to take’ (T 103) Pre-Basque: *[h]ar- ‘take’ (T-E 389) Proto-Basque: *arr- PIE: *h2erk- ‘to hold, have’ (M-A 271) Sound laws: 1, 13, 15: *h2erk- > *ark- > *arr-
47. hortz ‘tooth (incisor)’ (T 287) Pre-Basque: *[h]ortz ‘incisor tooth’ (T-E 389) Proto-Basque: *odint-s PIE: *h3d-÷t-s ‘tooth’ (V 166) Sound laws: 1, 3, 10, 11, 12: *h3d÷t-s > *ód÷ts > *ódints, with subsequents rhotacism and syncope > *orints > *ornts > *ortz Other IE reflexes: Greek odont- ‘tooth’
48. ibai ‘river’ (T 313) Pre-Basque: *ibai (recte *ibani) ‘river’ (T-E 388) Proto-Basque: *aban-i PIE: *h2ep-h3on- ‘river’ (M 23-24) Sound laws: 1, 10, 16, 22: *h2eph3on- > *aph3on- > *abon- > *aban- > *iban- Comment: Pre-Basque should actually be reconstructed as *ibani, with subsequent regular loss of intervocalic */n/ Proto-Celtic: *abon- ‘river’ (M 23)
49. igan, igo(n) (B, G) ‘ascend’ (T 135, 214 296) Pre-Basque: *-gan- ‘go up’ (T-E 387) Proto-Basque: *-uar- PIE: *uper- ‘over’ (M 398) Sound laws: 10, 16, 20: *-uper- > *-uer- > *-uar- > *- war- > *-gar-; then, with *e-…-an affixes, *e-gar-an > *egaan > *egan > igan Comment: Same root as 37. garai, 35. gain and 41. goi (which see). Notice a/o alternation as in 37. garai/43. gora, and –r– loss as in 35. gain, 41. goi
50. igeri, igari ‘swimming’ (T 294, T-E 36) Pre-Basque: N/A (recte *-gad-) Proto-Basque: *-wad- PIE: *wadh- ‘to wade’ (M-A 404) Sound laws: 10, 14, 20: *-wadh- > *-wad- > *-gad- > -
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gar- (with common rhotacism of intervocalic *–d-) Other IE reflexes: OHG watan ‘to wade’, Latin vadum ‘ford’
51. ikusi ‘to see’ (T 102, 137, 150) Pre-Basque: N/A Proto-Basque: *ad-kuis- w PIE: *h2ed-k eys- ‘to perceive’ (M 25, 180) Sound laws: 1, 19, 22 Comment: *kw should yield b, but was probably delabialized by *h2ed- prefix. The parallel with Proto- Celtic is compelling. Proto-Celtic: *ad-kwis-o- ‘to see’ (M 25, 180)
52. ikuzi ‘to wash’ (T 150) Pre-Basque: N/A Proto-Basque: *-kutsu- PIE: *ghud-o- < *gheu-d- ‘to pour’ (M-A 394, V 249) Sound laws: 3, 4, 10, 18: *-ghudo- > *-ghudu- > *-ghutsu- > *-kutsu- > *-kuzi-
53. ilun ‘dark, darkness, night’ (T 99, 143, 210, 310) Pre-Basque: *illun ‘dark’ (T 143) Proto-Basque: *enlunn- PIE: *÷-louk-s-no- ‘unlit’ < PIE *leuk- ‘to shine’ (M-A 129, V 352) Sound laws: 12, 15 Other IE reflexes: Latin lúna ‘moon’ (< *louksneha), Old Prussian lauxnos ‘stars’
54. itsaso ‘sea’ (T 147, 174, 313) Pre-Basque: *itsaso ‘sea’ (T-E 388) Proto-Basque: *end(o)-salso PIE: *h1en-do-seh2l-d-to- ‘with salt inside’ (V 189, V 535) Sound laws: 1, 15, 19: *h1endoseh2ldto- > *endosaldto- > *endosalso; then, with syncope and cluster simplification > *endsalso > *etsalso > *itsazo > itsaso (by sibilant harmony, T 88-89). For a similar compound, compare 78. sudur Other IE reflexes: Latin salsus ‘salty’ < *saldto- < PIE *seh2l-d-to-
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55. itz, hitz ‘word’ (T 174, 178) Pre-Basque: *[h]itz ‘speech, language’ (T-E 233) Proto-Basque: *yeits(V) PIE: *yek-to- < *yek- ‘to say, speak’ (M 435-436) Sound laws: 15, 19, 22: *yekto- > *yeits- > *yeitz > itz Proto-Celtic: *yextV- ‘speech, language’ (M 435) > Middle Welsh ieith ‘language, nation, race’, Middle Breton yez ‘language’
56. itzuli ‘to turn’ (T 178) Pre-Basque: N/A (recte *-tzull-) Proto-Basque: *-tsulk- h h PIE: *d eu(hx)- > *d u-li-k- ‘to whirl’ (M-A 392, V 248) Sound laws: 4, 18, 23: *-dhulik- > *-tsulik- > *-tzulik- > *-tzulk- (by syncope) > *-tzull- Comment: M-A reconstruct the meaning of bare PIE h root *d eu(hx)- as ‘to be stirred up (like dust or smoke)’; compare e.g. Sanskrit dhú-nó-ti ‘shakes, moves about’. A PIE *-li-(k-) extension is widely attested with a sense of ‘smoke, dust’. The phonetic match of Basque itzuli with PIE *dhu-li-k- is perfect; the semantic evolution may be reconstructed as ‘whirl’ > ‘turn’ in Basque vs. ‘whirl’ > ‘dust, smoke’ in other IE cognates. Other IE reflexes: Latin fúlíg ‘soot’, Sanskrit dhúliká ‘fog’
57. izan ‘to be’ (T 104, 154, 232) Pre-Basque: *-(i)zan- ‘to be’ (T-E 385) Proto-Basque: *-(e)s- PIE: *h1es- ‘to be’ (M 118) Sound laws: 1, 22 Comment: izan is to be analyzed as i-z-an (the root is - z-). Basque either derives from zero-grade root, or underwent an early loss of initial (unstressed?) *e-, otherwise es- would have yielded **isan Proto-Celtic: *es- ‘to be’ (M 118)
58. izar ‘star’ (T 174, 313) Pre-Basque: *izar ‘star’ (T-E 389)
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Proto-Basque: *asar PIE: *h2s-tèr ‘star’ (M 355, M-A 129) Sound laws: 1, 13, 15, 16, 19, 22: *h2stèr > *astér > *asér > *asár > *azár > izar Proto-Celtic: *sterá ‘star’ (M 355) > Old Irish, Middle Welsh ser
59. jakin ‘to know’ (T 155, 227) Pre-Basque: *eakin ‘to know’ (T 161) Comment: From 60. jan ‘eat’ (see below), with -kin ending; semantics: ‘taste’ > ‘know’ (etymology by Lafitte, reported in T 227), with clear Romance parallels: Latin sapere ‘to taste’ > Spanish saber, French savoir, Italian sapere ‘know’
60. jan ‘to eat’ (T 154) Pre-Basque: *-an- (recte *-e-an) ‘eat’ (T-E 386) Proto-Basque: *-ed- PIE: *h1ed- ‘to eat’ (M 113) Sound laws: 1, 10, 17: *-h1ed- > *-ed- > *-ed- > *-e-; then, with usual e-…-an affixes > *e-e-an > jan Proto-Celtic: *ed-o- ‘to eat’ (M 113)
61. jaugin ‘to come’ (T 397) Pre-Basque: *-augin- ‘come’ (T-E 386) Proto-Basque: *-eu-/*-au- PIE: *meu(hx)- ‘to move’ (M-A 392) Sound laws: 2 Comment: from same *-au- root as 62. jautsi, with Basque -kin/-gin extension
62. jau(t)si, ja(i)tsi, jeutsi ‘to fall, descend’ (T 178, 228, T-E 242) Pre-Basque: *-au- ‘to fall, descend’ (T-E 242, 386, T 228) Proto-Basque: *-eu-/*-au- PIE: *meu(hx)- ‘to move’ (M-A 392) Sound laws: 2 Comment: Pre-Basque root is *-au-, with common -tsi ending (T 228). Hittite has the same root with the same meaning. Also compare 61. jaugin. Other IE reflexes: Hittite mau-(s-) ‘to fall’
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63. joan ‘to go’ (T 103, 154, 178) Pre-Basque: *-o(C)an- (recte *-on-an) ‘go’ (T-E 387) Proto-Basque: *-on- PIE: *monH- (strong grade) < *menH- ‘to tread, stamp on’ (M 276) Sound laws: 2, 12: *-monH- > *-on-; then, with usual e-…-an affixes > *e-on-an > *e-o-an > joan Proto-Celtic: *mon-í- ‘to go’ (M 276)
64. lo ‘sleep’ (T 159, 173, 178) Pre-Basque: *lo ‘sleep (n.)’ (T-E 389) Proto-Basque: *leo- PIE: *legh-o- ‘to lie’ (M 236, V 332) Sound laws: 3, 10, 17, 22 Proto-Celtic: *leg-o- ‘to lay, lie down’ (M 236)
65. lur ‘earth, land, soil, dirt’ (T 173, 178, 311, 312, AUL) Pre-Basque: *lu ‘earth’ (T-E 386) Proto-Basque: *lu ‘dirt, soil’ PIE: *l(H)u-, lew- ‘dirt’ (V 355, M-A122, M 249) Sound laws: 13 Proto-Celtic: *lutá ‘mud, dirt’ (M 249) Other IE reflexes: Latin lutum ‘mud, dirt, clay’, Alb. lum ‘slime, mud’
66. mehe ‘thin’ (AUL) Pre-Basque: *bene ‘thin, slender’ (T-E 389) Proto-Basque: *ben-e PIE: *sweng- ‘to bend’ (M-A 383, 384) Sound laws: 9, 12 Proto-Celtic: *swengo- ‘thin’ (M 363) Other IE reflexes: MHG swanc ‘flexible, thin’
67. mendi ‘mountain’ (AUL) Pre-Basque: *bendi ‘mountain’ (T-E 388) Proto-Basque: *bend-i PIE: *bend- ‘point, pin’ (M 54) Sound laws: 8, 12 Proto-Celtic: *bando- ‘peak, top’ (M 54) > Old Irish benn ‘peak, mountain’
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68. neska ‘girl’ (T 141, 174, 175, 271) Pre-Basque: *neska ‘girl’ (T-E 387) Proto-Basque: *gn-et-ska (diminutive)
PIE: *gnh1-eto- < *genh1- ‘to bear, engender, generate’ (M 157) Sound laws: 1, 8, 12, 15, 17 Proto-Celtic: *genetá ‘girl’ (M 157) Other IE reflexes: Oscan genetaí ‘to the daughter’
69. ni ‘I’ (T 96-97, 196-197, 218) Pre-Basque: *ni ‘I, me’ (T-E 387) Proto-Basque: *ni ‘we’ PIE: *no- ‘we’ (M 349) Sound laws: 3, 12: *no- > *nu; for final *-i, compare Celtic reflexes (M 349) Comment: Proto-Celtic had *mí, *me ‘I’ < PIE *mé ‘me’ (M 270) and *tú, *tu ‘thou’ (> Old Welsh, Middle Breton ti) < PIE *tuH ‘thou’. If we assume a similar starting point before Proto-Basque, i.e. *mi ‘I’ and *ti ‘thou’, we would obtain Proto-Basque *i ‘I’ (by sound law #2) and *hi ‘thou’ (see 117. hi) by sound laws 6 + 7, which would then both collapse into *i by sound law #17, thus erasing any phonetic distinction between first and second person singular. PIE *no- ‘us’ > Proto-Basque *ni (with *-i as in Celtic below) was thus pressed into service for first person singular, while PIE *wei ‘we’ > Pre-Basque *gu remained in use for first person plural (see 45. gu for details). Proto-Celtic: *snís ‘we’ (M 349) > Middle Welsh, Middle Breton ni, Cornish ny ‘we’
70. no- ‘interrogative stem’ (T 98, 197) Pre-Basque: *no- ‘interrogative stem’ (T-E 389) Proto-Basque: *an-ho- or *eno- PIE: *h2en ‘there, on the other side’ (V 41) or *h1eno- ‘that’ (AD 65) Sound laws: 1 (*h2en > *an-) or 1, 22 (*h1eno- > *eno- > no-) Comment: a first possible etymology is a combination of Proto-Basque *an ‘maybe’ + 124. ho- ‘this’, where
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*an < PIE *h2en, seen in Latin an ‘maybe?, really?, whether’ (V 40-41), Gothic an ‘so? now?’ and Greek potential particle an ‘possibly’. An alternative explanation may be a semantic shift ‘demonstrative’ > ‘interrogative’ of PIE *h1eno-, as can be seen e.g. in Tocharian B intsu ‘which, what kind of’ (AD 64-65) and ente ‘where, when’ (AD 85). Also see 167. ze- for a similar semantic shift.
71. on ‘good’ (T 142) Pre-Basque: *bon ‘good’ (T-E 309) Proto-Basque: *bon PIE: *dweno- ‘good, favourable’ (M 110) Sound laws: 9, 12 Comment: -o- vowel as in Latin; not likely to be a Latin loan: see T-E 309 Proto-Celtic: *dweno- ‘strong’ (M 110) > Middle Irish de(i)n ‘pure, clean, firm, strong’ Other IE reflexes: Latin bonus ‘good’
72. oro ‘all’ (AUL) Pre-Basque: *oro (recte *olo) ‘all’ (T-E 385) Proto-Basque: *ol-o PIE: *h3ol- ‘all’ (M 298) Sound laws: 1, 3 Comment: Pre-Basque should actually be reconstructed as *olo, with subsequent regular rhotacism of intervocalic */l/ Proto-Celtic: *ol-yo- ‘all’ (M 298)
73. oso ‘total, whole, entire’ (AUL) Pre-Basque: *oso ‘whole’ (T-E 389) Proto-Basque: *orso PIE: *h3ol- ‘all’ (M 298) + *-so- Sound laws: 1, 3, 23 Other IE reflexes: Proto-Germanic *allaz ‘all’
74. otz, hotz ‘cold’ (T 137, 174, 178) Pre-Basque: *[h]otz ‘cold’ (T-E 386) Proto-Basque: *oug-st PIE: *h3eug-st- < *h3eug- ‘cold’ (M 301) Sound laws: 1, 22, 23
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Proto-Celtic: *owg-ro- ‘cold’ (M 301); Old Irish úacht ‘cold’ (M-A 348) < PIE *h3owg-tu-s Other IE reflexes: Latv. aÜksts < PIE *h3owg-s-to-s
75. sehi, sein ‘boy, child’ (T 140, 177, 188, 269) Pre-Basque: *seni ‘boy, child’ (T 140, 177, 188, 269) Proto-Basque: *seun-i PIE: *suhx-nu- (< *seuhx- ‘to beget’) ‘son’ (M-A 211) Sound laws: 12, 19, 22: *seuhx-nV- > *seun- > *sen- Comment: apparently from *-eu- grade. Basque seme ‘son’ < Pre-Basque *sen-be (T 133, 269) has the same origin Other IE reflexes: OHG sun, Gothic sunus, Sanskrit súnú- ‘son’
76. sei ‘6’ (T 173, 272) Pre-Basque: *sei ‘6’ (T-E 388) Proto-Basque: *sei PIE: *seks ‘6’ (M-A 313) Sound laws: 11, 15 Proto-Celtic: *swexs ‘6’ (M 364) > Old Irish sé
77. su ‘fire’ (T 137, 173, 178, 311) Pre-Basque: *su ‘fire’ (T-E 386) Proto-Basque: *aitsú h h PIE: *h2eyd -o-s ‘firewood’ (M 51) < *h2eyd - ‘burning’ (V 25) h h Sound laws: 1, 3, 4, 11, 18, 19, 22: *h2eyd ós > *aid ós > *aidhús > *aitsús > *aitsú > *aisú > *esú > *su Comment: loss of initial *e- is regular if unstressed; cf. Sanskrit indhé ‘kindle’ from the same root, with stress on the last syllable; Proto-Basque *-i- accounts for palatalized *s- in Pre-Basque Proto-Celtic: *aydu- ‘fire’ (M 51)
78. sudur ‘nose’ (T 131, 173, 286) Pre-Basque: *sudur ‘nose’ (T-E 388) Proto-Basque: *esuduru PIE: *h1ens-h3od-o-ro-s ‘having smell inside’ < *h3ed- ‘to smell’ (V 426) Sound laws: 1, 3, 11, 13, 15, 19, 22 : *h1ensh3odoros > *ensodoros > *ensudurus > *ensuduru > *esuduru >
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*sudur Comment: this etymology was suggested by Guido Borghi (personal communication); word-initial *e- accounts for palatalized s-. Compare 23. eman, 24. entzun and 54. itsaso for similar compounds. Other IE reflexes: Latin odor ‘smell, odour’ (V 425)
79. txori, xori ‘bird’ Pre-Basque: *zori ‘bird’ (T-E 377-378) Proto-Basque: *sor-i PIE: *ster-, stor- ‘a kind of bird’ (M-A 145) Sound laws: 13, 15
80. ur ‘water’ (T 144, 178, 314) Pre-Basque: *ur ‘water’ (T-E 389) Proto-Basque: *ur PIE: *uhxr ‘water’ (M-A 126) Sound laws: 1, 13
81. zazpi ‘7’ (T 173,272) Pre-Basque: *zazpi ‘7’ (T-E 388) Proto-Basque: *septsu PIE: *septm ‘7’ (M 332) Sound laws: 2, 4, 18, 19: **septM > *septu > *septsu > *zepzi, with subsequent metathesis > *zezpi and vowel lowering > zazpi Proto-Celtic: *sextam ‘7’ (M 332)
82. zingira ‘lake, swamp’ (T 311) Pre-Basque: N/A Proto-Basque: *sangira PIE: *(s)teh2(n)g-ra- ‘shallow water, swamp’ (M-A 128, M 353-354, V 585) Sound laws: 1, 12, 13, 15: *steh2ng-ra- > *stangra- > *sangra > epenthesis *sangira Comment: for *-an- > *-ain- > -in- cf. 2. aintzin. Proto-Celtic: *stagrá ‘river, stream’ (M 353-354) Other IE reflexes: Latin stágnum ‘pool, swamp’
83. zorri ‘louse’ (T 144, 300) Pre-Basque: *zorri ‘louse’ (T-E 387) Proto-Basque: *sorw-i
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PIE: *swor-o- < *swer- ‘wound’ (M 365) Sound laws: 9, 13, 19, 23 Proto-Celtic: *sworo- ‘louse’ (M 365) > Middle Irish sor
84. zu ‘thou’ (T 96-97, 196-197, 218) Pre-Basque: *zu ‘you (plural)’ 4 (T-E 390) Proto-Basque: *tsu (or *su) PIE: *tuhx ‘thou’ (M-A 416) or *swe ‘you (plural)’ (M- A 417) Sound laws: 1, 4, 18, 19: *tuhx > *tu > *tsu > zu Comment: derivation from PIE *tuhx ‘thou’ would be perfectly regular from a phonetic viewpoint; semantically, though, it would not account for the fact that *zu was probably plural in Pre-Basque. An alternative etymology might involve clitic PIE *swe ‘you (plural)’, via an intermediate *su(e) (otherwise *sw- should > **b- by sound law #9). Also compare Celtic reflexes below. Proto-Celtic: *swís ‘you’ (M 365) > Old Irish sí, Gaul. sui, sue
85. zulo ‘hole’ (T 173, 177) Pre-Basque: *zullo ‘hole’ (T-E 387) Proto-Basque: *tsullo PIE: *tuk-slo- < *tewk- ‘to beat, perforate’ (M 393) Sound laws: 4, 15, 18, 19: *tukslo- > *tsukslo- > *tsullo > *zullo Proto-Celtic: *tullo- ‘pierced, perforated’ (M 393)
86. zur ‘wood’ (T 144, 173, 178, 310) Pre-Basque: *zur ‘wood’ (T-E 390) Proto-Basque: *tsuru PIE: *doru ‘tree, wood’ (M 91) Sound laws: 3, 4, 13, 18: *doru > *duru > *tsuru > *zuru
4 Currently, Basque uses zu (along with intimate hi) for 2nd person singular and zuek for 2nd person plural, but there is ample evidence that this usage is recent, and that zu was previously used for 2nd person plural – e.g., in modern Basque, zu takes plural absolutive agreement in finite verbs (T 196) though it is used as a 2nd person singular pronoun.
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Comment: loss of *-u as in Celtic reflexes Proto-Celtic: *daru- ‘oak’ (M 91) > Old Irish daur, Middle Welsh, Old Breton dar ‘oak’
Etymologies based on loss of initial consonants
Etymologies based on */p-/ > */ph-/ > */h/ > ∅- (sound laws #6, 7) Of all initial consonant losses posited in this research, */p-/ > ∅- should be the least controversial, since it is shared with neighboring Celtic languages. Seven etymologies are based on this loss.
87. hatz ‘paw, footprint, finger (only in B)’ (T 283) Pre-Basque: *[h]atz ‘paw’ (T-E 114) Proto-Basque: *heds PIE: *ped-s ‘foot’ (V 462) Sound laws: 6, 7, 11 Other IE reflexes: Latin pés < *ped-s ‘foot’ (V 462)
88. haur ‘child’ (AUL) Pre-Basque: *[h]aur ‘child’ (T-E 386) Proto-Basque: *haur PIE: *pau-r ‘little, few’ (M-A 211, 320) Sound laws: 6, 7, 13 Other IE reflexes: Latin puer ‘child’
89. ile, ule ‘hair, fur, wool’ (T 285) Pre-Basque: *ille, ulle ‘hair’ (T 285) Proto-Basque: *hilCe, *hulCe PIE: *pil-Co-, pul-Co-: *pilos/*pulos ‘body hair (M-A 177) > *pil-so-/*pil-do- ‘felt’ Sound laws: 6, 7, 23 Comment: Same i/u alternation in PIE and Basque looks striking, but the frequent meaning ‘wool’ in Basque might also point to the merger of two previously separate PIE roots: this one (*pil-/*pul-) and PIE *wÒh2no- ‘wool’ > Proto-Celtic *w(u)lano- /*ulaná ‘wool’ (M 432). A stem *ul(a)nV would in fact yield Proto-Basque *ulne > Pre-Basque *ulle. Proto-Celtic: *ful-V- ‘beard’ (M 143) > Middle Irish ul(u) ‘beard’
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Other IE reflexes: Latin pilus ‘hair’, pilleus ‘felt’
90. larru ‘skin’ (T 173, 251, 287) Pre-Basque: N/A Proto-Basque: *helarru PIE: *pl-etro- < *pel- ‘to skin’ (M 134) Sound laws: 3, 5, 6, 7, 13, 15, 16, 17, 22: *pletro- > *pletru- > *peletru- > *pheletru- > *heletru- > *helerru > *helarru > *elarru > larru Comment: several sound laws apply – all of them regular. Proto-Celtic: *fletro- ‘hide, leather’ (M 134) > Middle Welsh lledr, Modern Breton ler ‘hide, leather’
91. lau, laur ‘4’ (T 144, 174, 272) Pre-Basque: *laur ‘4’ (T-E 386) (recte *lau) Proto-Basque: *helaua ‘palm of the hand’ PIE: *pÒh2meh2 ‘palm, hand’ (M 132) Sound laws: 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 17, 22: *pÒh2meh2 > *plama > *plaua > *pelaua > *phelaua > *helaua > *elaua > lau Comment: optional final -r by analogy with 118. hiru(r) ‘3’. Basque introduced this innovation probably because PIE *kwetwores ‘4’ > Proto-Basque **besur, a near-homophone of Proto-Basque *hisur ‘3’ (see 118. hiru) Proto-Celtic: *flámá ‘palm, hand’ (M 132) > Old Welsh lau ‘palm, hand’
92. luze ‘long’ (T 173) Pre-Basque: *luze ‘long’ (T-E 387) Proto-Basque: *hlutsu PIE: *pÒth2u- ‘broad’ (M-A 297) Sound laws: 4, 6, 7, 13, 17, 18: *pÒth2u- > *pÒtsu- > *phÒtsu > *hÒtsu > *hlutsu > *lutsu > *luzi
93. oin ‘foot, leg’ (T 147, 174, 285) Pre-Basque: *oin ‘foot’ (T-E 386) Proto-Basque: *hoden- PIE: *pod-en- < *pod- ‘foot’ (M 136) Sound laws: 6, 7, 8, 10, 17: *poden- > *phoden- > *hoden- > *hoden- > *oen Proto-Celtic: *fod- ‘foot’ (M 136)
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Other IE reflexes: Armenian otn ‘foot’, with same *- en- extension, according to Belardi and Pisani
Etymologies based on */ bh-/ > */h-/ > ∅- (sound law #7) So far, this sound law is supported by the following two etymologies:
94. alu ‘vulva, vagina’ (T 143, 176, 287) Pre-Basque: *allu ‘vulva, vagina’ (T 143) Proto-Basque: *hallu ‘genitalia’ PIE: *bhel-n- < *bhel- ‘to swell’ (M 53) Sound laws: 7, 16, 17 Comment: see below for other IE reflexes, which display the same -l- extension and related meanings. A generalization ‘penis’ > ‘genitalia’ is common, and seems to have taken place in some Celtic languages: cf. Old Irish ball ferda, glossed ‘membrum uirile’, where the adjective ferda ‘male’ would have been redundant if ball only meant ‘penis’, but necessary if it meant ‘genitalia’. An alternative semantic shift ‘bag, sack’ > ‘vulva’ (cf. Welsh and Latin comparanda) is less likely, but possible. Proto-Celtic: *ballo- ‘member, penis’ (M 53), Welsh balleg ‘sack, purse’ Other IE reflexes: Greek phallós ‘penis’, Latin follis ‘bag, sack, testicles’
95. orri ‘leaf’ (T 127, 176, 307) Pre-Basque: *[h]orri ‘leaf’ (T-E 387) Proto-Basque: *holiV PIE: *bhól-io- ‘leaf’ (M-A 161, V 230) Sound laws: 3, 7, 23 Other IE reflexes: Latin folium, Greek phúllon ‘leaf’
Etymologies based on */m-/ > ∅- (sound law #2) This sound law is based on two types of evidence: lack of */m/ in Pre-Basque, and a substantial amount of very plausible etymologies (14, listed below).
96. ama ‘mother’ (T 149, 257, 269) Pre-Basque: *ama ‘mother’ (T-E 388) Proto-Basque: *amma
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PIE: *mam(m)a ‘mommy’ (M 255) Sound laws: 2, 23: *mamma > *amma > ama Proto-Celtic: *mamm(y)á ‘mother, nanny’ (M 255)
97. argal ‘thin’ (T 177) Pre-Basque: N/A Proto-Basque: *arkalu PIE: *makre-lo-s ‘thin, long’ (M-A 299) Sound laws: 2, 3, 11, 13, 15, 16, 17, 22, 23: *makrelos > *akrelos > *akrelus > *akrelu > (with metathesis) *arkelu > *arkalu > *arkal > (voicing) argal Comment: Diminutive -lo- extension with a perfect parallel in Latin macellus ‘quite thin’ < *makerlos < *makrelos (compare Latin macer ‘lean, meagre, thin’)
98. arrats ‘early evening, late afternoon’ (AUL) Pre-Basque: *arrats ‘dark’ (T-E 386) Proto-Basque: *arretsu PIE: *merk-e-to- ‘darkened’ (M-A 330) Sound laws: 2, 3, 4, 13, 15, 16, 19, 22: *merketo- > *erketo > *erketu > *erketsu > *erretsu > *arretsu > *arrets
99. atso ‘old woman’ (T 176, 272) Pre-Basque: *atso ‘old woman’ (T-E 388) Proto-Basque: *atr-so ‘grandmother’ PIE: *meh2-tr- ‘mother’ (V 367) Sound laws: 1, 2, 13, 23: *meh2tr- > *matr- > *atr- + -so suffix (see comment) > *atrso > atso Comment: -so kinship suffix (T-E 340) as in ama-so ‘grandmother’ (T-E 90) and arba-so ‘great- grandparent’ (T-E 118)
100. eke, ke, kei ‘smoke’ (T 313) Pre-Basque: *eke ‘smoke’ (T-E 389) Proto-Basque: *euk-e PIE: *(s)mewgh- ‘smoke’ (M 281) Sound laws: 2, 10, 22: *mewgh- > *ewgh- > *euk- > *ek- Proto-Celtic: *muk-V- ‘smoke’ (M 281)
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101. ele ‘word, conversation’ (T 176) Pre-Basque: N/A (recte *elle) Proto-Basque: *el-Ce PIE: *mel- ‘to argue, contend’ (M-A 278, 279) Sound laws: 2, 23: *mel-C- > *elC- > *ell- Comment: root with a -CV- root extension Other IE reflexes: Old Norse mál ‘speech’
102. erle ‘bee’ (T 296) Pre-Basque: *erle ‘bee’ (T-E 385) Proto-Basque: *elil- PIE: *meli-lV- < *meli ‘honey’ (M 263) Sound laws: 2: *melil- > *elil- > (with regular rhotacism) > *eril- Comment: diminutive -lV- extension (compare 122. euli) Proto-Celtic: *meli ‘honey’ (M 263)
103. ero (old B), erho/eho (Z) ‘to kill’ (T 214, T-E 176) Pre-Basque: *(e)ro ‘kill’ (T-E 387) Proto-Basque: *-er-o- PIE: *mer- ‘to die’ (M-A 198) Sound laws: 2, 13
104. handi ‘big’ (T 99, 142, 175) Pre-Basque: *[h]andi ‘big’ (T-E 385) Proto-Basque: *anti PIE: *mh1-nt-ih1 < *meh1- ‘measure’ (M 256) Sound laws: 1, 2, 12, 16, 23: *mh1ntih1 > *menti > *enti > *anti > *andi Proto-Celtic: *mantí- ‘quantity’ (M 256) > Old Irish méit ‘greatness, magnitude’, Old Breton ment ‘dimension, size’, Middle Welsh maint ‘size, quantity’
105. herio ‘death’ (T 310) Pre-Basque: N/A Proto-Basque: *erio PIE: *mer-io- ‘to die’ (V 390) Sound laws: 2, 13 Proto-Celtic: *mar-wo- ‘dead’ (M 259) Other IE reflexes: Avestan miryeiti ‘dies’, Sanskrit mriyáte ‘dies’
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106. hil ‘dead; to die, kill’ (T 99, 178) Pre-Basque: *[h]il ‘dead’ (T-E 386) Proto-Basque: *il PIE: *mer- ‘to die’ (M-A 198) Sound laws: 2, 13, 16: *mer > *er > *el > *il
107. hil-argi, il-argi ‘moon’ (see argi ‘bright’); hila-bete ‘month’ (see bete ‘full’)’ (T 280) Pre-Basque: *illa, ille ‘moon’ (T 280, 312) Proto-Basque: *in-lV PIE: *meh1n-lV- < *meh1n- ‘month, moon’ (M 272, V 373) Sound laws: 2, 23 Comment: with -i- vocalism as in Proto-Celtic and with *-lV- extension as in Luvian and Lith. reflexes Proto-Celtic: *míns- ‘month’ (M 272) Other IE reflexes: Luvian ménulas, Lith. mnùlis ‘moon’
108. labur ‘short’ (T 173, 175) Pre-Basque: *labur ‘short’ (T-E 388) Proto-Basque: *rabulu PIE: *m®ghu-o-lo- ‘short’ (M-A 319) Sound laws: 2, 3, 13, 15, 17, 22 ; *m®ghuolo- > *®ghuolo- > *®ghuulu > *raghuulu > *ragwulu > *rabulu > (with regular rhotacism of intervocalic *-l-) *raburu > *rabur > labur by rhotic dissimilation (T 145). Also see 112. mihi ‘tongue’ for a very similar evolution of *-RghuV- > -*RgwV- > -RbV-
109. uzki ‘anus’ (T 283) Pre-Basque: N/A Proto-Basque: *us(V)k-i PIE: *mud-so-ko- < *mewd- (M 281) Sound laws: 2, 15, 19 Comment: an alternative etymology might involve PIE *muskos (M-A 184) ‘male or female sexual organ’, as it is not infrequent for the same root to be used for ‘vulva’ in some languages and for ‘anus’ in others (see M-A 184 for a few IE examples). Yet
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another (more remote) possibility might be PIE *kutsos ‘anus, vulva’ (M-A 184), with a -ko- or -sko- extension: *kuts-(s)ko- > *hutsk- > uzk- Proto-Celtic: *mussako- ‘dirty’ (M 281) > Old Irish mosach ‘dirty’, Cornish mousak ‘smelly’
Etymologies based on loss of initial dental stops (sound laws #6, 7) Three etymologies are based on the loss of PIE initial */d-/:
110. egun ‘day, today’ (T 175, 211, 310) Pre-Basque: *egu(n) ‘day’ (T-E 386) Proto-Basque: *dewu- PIE: *dei-wo- ‘day’ (V 167-168, M 101) Sound laws: 3, 8, 14, 16, 17, 20: *deiwo- > *deiwu- > *deiwu- > *dewu- > *ewu- > *egu- Comment: as per T211, the original Pre-Basque word may have been *egu ‘day’, whence egu-n ‘today’ with -n locative ending, later generalized to nominal status. Eki ‘sun’ < egu-ki (T-E 166) and eguzki ‘sun’ < egu-zki (T-E 166) also derive from egu(n) Proto-Celtic: *díy(w)o- ‘day’ (M 101)
111. hamar ‘10’ (T 133, 174, 272) Pre-Basque: *[h]anbar ‘10’ (T-E 389) (recte *amar) Proto-Basque: *deham-mar ‘10 fingers’ PIE: *dekM ‘10’ (M 93) Sound laws: 2, 8, 10, 16, 17, 22, 23: *dekM > *dekam + *mer > *dekam-mer > *dehammer > *dehammar > *eammar > *ammar > *amar Comment: See 134. eri ‘finger’ (< *mer-) for the second element. For *-mm- as a source of Basque –m-, compare 96. ama ‘mother’ Proto-Celtic: *dekam ‘10’ (M 93)
112. mihi, mi, min ‘tongue’ (T 132, 287) Pre-Basque: *bini ‘tongue’ (T 127, 134, 141, 173, 287) (recte *mini) Proto-Basque: *denb-in-i h h PIE: *d÷g uh2-VnV-/*d÷g weha-n- (M 368, AD 139)
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‘tongue’ h Sound laws: 1, 8, 12, 15, 17, 22: *d÷g uh2VnV- > *d÷ghuVnV- > *d÷ghuVnV- > *denghuVnV- > *dengwVnV- > *denbini > *enbini > *emmini > *mini Comment: the same nasal extension is also found in Germanic and Tocharian (see below). Also see 108. labur for a very similar evolution of -RghuV- > -RgwV- > -RbV- Proto-Celtic: *tangwá-t- ‘tongue’ (M 368), Tocharian B kantwo < pToch *käntwo < *tänkwo < PIE h *d÷g weha-n- (AD 139), Gothic tuggo
Four etymologies are based on the loss of PIE initial */dh-/:
113. behe ‘below, bottom’ (T 295, T-E 131) Pre-Basque: *be[h]e (recte *bene) ‘below, under’ (T-E 385) Proto-Basque: *heubVn- ‘bottom’ PIE: *dheub(h)-Vn- ‘deep’ (M-A 292, M 107) Sound laws: 7, 10, 12, 17, 22: *dheubhVn- > *heubhVn- > *heubVn- > *eubVn- > *ebVn- > *bVn- Comment: same -Vn- extension as in comparanda Proto-Celtic: *dubno- ‘deep’ (M 107) Other IE reflexes: OCS dno ‘bottom’
114. es(e)ne, ezne ‘milk’ (T 163, 316) Pre-Basque: *ezene ‘milk’ (T 316) Proto-Basque: *heyin- h h PIE: *d ed h1i- ‘sour milk’ (M-A 262) + *-n- h h h Sound laws: 7, 10, 12, 17, (19): *d ed h1in- >*hed in- > *heyin- > *ezin- > (with syncope) *ezn- (>*esn-) Other IE reflexes: Old Prussian dadan ‘milk’, with same -n- extension
115. min ‘pain’ (T 132, 134, 142) Pre-Basque: *bin ‘pain’ (T 132, 142) Proto-Basque: *hebVn- PIE: *dhebh-Vn- ‘harm’ (M-A 279) Sound laws: 7, 10, 12, 17, 22: *dhebhVn- > *hebhVn- > *hebVn- > *ebVn- > *bVn- Other IE reflexes: Sanskrit dabhnóti ‘hurts, injures’,
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with same nasal extension
116. ugatz ‘female breast’ (T 175, 271, 283) Pre-Basque: *ugatz ‘breast (female)’ (T-E 385) Proto-Basque: *hugatsu h h PIE: *d ug( )-ha-to- ‘milked’ (M-A 370, 213) h Sound laws: 3, 4, 7, 10, 17, 19, 22: *d ughato- > *dhugatu- > *dhugatsu- > *hugatsu > *hugatsu > *ugatsu > *ugatzu > ugatz Other IE reflexes: Sanskrit dóhati ‘milks’
Two etymologies are based on the loss of PIE initial */t-/:
117. hi ‘thou’ (T 96-97, 196-197, 218) Pre-Basque: *[h]i ‘thou’ (T-E 390) Proto-Basque: *hi PIE: *tiH ‘thou’ (V 631-632) or *te ‘thee’ (M-A 416) Sound laws: 6, 7 Proto-Celtic: *tú, *tu ‘thou’ (M 392) > Old Welsh, Middle Breton ti, Cornish ty ‘thou’
118. hiru, hirur ‘3’ (T 144, 174, 272) Pre-Basque: *[h]irur ‘3’ (T-E 389) Proto-Basque: *hire (masc.), *hisure (fem.) PIE: *trei-es (masc.), *tisor-es (fem.) ‘3’ (M-A 311, V 629) Sound laws: for *hire: 5, 6, 7, 11, 13, 16: *treies > *tireies > *thireies > *hireies > *hireie > *hiree > *hire ; for *hisure: 3, 5, 6, 7, 11, 13, 22: *tisores > *tisures > *thisures > *hisures > *hisure > *hisur Comment: Pre-Basque likely underwent a two-way analogical remodelling: 1) fem. *hisur > *hirur, with *-r- by analogy with masc. *hire; 2) masc. *hire > hiru with *-u by analogy with fem. *hirur. Proto-Celtic: *trís ‘3’ (M 390) > Old Irish téoir/teir (fem.) Gaulish tidres (fem.) Other IE reflexes: Armenian ere-, eri- (MART 261), Avestan tisr, Sanskrit tisrás (fem.)
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Etymologies based on loss of initial velar stops (sound laws #6, 7) The following 8 etymologies are based on the loss of initial velar stops
119. adar ‘horn’ (T 176, 262, 305) Pre-Basque: *adar ‘horn’ (T-E 387) (recte *adarr) Proto-Basque: *hararr PIE: *kerh2sr ‘horn’ (M-A 137) Sound laws: 1, 6, 7, 13, 15, 16, 17: *kerh2sr > *kerasr > *kherasr > *herasr > *herarr > *hararr Comment: Pre-Basque *adarr by rhotic dissimilation (T 145)
120. buru ‘head’ (T 129, 173, 285) Pre-Basque: *buru ‘head’ (T-E 387) (recte *bulu) Proto-Basque: *hebulu PIE: *ghebhl-o-s < *ghebhl ‘head’ (M-A 174) Sound laws: 3, 7, 10, 11, 17, 22: *ghebhlos >*ghebhulus > *hebhulus > *hebulus > *hebulu > *ebulu > *bulu, followed by regular rhotacism of intervocalic *-l- Other IE reflexes: Greek kephálé
121. eri ‘sick, ill’ (AUL) Pre-Basque: *eli ‘sick, ill’ (T 189) Proto-Basque: *el- PIE: *ghelH-(ro-) ‘evil, unhealthy’ (M 149) Sound laws: 7, 17 Proto-Celtic: *galaro- ‘sickness, distress, pain’ (M 149) Other IE reflexes: Lith. žalà ‘damage, harm’
122. euli ‘fly (n.)’ (T 299) Pre-Basque: *eulli ‘fly (n.)’ (T-E 386) Proto-Basque: *heull- PIE: *kúl-lo- ‘mosquito, fly’ < *kúl- (M 229) Sound laws: 6, 7, 16, 17: *kúll- > *khúll- > *húll- > *heull- > *eull- Comment: *-lo- diminutive extension (compare 102. erle). Proto-Celtic: *kuli- ‘mosquito, fly’ (M 229)
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123. haserre ‘angry; anger’ (T 243) Pre-Basque: N/A Proto-Basque: *has-etre PIE: *keh2d-tV- < *keh2d- ‘strong negative emotion’ (M 193) h Sound laws: 1, 6, 7, 15: *keh2dt- > *kadt- > *k adt- > *hadt- > *has- Comment: -erre = ‘to burn’ (T-E 113): see 26. erre. Proto-Celtic: *kassi- ‘hatred, hate’ (M 193)
124. hau(-), hon- ‘this’ (T 98, 181, 198, T-E 116) Pre-Basque: *ka-, ke- (recte *ha-/*ho-) ‘this, here’ (T 181, 198; T-E 116) Proto-Basque: *he PIE: *kV- ‘this’: *key (M 203), *ke/*ki (V 102) Sound laws: 6, 7 Comment: compare Proto-Celtic for o vocalism. Proto-Celtic: *ki/*koy/*ké ‘demonstrative particle or pronoun’ (M 203)
125. hor-, hura, har-, haie- ‘that’ (T 98, 181, 198; T-E 98) Pre-Basque: *[h]ar, [h]or ‘that’ (T-E 98, 389) Proto-Basque: *ha-hor PIE: *ke- + *tor ‘this + there’ (V 102, M-A 418) Sound laws: 6, 7, 13, 16
126. odol ‘blood’ (T 175, 283) Pre-Basque: *odol (recte *orol) ‘blood’ (T-E 385) Proto-Basque: *horulu PIE: * kruh2-lo- < * krewh2- ‘gore, raw meat’ (M 227) Sound laws: 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 13, 17, 22: * kruh2lo- > * krulo- > * krulu- > * korulu- > * khorulu- > *horulu > *orulu > *orul Comment: -r- > -d- is frequent in Basque (/r/ is a tap); one must further assume a vowel assimilation from *orul to *orol. Proto-Celtic: *krú- ‘blood’ (M 227) Other IE reflexes: Sanskrit krúra- and Avestan xrúra ‘blood’, with the same *-lo- extension (Guido Borghi, personal communication)
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Internal etymologies (compounds) The following, previously unetymologized, basic terms appear to be old (pre- or Proto-Basque) compounds:
127. alaba ‘daughter’ (T 269) Pre-Basque: *alla-ba ‘daughter’ (T-E 386) Comment: derived from Pre-Basque *allu ‘vulva’
128. arreba ‘sister (of a man)’ (T 269) Pre-Basque: *arre-ba ‘sister (of a man)’ (T-E 108, 388) Proto-Basque: *anre-ba Comment: from Pre-Basque *anar ‘male’ (see ar) + -ba kinship suffix; also compare 131. neba
129. barra-bil ‘testicle’ (T 287) Pre-Basque: N/A Comment: from 171. barne ‘inside’ and 16. -bil ‘round’, i.e. ‘inner balls’; -rr-/-rn- alternation is found in the variants barne/barru themselves, and -e/-a alternation is common in compounds
130. belarri, be(h)arri ‘ear’ (T 145, 284, 396) Pre-Basque: *berarri ‘ear’ (T 145, 284, 396) Comment: A compound of 120. buru ‘head’ and 95. orri ‘leaf’ is plausible from a semantic point of view, though vowels don’t match (**burorri would be expected)
131. neba (B only) ‘brother of a woman’ (T 269, T-E 295) Pre-Basque: N/A Sound laws: 22: *emneba > *eneba > neba Comment: < *emne ‘female’ (modern Basque eme ‘female’, from Occ. hemne ‘woman’ < Latin fémina) + -ba kinship suffix (compare 128. arreba)
Likely loans The following etymologies suggest previously undetected loans.
132. andere ‘lady, woman’ (AUL) Pre-Basque: N/A
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Comment: if the original meaning was honorific (‘lady’), andere might < 104. handi ‘big’ (but -ere < ?) This term lacks a PIE etymology beyond Proto-Celtic, and might be a loan either way (from Celtic to Basque or vice versa) Proto-Celtic: *anderá ‘young woman’ (M 35)
133. belaun ‘knee’ (T 285) Pre-Basque: *bellaun ‘knee’ (T-E 387) Proto-Basque: *ben-glaun ? PIE: *gonu ‘knee’ (M 162) Sound laws: 9, 16, 23 Comment: see Celtic comparanda; probably an old loan (or calque?) from a Brittonic source: p- > b- would be regular at a Pre-Basque stage (cf. Latin loans with Latin p- > Basque b-) Proto-Celtic: *(kwenno)-glúnos ‘knee(cap)’ (M 162) > Middle Welsh pen-glin, Middle Breton penn-glin, Old Cornish penclin ‘knee’
134. eri ‘finger’ (T 283) Pre-Basque: *eri ‘finger’ (T-E 386) Proto-Basque: *er-i Sound laws: 2 Compare Middle Irish mér ‘finger’ (M 66), of unknown IE origin
135. gazte ‘young; young person’ (T 175, 210) Pre-Basque: *gazte ‘young’ (T-E 390) Proto-Basque: *waste Sound laws: 14, 15, 20 Comment: See Proto-Celtic, whose PIE etymology is unclear. The Proto-Celtic term may have originally meant ‘young man’, a meaning that seems to resurface in some Celtic comparanda (‘boy’ > ‘servant’ is a common semantic shift). Either the Basque and Proto-Celtic terms have the same (unclear) PIE origin, or the Basque term is a loan from some Celtic language. Proto-Celtic: *wasto- ‘servant (originally ‘young man’?)’ (M 404) > Old Irish foss ‘male servant’; Modern Breton gwaz ‘man, husband’
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136. gordin ‘raw’ (AUL) Pre-Basque: N/A PIE: *krewh2- ‘gore, raw meat’ (M 227) Comment: PIE *k- should drop in Basque, so this is most probably a loan from a Celtic language Proto-Celtic: *krowdi- ‘crude, rude’ (M 227) > Old Irish crúaid ‘crude, rude’ Other IE reflexes: Latin crúdus ‘raw’
137. inurri, zinaurri ‘ant’ (T 295-296) Pre-Basque: *(z)inna(g)urri ‘ant’ (T 295-296) Proto-Basque: *(s)inna uorwi PIE: *morwi- ‘ant’ (M 278) Sound laws: 2 Comment: sinna-/hinna- is the feminine definite article in several Celtic languages < Proto-Celtic *sindo- ‘this’, M 336-337; inurri/zinaurri is almost surely a loan, where the original article was borrowed as part of the noun, in two variants, with *s- and with *h-, probably from two different Celtic donor languages. The z-/0- alternation would have no Basque-internal explanation. Compare Old Irish sin ‘this’, Gaul. sinde, (s)indas, Old Welsh hinn ‘this’ (M 336-337); Proto-Celtic *morwi- ‘ant’ (M 278)
138. izeba (G, HN, LN, S, Z), izaba (L, LN, Z), izea (LN), izoa (HN, L, LN) ‘aunt’ (T 269, T-E 235) Pre-Basque: *izeba ‘aunt’ (T-E 393) Comment: if -ba forms are secondary (by analogy with other -ba kinship terms), then izea < *(l)a (t)sea ‘the aunt’ (by sound rule 23: a- > i- in pre-tonic position), borrowed from a neighbouring Romance dialect?
139. motz; mutz-/mutx- in combination ‘vulva’ (T 287, T-E 291) Pre-Basque: N/A (recte *butz/*botz) Comment: Pre-Basque < *butz/*botz < some Romance source puto/poto. This early loan was borrowed with b- for p-, while later loans from the same root, with a shape poto/potzo/potxo/potto (T-
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E 330-331, T 287-288), preserve p-
140. osaba (c), oseba (LN, Z), osea (LN, Z) ‘uncle’ (T 269, T-E 319) Pre-Basque: *osa-ba ‘uncle’ (T-E 389) Comment: if -ba forms are secondary (by analogy with other -ba kinship terms), then osea < ose- + definite article -a, with ose- < *(l)o (t)seo ‘the uncle’ from a neighboring Romance language. Note that ize(b)a has a similar origin, but has -z-, while ose(b)a has –s, maybe by analogy with asaba ‘ancestor’
141. sartu ‘to go in, enter, insert’ (T 295) Pre-Basque: N/A Sound laws: 16, 19 Comment: -tu is usually diagnostic of Latin loans, and insro ‘I insert, let in’ is a very good candidate, via INSERTU > *isertu > sartu; the i- also explains s- instead of **z-. Also compare 142. sortu
142. sortu ‘to be born’ (T 137) Pre-Basque: *sor ‘be born’ (T-E 385) Comment: -tu is usually diagnostic of Latin loans, and exôrîor ‘to appear, derive, spring out’ is a likely candidate, via EXORTU > *esortu > sortu; the e- also explains s- instead of **z-. Also compare 141. sartu
Tentative etymologies
The following etymologies display various degrees of irregularity in terms of sound laws and/or semantic shifts.
143. ahizpa (L, LN), aizpa (G, HN), ahzpa (Z), azpa (R), aizta (B) ‘sister (of a woman)’ (T 269, T-E 83) Pre-Basque: *aniz-ba ‘sister (of a woman)’ (T 269) Proto-Basque: *ganes-
PIE: *genh1-es- ‘family’ (M-A 204-205)
Sound laws: 8, 16: *genh1es- > *g enes- > *ganes- > *anes- Comment: See 8. –ba (kinship suffix), but -z- seems irregular (**-s- should be expected after *-e- or –i-);
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was palatalization prevented by following *-b-? The Bizkaian form aizta is due to irregular assimilation (T- E 83)
144. baso ‘woods, forest’ (T 184) Pre-Basque: N/A ‘uninhabited wilderness’ (T-E 128) Proto-Basque: *bar(a)so PIE: *gw®H-so- < *gw®H- ‘hill, mountain’ (M 57) Sound laws: 5, 9, 13, 23: *gw®Hso- > *gwV®so- > *bV®so- > *baraso- > (by syncope) *barso > baso Comment: M-A 121 reports that this PIE root means ‘forest’ in the Baltic languages; the original PIE meaning may have been ‘inhospitable wilderness’. Further, we must assume that Basque has an -s- root extension, for which there seem to be no other IE parallels, though. Proto-Celtic: *bariná ‘rock, rocky ground’ (M 57)
145. bat, bede- ‘1’ (T 135, 175, 272) Pre-Basque: *bade, bada ‘1’ (T 135, 175, 272) Proto-Basque: ? Comment: An origin from Proto-Celtic *bisti- ‘finger’ appears phonetically and semantically appealing at first sight, but *bist- > **bet- seems irregular. An old loan from some intermediate source **bihte < Proto-Celtic *bisti might be more plausible from both a phonetic and semantic point of view, but such an intermediate form apparently cannot belong to a Celtic language (where the common development would be bis-). Finally, a connection with Proto-Basque *bede ‘self’ (see 12. ber-) would be phonetically regular (if the correct Pre-Basque reconstruction is actually *bede) but semantically doubtful. Proto-Celtic: *bisti- ‘finger’ (M 66)?
146. begi, bet- (T-E 131-132) ‘eye’ (T 172,173, 175, 284) Pre-Basque: *begi ‘eye’ (T-E 386) Proto-Basque: *ob-e-gi ‘the thing that sees’, i.e. ‘the organ of sight’ w PIE: *h3ek - ‘to see, eye’ (M-A 327) w w Sound laws: 1, 10, 21: *h3ek - > *ok - > *ob- + *-e-gi >
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*obegi > *begi Comment: -ki/-gi (T-E 251) is a noun-forming suffix which forms concrete nouns. Finding other instances where *o- dropped would make this etymology more defensible.
147. bete ‘to fill’ (AUL) Pre-Basque: *bete ‘full’ (T-E 387) Comment: possibly related to 145. bede ‘1’; semantics: ‘to make whole’?
148. bihotz ‘heart’ (T 173, 177, 285) Pre-Basque: *bi[h]otz ‘heart’ (T-E 387) Proto-Basque: *bi-hord-s PIE: *swi-kord-s < *kerd- ‘heart’ (M 223) Sound laws: 6, 7, 11: b > *khords > * hords, with *swi- > *bi- prefix (see comment) Comment: *-rds > -tz is plausible, but other instances (if any) are still to be found. The origin of bi- is probably < PIE *swi- ‘own’ (V 549; compare 12. ber-). One must assume that noun phrases such as “my/your/his own heart” were reinterpreted as e.g. “my ownheart”, as it were. Proto-Celtic: *kridyo- ‘heart’ (M 223)
149. bortz, bost ‘5’ (T 173, 272) Pre-Basque: *bortz (recte *borst) ‘5’ (T-E 386) Proto-Basque: *borst PIE: *penkw-ro-st- (M-A 312) Sound laws: 9, 13, 23: b > *kwenkwrost- > *kwonkwrost- (*-e-o- > *-o-o- assimilation, also favoured by labial environment *kw-kw-) > (by syncope) *kwonkwrst- > (by cluster simplification: *-nkwrst- > *-rst-) > *kworst- > (by rule set #9) > *borst Comment: Consider the following PIE reconstructions (M-A 312): PIE *penkwe ‘5’ > Proto-Celtic *kwenkwe (M 176-177) PIE *p÷(kw)-sti- ‘fist’ PIE *penkw-rós > English finger, Armenian hinger-ord ‘fifth’ As PIE *penkw- is attested with both *-ro- and *-st- extensions, it is conceivable that a PIE stem
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*pen(kw)-ro-st- with both extensions may have existed. PIE *p-kw > Proto-Celtic *kw-kw is a well- known development (shared with Italic, e.g. Latin quinque), and may have happened in pre-Proto- Basque as well. Proto-Celtic *bostá ‘palm, fist’ (M 71) looks like a very promising parallel at first sight, but: 1) *bostá cannot derive from PIE *pn(kw)-sti- ‘fist’ with regular sound changes (it is supposed to derive from PIE *gwos-to- ‘branch’) 2) *bostá has no -r-, so it cannot be the source of Basque bortz 3) *bostá is hardly a loan from Basque (borrowing ‘5’ to mean ‘hand’ looks odd: the other way round would make much more sense) So Basque bost/bortz and Proto-Celtic *bostá are most probably unrelated. The only way they could be related is if we assume a loan from a Celtic language bost(a) ‘palm’ > Pre-Basque *bost ‘5’. In this case, bost would be the original form, whereas the variant bortz would have been derived by analogy with other –st/- rtz alternations.
150. egosi ‘to boil, cook’ (T 150, 317, T-E 165) Pre-Basque: *-gos- ‘boil, cook’ (T-E 385) Proto-Basque: *-ges- PIE: *yes- ‘to boil’ (M-A 259) Sound laws: 14, 19: *-yes- > *-ges- Comment: Proto-Basque *ges- would explain palatalized Pre-Basque *-s- (whereas **-z- would be expected after -o-), but *ges- > *gos- is not explained by any general sound law found so far. Other IE reflexes: Greek zé ‘to boil, cook’
151. esku ‘hand’ (T 169, 175, 285) Pre-Basque: *esku ‘hand’ (T-E 387) Proto-Basque: *hesku PIE: *ghes-ko- ‘hand’ (M-A 180) Sound laws: 3, 7, 17: *ghesko- > *ghesku- > *hesku > esku Comment: PIE root *ghes- looks like a perfect match,
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but is seems not to be attested with a *-ko- extension in other IE languages. And a *-sko- diminutive suffix would hardly seem justified semantically
152. euskara ‘Basque language’ (T 320) Pre-Basque: N/A Proto-Basque: *heut-isk-kara h PIE: *dng uh2- ‘tongue’ (M 368) via a Celtic loan, or *tewteh2 ‘people, tribe’: see comment. Comment: Trask (T-E 186) writes “The ending is almost certainly -(k)era, -(k)ara ‘way, manner’”. What remains to be explained is thus eus-, which has a palatalized sibilant. Based on rule set #19, the –s- must have been palatalized by a preceding *–e- (or *- i-), so we should probably posit an earlier *eues- or *euis- for this root. Two alternative etymologies are possible. h 1) PIE *dng uh2- ‘tongue’ (M 368) would be a perfect semantic fit (euskara = “manner of speech”), but, based on regular sound laws, we would expect something like **hembi(s)kara > **emi(s)kara (compare 112. mihi ‘tongue’), so it is hard to derive Basque euskara directly from PIE h *dng uh2- ‘tongue’ (unless a pretonic position of the root in this compound has completely altered the phonetic outcome vs. Basque 112. mihi ‘tongue’). Yet it is intriguing to notice that Proto- Celtic *tangwát- ‘tongue’ (M 368) originated Middle Breton teut ‘tongue’, so one might posit that the first element eus- is an early loan from some Celtic form similar to teut, which then underwent the regular loss of t-: *teut-es-kara > *heuteskara > (by syncope) *heutskara > euskara. 2) An alternative derivation from < PIE *tewteh2 ‘people, tribe’ is also tempting, possibily via an ethnonym *teut-isk- (which would have a perfect parallel in German Deutsch and in English Dutch, both < *diut-isk-) > *heut-isk-kara ‘the way of the tribe’ or ‘the manner (scil. of speech) of (our) people’; note that the *–i- before the –s- would account for its palatalization; we should then posit a syncope > *heut-sk-kara and a cluster
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simplification > *heuskara On balance, though the first etymology is more compelling on semantic grounds, I would opt for the second etymology (which has interesting Germanic parallels and also better accounts for the –s- < *-isk-). Proto-Celtic: *tangwát- ‘tongue’ (M 368) > Middle Breton teut ‘tongue’ – or Proto-Celtic *towtá (M 386)
153. haize ‘wind’ (T 314) Pre-Basque: *[h]aize ‘wind’ (T-E 389) Proto-Basque: *haise PIE: *peis- ‘to blow’ (M-A 386) Sound laws: 6, 7: *peis- > *pheis- > *heis- > … Comment: Diphthongs don’t match perfeclty, and **-is- should probably be expected (instead of -iz-) in Basque from Proto-Basque *-is-
154. haritz ‘oak’ (T 159, 309) Pre-Basque: *haritz ‘tree’ (T 309) Proto-Basque: *harestsu PIE: *kwres-to- < *kwres- ‘bush, thicket’ (M 181) Sound laws: 3, 4, 9, 5, 6, 7, 13, 22, 23: *kwresto- > *kresto- > *krestu- > *krestsu- > (by cluster simplification) *kretsu > *karestsu- > *kharetsu- > *haretsu > *harets Comment: PIE *kw- yields *b- before vowels in Proto- Basque, so one must assume that *kw- was instead delabialized before the consonant -r-. Also, the second vowel is unclear (an –e- should probably palatalize the following –ts-) Proto-Celtic: *kwresno- ‘wood, tree’ (M 181) Other IE reflexes: Old English hyrst ‘bushes’
155. hega(l), ega(l) ‘wing’ (T 175, 177) Pre-Basque: *[h]ego, [h]egal ‘wing’ (T-E 390) Proto-Basque: *egV-(l) PIE: *haewei- ‘bird’ (M-A 143) Sound laws: 14, 20; also see comment Comment: Some Basque variants have -l, some don’t: this may be due to an optional -l- (adjectival?) extension. No other etymologies with PIE *hae- have
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been found yet, but probably **a- should be expected. And PIE *-ei- should probably yield **-e, not -a. In other words, the regular reflex of PIE *haewei- should probably be **age, not ega. But since sound laws are not fully established yet, and the phonetic and semantic match seem pretty compelling, this etymology looks quite probable at this stage.
156. her(t)ze, er(t)ze, este ‘intestine’ (T 177, 285) Pre-Basque: *[h]ertze ‘guts’ (T-E 387) Proto-Basque: *[h]erste Sound laws: 13, 23 Comment: M-A 186-187 lists 4 PIE terms with phonetic shapes and meanings that are similar to hertze/este: *udstero- ‘womb, stomach’, *wenVst(r)- ‘belly, (ab)omasum’, *h1enterom ‘entrails’, *(h1en)h1e/oh1tr- ‘inner organs’ (see 33. ezur); Basque hertze/este is probably a merger of two such terms; the current, very limited understanding of the evolution of complex consonant clusters does not allow a clear disambiguation.
157. huts ‘mistake, absence’ (AUL) Pre-Basque: *[h]uts ‘empty’ (T-E 386) Proto-Basque: *huskyV PIE: *tusskyo- (M-A 319)/*tus-sk-io- (DERK 502) ‘empty’ Sound laws: 6, 7: *tusskyo- > *thuskyo- > *huskyo- > ... Comment: assuming *-sky- > -ts-, which is not unlikely, given that *-ky- would provide a palatal environment
158. izeki ‘to burn’ (T 178) Pre-Basque: *-ze- (recte *-zeg-?) ‘burn’ (T-E 236, 385, T 228) Proto-Basque: *-y eg- PIE: *dhegwh- ‘to burn’ (M-A 124) Sound laws: 10, 17 Comment: According to Trask, the root is -ze-, with - ki ending (compare eduki, ebaki). If the reflex of
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non-initial PIE *-gwh- is /g/ (as in negu ‘winter’), then Pre-Basque *e-zeg-ki > izeki
159. izen (c), uzen (B) ‘name’ (T 176) Pre-Basque: *izen ‘name’ (T-E 388) Proto-Basque: *hutsu h h PIE: *g u-to- < *g eu(hx)- ‘to call, invoke’ (M-A 354, M169-170) Sound laws: 3, 4, 7, 17, 18: *ghuto- > *ghutu- > *ghutsu > *hutsu > *utsu > *uzi Comment: izen/uzen looks like a perfective participle derived from *uzi with e-…-en affixation, *e-uzi-en > uzen/izen Proto-Celtic: *gutu- ‘voice’ (M 169)
160. lan ‘work (n.)’ (AUL) Pre-Basque: *lan ‘work (n.)’ (T-E 390) Proto-Basque: *la- ‘to make; to work’ PIE: *leh2- ‘military action’ (M-A 282) Sound laws: 1, 13 Comment: phonetic match with PIE is perfect, but the semantic distance can only be bridged if one posits an original PIE meaning of ‘action’, which later specialized to ‘military action’ in Greek, Phrygian and Hittite, but preseved its original meaning in Basque. This root *la- ‘to work, make’ is probably the same as in causative infix -ra-. Lan would then derive from this root via the same deverbative -n as in perfective participles
161. mamutz ‘insect’ (T 300) Pre-Basque: N/A (recte *amutz?) Proto-Basque: *Vmmuts PIE: *mok-Vt-s ‘stinging insect’ (M-A 149-150) Comment: PIE has two roots, *mok-/mok- ‘stinging insect’ and *mat- ‘insect’. The former also has an -Vt- extension e.g. in Lith. mãkatas ‘gnat’. Words for insects are notoriously subject to irregular phonetic developments. We may be dealing here either with a reduplicated stem *mok-mok-Vt-s or with a compound *mat-mok-Vt-s, which would yield either *okmukts or *atmukts respectively, whence *ommuts or *ammuts
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(for *-mm- as a source of –m- compare 96. ama, 111. hamar). Initial m(a)- cannot go back to Pre-Basque (which had no *m-) and may be due either to analogy with mamarro ‘insect, bug’, or to an expressive reduplication.
162. ortzi, ortze, ost- ‘sky, storm, thunder; ancient name of the sky god (AUL)’ (T 127, 177, 279, 313, AUL) Pre-Basque: *ortzi ‘sky’ (T-E 316-317, 388) (recte ‘thunder’) Proto-Basque: *horatsu- PIE: *por-Vdo- ‘thunder’ (MART 542-543) < *per- /*por- ‘to strike, beat’ Sound laws: 3, 4, 6, 7, 13, 17, syncope, 18, 19: *porVdo- > *porVdu- > *porVtsu- > *phorVtsu > *horVtsu- > *orVtsu > *ortzu > ortzi Other IE reflexes: Armenian orot ‘thunder’ < *por- ado-, Ukr., Czech perun ‘thunder’, Lith. Perkùnas ‘Thunder-god’ (MART 542-543)
163. oste ‘back’ (T 99) Pre-Basque: N/A Proto-Basque: *ors-te PIE: *h1ors- ‘rear-end, rump’ (M-A 182) Sound laws: 1,13, 23 Comment: with -t- extension, apparently with no parallels in other IE languages; possibly a Basque- internal formation, not going back to PIE? T-E 320 offers an alternative explanation: Latin post > *boste > oste (but maybe in this case **ozte should be expected?).
164. uko ‘forearm’ (T 255) Pre-Basque: *uko ‘forearm’ (T-E 386) Proto-Basque: *haku ? PIE: *bhághus ‘(fore)arm’ (M-A 179-180) Sound laws: 7, 10, 11: *bhághus > *haghus > *hakus > *haku Comment: sound correspondences are regular for consonants, but unclear for vowels
165. ume ‘child’, -kume ‘offspring’ (in compounds) (T 133,
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182) Pre-Basque: *(k)un-be ‘child’ (T 133, 182; T-E 355) Proto-Basque: *hekuen- + *-be PIE: *tek-men- ‘child’ (M-A 188) Sound laws: 2, 6, 7, 12, 17, 22: *tekmen- > *tekuen- > *thekuen- > *hekuen- + *-be ‘kinship suffix’ (as in *sen-be > seme; akin to –ba, which see) > *hekunbe > *ekunbe > *kunbe (with loss of unstressed *e-); the only doubt concerns the k-/∅- alternation, for which parallels are still to be found Other IE reflexes: Sanskrit tákman- ‘child, offspring’
166. zahar ‘old’ (T 137, 173) Pre-Basque: *za[h]ar (recte *zanar) ‘old’ (T-E 388) Proto-Basque: *san-ar PIE: *seno- ‘old’ (M 330) Sound laws: 12, 16, 19 Comment: -ar is either an -r- extension of the PIE root, or it may derive from 5. ar ‘man, male’ if the original meaning was ‘old man’ (Aquitanian VMME SA.HAR (T-E 366) is, in fact, a male name). Proto-Celtic: *seno- ‘old’ (M 330)
167. ze(r)- ‘interrogative stem’ (T 98, 197) Pre-Basque: *ze- ‘interrogative stem’ (T-E 389) Proto-Basque: *se- PIE: *se- ‘demonstrative’ (M-A 417-418) Comment: for additional examples of semantic shift ‘demonstrative’ > ‘interrogative’, see 70. no- (incl. comparisons with Tocharian interrogatives < PIE demonstrative stem) Proto-Celtic: *so- ‘this’ (M 350)
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Basque native basic lexicon with no Indo-European etymology
168. arrai(n) ‘fish’ (T 140, 174, 298) Pre-Basque: *arrani ‘fish’ (T 140, 174, 298)
169. azal ‘skin, bark’ (T 287) Pre-Basque: *azal ‘skin, bark’ (T-E 388)
170. azpi ‘bottom; below’ (T 99, 175, 177) Pre-Basque: N/A Comment: might be a bimorphemic word, with second element -pi < *-pe < 113. behe?
171. barru, barne ‘inside’ (T 99, 208) Pre-Basque: *barru ‘inside, interior’ (T-E 387)
172. belar, berar, bedar ‘grass’ (T 145, 173, 306) Pre-Basque: *berar ‘grass’ (T 145, 306)
173. beldur ‘fear’ (AUL) Pre-Basque: *beldur ‘fear, fearful’ (T-E 386)
174. bihur ‘crooked, curved’ (AUL) Pre-Basque: *bi[h]ur ‘bent, twisted’ (T-E 385)
175. bizkar ‘back’ (T 177, 283) Pre-Basque: *bizkar ‘back (anat.)’ (T-E 385)
176. bular ‘female breast’ (T 283) Pre-Basque: *burar ‘chest’ (T-E 148)
177. eder ‘beautiful’ (T 174) Pre-Basque: *eder ‘beautiful’ (T-E 385)
178. erdi ‘middle, center’ (T 99) Pre-Basque: *erdi ‘middle, center, half’ (T-E 387)
179. ezpain ‘lip’ (T 174, 175, 285) Pre-Basque: *ezpain ‘lip’ (T-E 387) Comment: This word looks like a compound: ez- might be from the same PIE root as 1. aho ‘mouth’,
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i.e. PIE *h1/4oh1(e)s, but -pain is obscure
180. gau ‘night’ (T 178, 312) Pre-Basque: *gau ‘night’ (T-E 388)
181. guti ‘little, few’ (AUL) Pre-Basque: *guti ‘small’ (T-E 389)
182. guzti, guzi ‘all’ (AUL) Pre-Basque: *guz- ‘all’ (T-E 385)
183. hagin ‘tooth (molar)’ (T 287) Pre-Basque: *[h]agin ‘molar tooth’ (T-E 389)
184. har, aar ‘worm’ (T 303) Pre-Basque: *anar ‘worm’ (T 303)
185. haragi ‘meat’ (T 316) Pre-Basque: *har ‘flesh, meat’ (T 316)
186. higuin ‘disgust’ (T 177) Pre-Basque: N/A
187. hodei ‘cloud’ (T 178, 310) Pre-Basque: *[h]odeCi ‘cloud’ (T-E 386)
188. irri ‘malignant smile, laugh’ (AUL) Pre-Basque: *irri ‘smile (n.), laughter’ (T-E 389)
189. itzal ‘shade, shadow, shady’ (T 176, 210) Pre-Basque: N/A
190. jo ‘to hit, strike, beat’ (T 154, 214, 377, AUL) Pre-Basque: *eo(n) ‘hit’ (T 154, 377) Comment: cannot derive from PIE *bhoud-, strong grade of *bheud- ‘to strike, beat’ (M-A 282), because *bh- does drop when word-initial (rule set #7), but does not drop in Inlaut, where it yields –b- (rule set #10)
191. nahi ‘desire’ (T 174) Pre-Basque: N/A
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192. oihan ‘forest’ (T 152, 311) Pre-Basque: *oi[h]an ‘forest’ (T-E 386)
193. suge ‘snake’ (T 302) Pre-Basque: *suge ‘snake’ (T-E 389) Proto-Basque: *es-uge wh PIE: *h2og - ‘snake’ (V 42) Comment: -uge would derive regularly from PIE h *h2ogw - (via 3, 7); initial s- may derive from a palatalizing *e- (via 19, 23) or *-e (via 19): assuming the former, this may be a bimorphemic word (*es- uge), but the hypothetical first element *es- is obscure Compare Middle Irish escung ‘eel’ (lit. ‘water snake’)?
194. uh(a)in ‘wave’ (T 152) Pre-Basque: N/A
195. usain ‘smell’ (AUL) Pre-Basque: *usani ‘smell, odor’ (T-E 389)
196. zabal ‘wide’ (T 173) Pre-Basque: *zabal ‘wide’ (T-E 389)
197. zakil ‘penis’ (T 286) Pre-Basque: *zakil ‘penis’ (T-E 388)
198. ze(he) ‘small, tiny’ (T 140, 397) Pre-Basque: *zene ‘small, tiny’ (T 140, 397)
199. zikin ‘dirty, filth’ (T 173, 210) Pre-Basque: *zikin ‘dirty’ (T-E 386) Comment: cf. Proto-Celtic sukko- ‘pig’ (M 359)?
200. zortzi ‘8’ (T 173,272) Pre-Basque: *zortzi ‘8’ (T-E 386) Comment: -tzi may be from Proto-Basque *oitsu ‘8’ (see 10. bederatzi), but zor- is obscure
201. zuri ‘white’ (T 173, 177, 267) Pre-Basque: *zuri ‘white’ (T-E 389)
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Grammar
Basque grammar looks “un-Indo-European”: see T, chapter 2 for details. Internal evidence (T, chapter 4) shows that most grammar morphemes (e.g. several verb affixes and periphrastic forms, postpositions, etc.) are recent and have a transparent internal etymology. This is a clear indication that Basque grammar was extensively rebuilt in relatively recent times, probably because original PIE affixes had been severely eroded by extensive sound changes. When synthetic affixes are eroded by sound changes, they are likely to be replaced by analytical morphs (pre- or post-positions, auxiliaries, clitic pronouns, etc.). This is what happened e.g. to English grammar: it does not look “very Indo-European”, either: no cases, precious little verb inflection, etc. That’s mainly because nominal and verbal inflections where eroded by phonetic changes. English happily replaced cases with prepositions, and verb endings with pronouns and auxiliaries. Something similar seems to have happened to Basque: it extensively rebuilt its grammar, probably due to massive sound changes that must have obliterated most original affixes and endings. The etymology of several free morphemes (personal pronouns, demonstratives, interrogatives, etc.) has already been discussed in the lexical section. This includes ber- ‘self’, ez ‘not’, gu ‘we’, ni ‘I’, zu ‘you’, hi ‘thou’, hau(-)/hon- ‘this’, hor-/har- ‘that’, no- and ze(r)- ‘interrogative stems’. Using T 197-247 as its main source, this section will briefly analyze some bound morphemes that have no clear internal etymology.
Case markers (source: T 90, 92-95, 201-208, 246-247) Most modern case endings and postpositions have a clear internal etymology within Basque. The only ancient case markers seem to be the following, and they can be derived from PIE case endings, or from PIE postpositions (Table 61). As for ergativity, it can be simply explained by two parallel evolutions: nominative > absolutive and ablative >
Volume 41, Number 1 & 2, Spring/Summer 2013 84 Gianfranco Forni ergative5.
case Basque Pre-Basque IE etymologies ending reconstruction absolutive ∅ Basque absolutive < PIE nominative. PIE nominative ending –s was regularly lost after vowels (rule set 11) and probably preserved after consonants (e.g. 148. bihotz, 44. gorotz, 87. hatz, 47. hortz). ergative -k (-k is attested Ergative ending is very since the 9th likely to derive from century) Pre-Basque ablative *-ik 6: see below.
h ablative -ti(k) *-ti- -ik < PIE *h1eg (s) ‘out’ (adjectival) + (> Latin ex ‘out of, *-ik (old away’, Greek ek, ex ablative) ‘from, out of’, etc.) (V 195-196), used as a (T 204, 205) postposition. genitive -en *-e singular? PIE genitive singular *-en plural? *-es > *-e (rule set #11). There is so far no evidence of the Basque outcome of PIE *–Vm. If *–Vm > –Vn, then PIE genitive plural *-om would be the obvious source of –en.
5For intransitive verbs, absolutive < nominative; for transitive verbs, absolutive < nominative and ergative < ablative in a passive construction: as Trask puts it in T 247, “John hit Peter” may have turned into an ergative construction via something like “Peter got his hitting from John”. 6Compare e.g. old ergative gu-ec (modern Basque gu-k) in a manuscript dated 950 AD (T 42).
The Journal of Indo-European Studies Evidence for Basque as an Indo-European Language 85 dative -i clear parallels in e.g. Latin and Greek –i. instrumental -z Either PIE *som (M-A 291) or *(k)sun (M-A 293), both meaning ‘with’, used as postpositions, could be the source of –z, if final nasal was lost in unstressed position. locative -n < PIE *(h1)eni ‘in’, used as a postposition; compare Proto-Celtic *eni ‘in’ (M 116), Tocharian B –ne ‘locative postposition’ (AD 341) allative -ra unclear: If the correct Pre- maybe -la or – Basque reconstruction a? is *–a, then PIE *h2ed ‘to’ (> Latin ad, V 24), used as a postposition, would be a perfect candidate. If –ra actually < *-da (as it well might7), then PIE *de ‘toward’ (M-A 289), often used as a postposition in other IE languages (e.g. Greek, Avestan) would be a good match. Table 61: Origin of case endings.
Adjectival comparative suffix The adjectival comparative suffix –ago has no internal etymology (T 210). A very good parallel is PIE comparative suffix *-yos (found e.g. in Latin and Greek), with regular developments: *y > g (rule #14) and *-s > –∅ (rule #11).
7 De Rijk posited an archaic allative ending *-do (T 207).
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Verbs
Non-finite verb forms (source: T 102-103, 211-217) Several non-finite verb forms are late formations, usually with a Basque-internal etymology. The following non-finite forms, on the other hand, are archaic; interestingly, they are all susceptible of IE etymologies.
Radical Originally, the so-called radical probably was a nominal deverbative. It consists of prefix *e- 8 + verb root. Radical prefix *e- may derive from PIE demonstrative *h1e-; phonetic development is regular; semantics is OK as well (this is a deverbative, i.e. ‘the act of –ing’).
Perfective participle The perfective participle consists of radical plus one of the following endings: -∅, -i, -n and -tu (loan < Latin). -i is a fairly common IE deverbative found e.g. in Germanic, Slavic, Sanskrit (G 167-168). -n is also a common ending (with several different PIE origins) for non-finite verb forms, incl. participles (e.g. in Germanic) and infinitives (e.g. in Greek and Germanic); since it appears to variously resurface as –n after vowels and –an after consonants in Pre-Basque (see etymologies of verbs), this ending probably was –n after vowels and sonant *–÷ > *-en > -an after consonants.
Agent suffix The deverbative agent suffix –le is equivalent to English –er and has clear parallels in various participial forms in Armenian, Slavic, Tocharian (G 186-188).
Finite verb forms (source: T 103-109, 218-239) Most non-finite verb forms are late formations, usually with a transparent Basque-internal etymology9. Some
8 Pre-Basque prefix *e- variously evolved into e-, i-, j-, - in modern Basque. 9 For instance, absolutive agreement prefixes in verbs (n-, h-, g-, z-) derive straightforwardly from personal pronouns ni ‘I’, hi ‘thou’, gu ‘we’,
The Journal of Indo-European Studies Evidence for Basque as an Indo-European Language 87 ergative markers seem to be archaic and thus deserve closer inspection.
Ergative markers in verbs Basque finite verb-forms may have an ergative marker in a slot after the verb root. There are no 3rd person ergative markers (T 219). 1st and 2nd person plural ergative markers are –gu and –zu, clearly deriving from the corresponding personal pronouns, whereas 1st and 2nd singular ergative markers have no transparent internal origin within Basque. For 2nd person singular there is even a masculine/feminine distinction10. Here is a summary of such markers (Tables 62 and 63), including their Pre- Basque reconstructions (source: T 103-109, 218-223):
Basque Pre-Basque 1st person sing. –da–, –t *–da(-) 2nd person sing. –a–, –k (masc.) *–ga(-) (masc.) –na(a)–, –n (fem.) *–na(–ga)(-) (fem.) Table 62.
If Basque is Indo-European, then its ergative is likely to derive from a PIE ablative. Let’s take a look at PIE ablative forms of 1st and 2nd person sing. personal pronouns (source: V 367-368, 631) and see how they might have evolved into Proto-Basque:
PIE Proto-Basque
1st person sing. ablative *h1med *ed 2nd person sing. ablative *tued *tsued Table 63.
PIE *h1med looks like a good candidate as a source for Pre-Basque –da– (via *ed), whereas PIE *tued can’t be a source of Pre-Basque *–ga– or *–na– (not even a form like zu ‘you’. 10 T 218: “the constrasting male and female [ergative] suffixes represent the sole occurrence of such sex-marking in Basque; this contrast is isolated and enigmatic”.
Volume 41, Number 1 & 2, Spring/Summer 2013 88 Gianfranco Forni proto-Italic *ted would fit, as it would yield Proto-Basque *hed). The masculine/feminine distinction, too, seem to have no explanation within PIE. To summarize: while first-person-singular ergative marker *-da(-) may < PIE *h1med ‘by me’, second-person- singular ergative markers *-ga(-) (masc.) and *-na(-ga)(-) (fem.) seem to have no explanation within PIE.
Discussion, Conclusions and Next Steps
Discussion Evidence provided in previous sections should speak for itself. However, this section will list the most common or likely objections against the present research, and provide replies to all of them.
Overall methodology
Potential objection: this article is based on an unorthodox methodology. Reply: This article strives to strictly follow the standard comparative method: see end of the methodology section for further details.
Potential objection: this article is based on low-quality and/or unverifiable data. Reply: This article is based on widely recognized sources for Basque and IE (see bibliography); the source of each Basque, Pre-Basque and PIE term cited in this research is always explicitly listed, so that anyone can readily check the data.
Objection: this article is based on insufficient data. Reply: The present research is based on a list of 201 basic terms, a number of which is usually considered adequate for classification purposes; often, an even smaller list of 100 terms (“Swadesh list”) is used as a starting point. An IE etymology has been provided for over 150 of them. 40+ additional etymologies, for non-basic terms, are also provided as an annex. Several languages have been
The Journal of Indo-European Studies Evidence for Basque as an Indo-European Language 89 classified as IE based on comparable, or even smaller, data sets; for instance, Armenian and Albanian only preserve a few hundred native IE terms; some minor Anatolian languages are very poorly attested and understood, yet securely ascribed to IE.
Objection: too few sources of PIE reconstructions are used. Reply: This is true, but intentional; we have a large cultural gap to bridge here if we want the present research to be tested: we need Indo-Europeanists to become reasonably familiar with Basque, and Vasconists to become familiar with PIE (if they are not already); I do not think that adding many sources would add much to mutual comprehension; it might even add unnecessary complexity. I believe readers need just three books (T, M and M-A) – plus, of course this article – to make up their mind as to whether Basque is, indeed, IE; any additional source might provide interesting details, but the wider picture can be gleaned from these sources alone. I suggest we keep things simple, to foster mutual comprehension between Indo-Europeanists and Vasconists.
Sound laws
Objection: with the posited loss of so many phonemes, it’s too easy to find matching PIE roots: this dramatically increases the likelihood of mistaking chance resemblances for proper etymologies. Reply: Most of the proposed sound laws should be uncontroversial, since they are based on common phonological phenomena, amply attested both within and outside IE. Probably, the only potentially controversial sound laws proposed in this research are the loss of initial */m-, p-, t-, k-, k-, bh-, dh-, gh-, gh-, d-/: one might think that, by positing the loss of so many initial PIE consonants, one can compare almost any Basque word with almost any PIE root, and etymologies quickly become arbitrary (one just tries adding initial consonants to a vowel-initial Basque word, until one finds some kind of match with a PIE root). I will reply in two steps: first, I will show that the choice of
Volume 41, Number 1 & 2, Spring/Summer 2013 90 Gianfranco Forni initial consonants that were lost in Basque is not arbitrary, but is a direct consequence of Michelena’s reconstruction of Pre-Basque phonology; second, I will show that etymologies based on sound losses are not necessarily arbitrary, because they still must account for all the phonemes that Basque did not lose, and this dramatically reduces the probability of casual matches and random similarities.
1. Initial consonant losses are compliant with Pre-Basque phonology The present research includes sound laws whereby Basque lost the following initial PIE consonants: */m-, p-, t-, k-, k-, bh-, dh-, gh-, gh-, d-/. Such sound laws are largely based on the reconstruction of Pre-Basque made by Michelena and Trask, as explained in more detail below.
• Loss of */m-/: Pre-Basque had no /m/ phoneme at all (T133-135).
• Loss of */p-, t-, k-, d-/: no Pre-Basque word could begin with any of */p-, t-, k-, d-/ (T128-132, 136). Also see T180-183 on consonant-loss hypothesis. Loss of */p-/ seems to be an areal feature (compare Celtic). Some PIE theories posit that even native PIE */p-, t-, k-/ were actually aspirated in initial position before a vowel (Germanic languages do have such aspiration). Hence, */p-, t-, k-/ may well have been aspirated in the PIE variant that originated Basque, and may have become */h-/ and then /Ø-/ (as I posit). To find parallels, one has to look no further than Celtic to find */p-/ > / Ø-/, and no further than some English dialects to find */k-/ > /h-/ > / Ø-/. Lenition of /d/ also seems to be an areal feature (compare Celtic, again).
• Loss of */k-/: the neutralization of palatal and non- palatal velars is one of the earliest sound laws governing the evolution of PIE into Proto-Celtic; it may be an old areal feature; PIE */k-/ thus followed the same development as */k-/ (with which it had previously merged).
The Journal of Indo-European Studies Evidence for Basque as an Indo-European Language 91
• Loss of */bh-, dh-, gh-, gh-/ is based on the assumption that all initial aspirated stops (even voiced ones) disappeared (possibly because they were also under the additional pressure of lenition), and is supported by about 10 etymologies.
• It is not currently possible to chronologically arrange such initial consonant losses, but it is likely that they did not occur simultaneously, so that the phonemic oppositions that they made possible were not all lost together.
2. On average, three phonemes out of four are preserved
Even if several initial consonants were lost, etymologies must still account for all the other phonemes that were not lost. Disposing of an initial consonant still requires one to explain all remaining phonemes with regular sound laws. If one deals with *CV- or *CVC- etymologies, letting go of the first *C- may greatly increase the chance of finding a random match for the remaining *V- or *VC-; but when one deals with etymologies that start from a PIE stem with a shape like *CCVCCV- or *CVCCVCV-, getting rid of the first *C- does not much increase your probability of finding chance resemblances. To be more precise, let’s now quantify how many PIE phonemes are preserved in the PIE- to-Pre-Basque etymologies proposed in lexical section. Let us consider only the etymologies that directly link Basque basic terms to PIE – i.e., excluding internal etymologies (127-131), likely loans (132-142) and terms with no etymology (168-201). We thus obtain a list of 148 PIE etymologies (1-126 plus 143-167, minus 145. bat, 147. bete, 156. hertze for which no single PIE etymology has been identified). As shown in Appendix 2, PIE etymologies consist of 4.6 phonemes on average, of which 2.9 phonemes, i.e. 64%, have a non-zero reflex in Pre-Basque. This includes laryngeals, though, which are usually lost in most IE languages. If we exclude laryngeals from this computation, we obtain the following, more meaningful statistics:
• PIE etymologies consist of 4.1 phonemes on average (excluding laryngeals).
Volume 41, Number 1 & 2, Spring/Summer 2013 92 Gianfranco Forni
• 70% of such phonemes (2.9) have a non-zero reflex in Pre-Basque, i.e., on average, PIE etymologies match 3 phonemes out of 4.
This is meaningful in both absolute and relative terms: PIE reconstructions are long (over 4 phonemes on average) and Pre-Basque reflexes preserve almost 3 phonemes on average. Both values are well above the threshold of just 1 or 2 matching phonemes, which might engender the suspicion that matches are due to chance.
Potential objection: this article posits too many sound laws: by applying so many sound changes, you can derive virtually any Basque word from virtually any PIE root. Reply: This would probably be true if one could apply (and not apply) any sound law in any order, and at one’s discretion. To minimize this potential arbitrariness, sound laws have been chronologically arranged and have been systematically applied in that strict order. In other words, all sound laws, in that chronological order, have been applied to all proposed PIE reconstructions, to derive the Pre-Basque form. This is a very mechanical and deterministic process, which can derive only one possible outcome from each PIE reconstruction, leaving no room for arbitrariness. Additionally, all applied sound laws are explicitly listed for each etymology, so the derivation process is made fully explicit and easy to inspect.
Lexical etymologies
Potential objection: all Basque lexical items for which IE etymologies are provided are just loans – not inherited vocabulary. Reply: In theory, each individual Basque lexeme or morpheme might be a loan, i.e. might have been borrowed from an IE language. Older loans would follow regular sound laws and could thus easily be mistaken for inherited vocabulary. It’s a matter of probability: basic terms are resistant to borrowing, and so are verbs and bound morphemes. So if all one examines are basic terms and verbs and bound morphemes, and if one finds an IE origin
The Journal of Indo-European Studies Evidence for Basque as an Indo-European Language 93 for several dozens of them, the combined probability that all of them are loans is virtually zero.
The sample in the present research consists of 201 basic native terms. 167 of them, i.e. 83%, have been etymologized: only for 34 of them (17%) was it not possible to find an etymology. Etymologies with some irregularities in phonetic and/or semantic matches amount to a mere 12%. Most importantly, etymologies based on the loss of initial consonants account for a mere 20% of the present research, so even if one is sceptical about such massive consonant losses, we are still left with a substantial amount of etymologies. The following table (Table 63) summarize these statistics:
cumulative % % Etymologies not based on the loss of initial 86 43% 43% consonants Etymologies based on loss 40 20% 63% of initial consonants Internal etymologies 5 2% 65% (compounds) Likely loans 11 5% 71% Tentative etymologies 25 12% 83% No etymology 34 17% 100% TOTAL 201 Table 63.
It is not just a matter of quantity, though: it is also a matter of quality. Even if we restrict ourselves to the first 86 etymologies, which are based on regular correspondences in sound and meaning and do not involve the loss of initial consonants, we get the following core list of basic terms which have a reliable IE etymology:
verbs: ascend; be; burn; come; cut; drink; eat; fall; give; go; have; hear; know; laugh; make; say; see; sleep; swim; take; turn; wash; grammar (free morphemes): and; I; interrogative stem; not; self; you;
Volume 41, Number 1 & 2, Spring/Summer 2013 94 Gianfranco Forni
people, body and kinship: alive; arm; bone; boy; breath; brother; father; girl; kinship suffix; liver; male; man; mouth; nose; tooth; word; nature: bird; dung; earth; egg; fire; flame; hole; lake; light; louse; morning; mountain; rain; river; sea; star; tail; water; wood; space, time and quantity: all; before; high; nine; seven; six; thin; top; two; up; whole; qualities: bad; black; clean; cold; dark; good; hot; round. It is very hard to believe that all or most of them are loans from neighboring IE languages, i.e. that such an impressive stock of basic lexicon could have been borrowed altogether, because basic lexicon is resistant to borrowing.11 Also note that these reliable IE etymologies include virtually all verbs in the list – and verbs are even more resistant to borrowing than nouns.
Objection: to classify Basque as IE, basic lexicon is insufficient: many more etymologies are needed, in order to provide a statistically robust sample. Reply: If a genetic affiliation is not evident based on basic lexicon, adding non-basic lexicon can only increase the obfuscation. For instance, English basic lexicon is clearly and overwhelmingly of Germanic origin; but if one added a lot of non-basic lexicon – which often comes from French – you might mistake English for a Romance language. The same applies, for instance, to Japanese and Korean: their core basic lexicon is overwhelmingly native, whereas their non-basic lexicon mostly consists of Chinese loans. So if you examined a lot of non-basic lexicon, you might mistake English for a Romance language, or Japanese and Korean for Chinese dialects; but if you restricted your analysis to basic lexicon, you would not incur such blunders. This is why I am very reluctant to “add noise” by adding a lot of
11 As a parallel, English is famous for its numerous borrowings from French, but if you look at the above list of basic English words, over 90% of them have a Germanic origin, not a French one. Similarly, Japanese and Korean famously borrowed a large amount of lexicon from Chinese; yet their basic lexicon is overwhelmingly native, too.
The Journal of Indo-European Studies Evidence for Basque as an Indo-European Language 95 non-basic lexicon. Having said that, to counter this objection, I have added (as Appendix 4) 40+ additional etymologies; interestingly, they can all be based on the same sound laws as were obtained by analyzing the basic lexicon: this confirms that an etymological analysis of basic lexicon is sufficient to establish accurate genetic and phonetic relationships between Basque and PIE. To summarize, I strongly believe that the case for Basque as an IE language can be based on basic lexicon alone (as defined by the word list used in the lexical section).
Objection: many etymologies are based on loose semantics. Reply: Not so: etymologies proposed in this research are largely based on identical meanings in Pre-Basque and PIE, or on very close meanings with similar reflexes in other IE languages. Appendix 5 shows that only 11 lexical etymologies (i.e. 9%) are based on somewhat loose semantics.
Objection: many etymologies are root etymologies. Reply: Appendix 3 shows that 78 lexical PIE etymologies out of 148, i.e. 53%, are “non-root”, i.e. they match the PIE root plus one or more extensions/affixes. Additionally, 17 root etymologies out of 70 are for basic verbs, and it is well- known that basic verbs tend to be based on bare roots; so we’re actually left with just 53 “real” root etymologies (i.e. excluding basic verbs), or just 36%.
Objection: taking full advantage of IE ablaut and suffixes increases the chances of arbitrary etymologies. Reply: It’s not me, it’s IE languages that took full advantage of ablaut and suffixes (think Latin, Sanskrit, Avestan and Ancient Greek, to name but a few), so why shouldn’t (proto-)Basque have had recourse to such typical IE tools as well? I’d rather say that evidence of IE ablaut and suffixes makes it more (not less) likely that Basque is IE.12
12 By the way, this objection is exactly the opposite of the objection on root etymologies: interestingly, both objections were actually raised against the present article, so one might wonder what should be considered more desirable to prove that Basque is IE: little usage of
Volume 41, Number 1 & 2, Spring/Summer 2013 96 Gianfranco Forni
Grammar etymologies Potential objection: This article puts way too much emphasis on lexicon, and pays scant attention to grammar: language classification should rely much more on grammar. Reply: When you have the luxury of dealing with languages whose grammar is rich and conservative, it is certainly true that grammar is highly diagnostic of a common origin; Latin, Ancient Greek and Sanskrit could easily be classified together based on grammar alone, for instance. Yet this “luxury” is not always available: as we saw above, internal evidence (T, chapter 4) shows that most Basque grammar was (re-)built in recent times. Additionally, basic lexicon often presents several advantages vs. bound morphemes, because: • basic lexicon typically consists of hundreds of lexemes, vs. a typical inventory of a few dozens of bound morphemes; • lexemes usually consist of much longer phoneme sequences than bound morphemes: typically, C(C)VC-(CV-) vs. -C(V)-; • grammar often changes very fast (compare e.g. Modern English vs. Old English, or Italian vs. Latin), while lexicon tends to be relatively more stable.
Conclusions It is absolutely unrealistic that Basque was a non- Indo-European language which borrowed over 70% of its basic lexicon (including virtually all verbs) and most of its archaic bound morphemes from neighboring Indo- European languages. The most likely explanation of regular correspondences between Basque and PIE lexicon and grammar is that Basque is Indo-European. Which Indo- European branch Basque is closer to is a topic for further studies, but I would not be surprised if it turned out to be close to (Italo-)Celtic.13 ablaut and affixes, or extensive use of them? 13 Interestingly, Basque shares an impressive subset of sound laws with the Brittonic branch of Celtic, but this might well be an areal (“Sprachbund”) phenomenon.
The Journal of Indo-European Studies Evidence for Basque as an Indo-European Language 97
Next steps I believe that the case for Basque as an Indo- European language has been made, and it is now a matter of working out the details (amending errors, improving sound laws, finding new etymologies, etc.) – a task that Vasconists and Indo-Europeanists are well-equipped to perform. Aquitanian data (T 398-403) might also need to be reconsidered in the light of the present research. Also, this article shows what Basque is – an Indo- European language – but future research should also try to explain why this is so; in particular, why did Basque undergo such major sound and grammar changes? Due to substratum/adstratum/superstratum influences? If so, which ones and when? An alternative explanation of massive and rapid sound and grammar changes might also be that Basque is a creole. Future research might also try to explore this possibility: if Basque is indeed a creole, the donor language of its lexicon is obviously Indo-European, but which exactly were the donor language(s)? Possibly (akin to) Brittonic? And what was (or were) the substratum language(s) that gave rise to the creole? Possibly (akin to) Italic?14 When did this happen? How can the phonemic inventory of the substratum language(s) account for the sound changes? What historical evidence supports (or undermines) this possibility? The present article is only a first step which will hopefully spawn a whole new research thread, which will require the collaboration of Indo-Europeanists, Vasconists, and possibly creolists.
14 an Italic language would largely explain the phonemic inventory of Pre-Basque, as well as the fact that Celtic approximants where perceived as // by Italic speakers
Volume 41, Number 1 & 2, Spring/Summer 2013 98 Gianfranco Forni
Appendices
Appendix 1 – Alphabetical List of Lexical Etymologies
The following list (Table 64) cross-references Basque terms (listed in alphabetical order) to their numbered etymologies:
Basque term Etymology # English meaning aar 184 worm adar 119 horn ahizpa 143 sister (of a woman) aho 1 mouth ai(n)tzin 2 before, in front of aita 3 father aizpa, aizta 143 sister (of a woman) alaba 127 daughter alu 94 vulva, vagina ama 96 mother anae, anai(a/e) 4 brother andere 132 lady, woman antzin 2 before, in front of ar 5 male argal 97 thin argi 6 light (noun), bright arrai(n) 168 fish arrats 98 early evening, late afternoon arreba 128 sister (of a man) ats 7 breath atso 99 old woman azal 169 skin, bark azpi 170 bottom; below azur 33 bone -ba 8 kinship suffix barne 171 inside barrabil 129 testicle barre 9 smile, laugh barru 171 inside baso 144 woods, forest bat 145 one bearri 130 ear bedar 172 grass bede- 145 one
The Journal of Indo-European Studies Evidence for Basque as an Indo-European Language 99 bederatzi 10 nine begi 146 eye beharri 130 ear behe 113 below, bottom belar 172 grass belarri 130 ear belaun 133 knee beldur 173 fear beltz 11 black ber- 12 self berar 172 grass bero 13 hot, heat beso 14 arm bet- 146 eye bete 147 to fill bi(ga) 15 two bihotz 148 heart bihur 174 crooked, curved -bil 16 round bizi 17 alive, life bizkar 175 back bortz, bost 149 five bular 176 female breast buru 120 head buztan 18 tail ebaki 19 to cut ebi, ebri 31 rain edan 20 to drink eder 177 beautiful *edun 21 to have ega(l) 155 wing egin 22 to do, make egosi 150 to boil, cook egun 110 day, today eho 103 to kill eke 100 smoke ele 101 word, conversation eman 23 to give entzun 24 to hear er(t)ze 156 intestine eran 20 to drink erdi 178 middle, centre erho 103 to kill
Volume 41, Number 1 & 2, Spring/Summer 2013 100 Gianfranco Forni eri 121 sick, ill eri 134 finger erle 102 bee ero 103 to kill erori 25 to fall erra(n) 28 to say erre 26 burn, bake, grill, roast errun 27 to lay eggs es(e)ne 114 milk esa(n) 28 to say esku 151 hand este 156 intestine eta 29 and etorri 30 to come euli 122 fly (noun) euri 31 rain euskara 152 Basque language ez 32 no, not ezne 114 milk ezpain 179 lip ezur 33 bone gain 35 top; on top gaitz 34 bad gar 36 flame garai 37 high place, height garbi 38 clean gau 180 night gazte 135 young; young person gibel 39 liver gizon 40 man goi 41 high place, height; high goiz 42 morning gora 43 up gordin 136 raw gorotz 44 dung gu 45 we guti 181 little, few guzi 182 all guzti 182 all hagin 183 tooth (molar) haie- 125 that haize 153 wind hamar 111 ten
The Journal of Indo-European Studies Evidence for Basque as an Indo-European Language 101 handi 104 big har 184 worm har- 125 that haragi 185 meat haritz 154 oak hartu 46 to take haserre 123 angry; anger hats 7 breath hatz 87 paw, footprint, finger hau(-) 124 this haur 88 child hega(l) 155 wing her(t)ze 156 intestine herio 105 death hezur 33 bone hi 117 thou higuin 186 disgust hil 106 dead; to die, kill hilabete 107 month hilargi 107 moon hiru(r) 118 three hitz 55 word hodei 187 cloud hon- 124 this hor- 125 that hortz 47 tooth (incisor) hotz 74 cold hotz 74 cold hura 125 that huts 157 mistake, absence ibai 48 river igan 49 ascend igari, igeri 50 swimming igo(n) 49 ascend ikusi 51 to see ikuzi 52 to wash ilargi 107 moon ile 89 hair, fur, wool ilun 53 dark, darkness, night inurri 137 ant irri 188 malignant smile, laugh itsaso 54 sea itz 55 word
Volume 41, Number 1 & 2, Spring/Summer 2013 102 Gianfranco Forni itzal 189 shade, shadow, shady itzuli 56 to turn izaba 138 aunt izan 57 to be izar 58 star ize(b)a 138 aunt izeki 158 to burn izen 159 name izoa 138 aunt ja(i)tsi 62 to fall, descend jakin 59 to know jan 60 to eat jau(t)si 62 to fall, descend jaugin 61 to come jeutsi 62 to fall, descend jo 190 to hit, strike, beat joan 63 to go ke(i) 100 smoke -kume 165 offspring labur 108 short lan 160 work larru 90 skin lau(r) 91 four lo 64 sleep lur 65 earth, land, soil, dirt luze 92 long mamutz 161 insect mehe 66 thin mendi 67 mountain mi, mihi, min 112 tongue min 115 pain motz, mutx-, 139 vulva mutz- nahi 191 desire neba 131 brother of a woman neska 68 girl ni 69 I no- 70 interrogative stem odol 126 blood oihan 192 forest oin 93 foot, leg on 71 good oro 72 all
The Journal of Indo-European Studies Evidence for Basque as an Indo-European Language 103 orri 95 leaf ortzi, ortze 162 sky, storm, thunder; sky god osaba, ose(b)a 140 uncle oso 73 total, whole, entire ost- 162 sky, storm, thunder; sky god oste 163 back sartu 141 to go in, enter, insert sehi 75 boy, child sei 76 six sein 75 boy, child sortu 142 to be born su 77 fire sudur 78 nose suge 193 snake txori 79 bird ugatz 116 female breast uh(a)in 194 wave uko 164 forearm ule 89 hair, fur, wool ume 165 child ur 80 water usain 195 smell uzen 159 name uzki 109 anus xori 79 bird zabal 196 wide zahar 166 old zakil 197 penis zazpi 81 seven ze- 167 interrogative stem ze 32 no, not ze(he) 198 small, tiny zer- 167 interrogative stem zikin 199 dirty, filth zinaurri 137 ant zingira 82 lake, swamp zorri 83 louse zortzi 200 eight zu 84 you zulo 85 hole zur 86 wood zuri 201 white Table 64.
Volume 41, Number 1 & 2, Spring/Summer 2013 104 Gianfranco Forni
Appendix 2 – Number of matching phonemes in PIE etymologies
The following table (Table 65) can be summarized as follows:
• PIE etymologies consist of 4.1 phonemes on average (excluding laryngeals) • 72% of such phonemes (2.9) have a non-zero reflex in Pre-Basque, i.e., on average, PIE etymologies match 3 phonemes out of 4
The Journal of Indo-European Studies Evidence for Basque as an Indo-European Language 105
, s s d l
e e
a . v e l % % % % % % % % % % % % % % m r c g 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 e e x n s 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 n y e e 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 o r r h a l p p
s d e e
v m r % % % % % % % % % % % % % % e e 7 7 0 7 5 5 7 7 0 7 1 5 5 5 n s 6 7 6 7 6 6 8 6 7 7 7 8 6 7 o e r h p p
s d
e e - e
e v m u r
r E e q I e 2 2 2 4 4 3 3 3 3 6 3 4 2 5 p s
n s P a n o e i B r h p p
s s l e
a
. l e m
E c e g I 3 2 3 2 4 6 4 3 2 4 2 3 5 3 x n n P y e o r h a l p
s l a
e
E g I 1 2 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 3 1 1 1 n P y r a l
s e
m
E e I 3 3 6 4 4 3 5 9 4 4 5 3 7 4 n P o h p
-
r
- V - o
o
y
n t
-
- - s 1 - - E - 1
- x 1 r t - - - - g s I
- - h h h l é i x r r r n 2 n n h p n H P - x n u e e ® e e e e o o n h o h 1 3 2 2 3 2 1 2 1 3 w e h w e u e d h h h h t h g h s h h g u l h h
e
- r u
e u q i
r - z s r i i
a n
p a n a a
g g n o a i n l i r n r n u B e b a g s o b e u i z l a a
-
,
n n e
i i
a
u e z , s t g
r n q
, i
i )
, s
r
u i r i n b i z o
e n a
i z t s
o
u u g t
h , a ( n e i r r s B g a z z r i r n u e b a b e z h u o s a a i l e a a a b o
5 4 0 2 6 3 8 0 2 2 4 3 5 5
4 6 6 1 3 4 8 8 7 7 2 # 1 1 1
Table 65.
Volume 41, Number 1 & 2, Spring/Summer 2013 106 Gianfranco Forni
, s s d l e
e a
. v e l m % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % r c g e 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 e x n s 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 n y e e o 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 r r h a p l p
s d e
e
v m % % % % % % % % % % % % % r % % % e 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 e 0 0 8 n s 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 8 8 o e 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 r h p p
s d
e - e e
e v m u
r r E e q I e 4 4 7 4 4 3 3 3 4 2 4 4 5 2 5 3 p s
n s P a o e n i B r h p p
s s l e a
.
e l m
E c g e I 4 4 4 4 7 4 4 4 3 3 3 2 5 2 5 3 x n n P y e o r h a l p
s l a
e
E g
I 1 1 1 n P y r a l
s e
m
E e I 4 5 5 3 4 3 8 3 4 2 4 4 5 2 5 3 n P o h p
-
- - - g t
-
-
o o - h
- r n
i - s - d w - - ® 2 d r
- é r 2 h l l r
l w g s t e h á e h d e e a
h k e h é s o - - e t w a 2 h 3 b e w w t e w w t w a u k s ÷ s w h s s y r g g h - PIE d k a l
o l e
b e / u
-
-
i o -
q o
-
r k r
l s a r r s r e o l
t a a a e a e i e e s r b a t u z b g z l
- o b b g e b
a b i B p -
-
i
r e e a
e r
r
,
u l
r i i i , , i z
i i o q
e o
t r e r g
k
r s l l a r r r s r s o r e b a i a t e a n a e e e s i a b a u i i g g u z z b b - b i i i e g g e o a l b B - b h z i
8 0 6 6 3 3 1 1 9 8 4 # 3 5 3 2 8 5 2 5 3 5 3 1 8 7 1 1 3 6 1 1 1 Table 65 (continued).
The Journal of Indo-European Studies Evidence for Basque as an Indo-European Language 107
, s s d l e
e a
. v e l m % % % % r % % % % % % % % % % c g e 0 0 0 0 e 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 x n s 0 0 0 0 n 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 y e e o 1 1 1 1 r r h a p l p
s d e
e
v m % % % % r % % % % % % % % % % e 0 0 0 0 e 0 0 0 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 n s 0 0 0 0 8 8 8 6 6 5 6 6 6 6 o e 1 1 1 1 r h p p
s d
e - e e
e v m u
r r E e q I 4 e 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 1 4 5 2 p s
n s P a o e n i B r h p p
s s l e a
.
e l m
E c g e I 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 1 2 5 x n n P y e o r h a l p
s l a
e
E g
I 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 n P y r a l
s e
m
E e I 6 6 5 5 5 6 6 7 6 1 5 6 4 2 n P o h p 1
- -
- - -
h - s i o - i o o 1
- 1 t e V h l - t
- e
- h h y - 1 - 2 d k - h n - - s - m d 2 n - r - d h
t h s 1 y d d d )
h
e e - n n E u - p e e e e e o h e n I 2 2 e h e - r w w ( e V e w w k w d y s m P k V h s n s g g b g s h
i
e
a a d
- n i
e
i u b i n e
a - z d l a t - n q a r
p z t
z s - n i e ] i r n e o - z a o e u r r a a z n e n h a [ e g p B b
b b n
a z o z a .
,
c
c t
e
t , e e i
e
a n n - ,
i
u d
i e ) a ) i p a
a l z d e t - i q r r s n e
z p t p s z - o r i n i r a ( n z e ( u z a e o u a d a s a z i h e n a k o e a g b b h b e n B a m z z a i
4 2 8 4 6 7 3 9 # 4 0 1 7 4 1 1 2 4 0 6 3 1 1 6 7 8 5 1 1 1 1 1 Table 65 (continued).
Volume 41, Number 1 & 2, Spring/Summer 2013 108 Gianfranco Forni
, s s d l e e a
. v e l m r % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % c g e e 5 5 5 0 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 0 0 5 5 x n s n 7 7 7 8 7 7 7 8 7 7 7 7 7 8 7 7 y e e o r r h a p l p
s d e e
v m r % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % e e 5 5 5 5 5 0 5 0 0 0 0 5 0 5 0 0 n s 7 8 7 7 7 7 7 7 6 6 6 8 8 5 7 5 o e r h p p
s d
e - e e
e v m u
r r E e q I 3 3 e 3 4 3 3 3 3 4 3 3 3 4 3 3 3 p s
n s P a o e n i B r h p p
s s l e a
.
e l m
E c g e I 4 4 4 5 4 4 4 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 4 x n n P y e o r h a l p
s l a
e
E g
I 1 2 1 1 2 n P y r a l
s e
m
E e I 4 6 4 5 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 6 5 4 n P o h p
- - 2 -
o w
h t
-
/ a -
- - - - s 2 - e - 1 ) l - o
o
g t h w m i s u - - - h V s ( - m 2 y ÷ r w r r - -
n g 2 - n r - k m
e h e e e i e d d - E u e r l d e t h a r I e e 3 e Ò 2 Ò p p r h w w o s g u V h m d P t u p m s p g h p p
n
a
z ) ) e t z r
t n u r
- i i
( s
- e ( r t - u q r o a z e r a r u r s r n u t e e l ] r e z o u a e a o r g o s a a m n h u a d t l a h - e e
g B p g l b - a g [
r
s )
, e
t u
z ) i n
a t a u e
i i i r
o ( z l
n n i h
r t a o q r b a h a z e a (
, r s r r r , u t r r r o e z o a s u a e o a o g o r r t s a a t m u a h h e m g g e e e a g l h B l e a g
7 5 6 0 6 4 3 8 7 1 7 5 0 # 7 2 8 1 0 3 8 4 3 9 4 9 2 4 2 9 6 3 1 1 Table 65 (continued).
The Journal of Indo-European Studies Evidence for Basque as an Indo-European Language 109
, s s d l e e a
. v e l m r % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % c g e e 5 5 5 7 5 1 5 7 5 7 7 7 5 5 5 1 x n s n 7 7 7 6 6 7 6 7 7 6 6 7 7 7 7 7 y e e o r r h a p l p
s d e e
v m r % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % e e 5 5 5 0 0 5 0 5 1 0 0 5 5 5 5 1 n s 7 7 7 7 7 5 4 5 5 7 7 4 7 7 7 7 o e r h p p
s d
e - e e
e v m u
r r E e q I e 3 3 3 2 3 5 4 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 5 p s
n s P a o e n i B r h p p
s s l e a
.
e l m
E c g e I 4 4 4 7 6 4 4 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 7 x n n P y e o r h a l p
s l a
e
E g
I 2 2 2 1 1 n P y r a l
s e
m
E e I 8 5 5 4 4 4 7 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 7 n P o h p
s
) - -
e o - -
o - l l
( - r - - -
1 t
- o u o u -
- e
o -
h
- - x - p
s r h i r H n - d r
o - s u o l
t h n - / u k g r 4 e - - r
o u E k n e e e e / l u ® e - a o o I 1 2 1 1 i o w h h a a e e w t o g h p P h s g h s h d m C s p d m h s l
e
l
n e l r
u
u u
r u i r o z
- , q ] i r e a a
e u
s n r e r r ] r e i i h n b n l a r o l r - [ o u h a o e l a [ z e B e
p s z l e b z z a i
e e
n
l
, u
r l i i i r
u u r i
q r e z r z a
a
u
, s r t r u r o i r g i h o u a b e a a n r r o t n r h o u a e x k l a z e e e z B a h e s t l o z x a i i
1 4 6 8 6 6 9 # 3 9 7 8 1 6 1 2 9 2 6 0 2 2 8 8 8 9 7 5 8 7 2 7 1 1 1 Table 65 (continued).
Volume 41, Number 1 & 2, Spring/Summer 2013 110 Gianfranco Forni
, s s d l e e a
. v e l m r % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % c g e e 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 x n s n 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 y e e o r r h a p l p
s d e e
v m r % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % e e 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 0 0 7 0 n s 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 5 5 5 o e r h p p
s d
e - e e
e v m u
r r E e q I 2 2 4 e 4 2 2 2 4 2 4 2 2 2 2 2 p s
n s P a o e n i B r h p p
s s l e a
.
e l m
E c g e I 3 3 6 6 3 3 6 3 6 3 3 3 3 3 3 x n n P y e o r h a l p
s l a
e
E g
I 1 1 1 1 n P y r a l
s e
m
E e I 6 7 3 3 6 4 4 3 3 4 3 6 3 3 3 n P o h p
-
- o
o t -
- - -
- l r o -
o h s h - m ó
2 g
h w
H k - d - - o - -
- h h r l l s y b g r w n -
H k r E s - e e e g i a e e e e e o I h h 2 2 h e o h h w e o k m P b b m m g y g y h h d d g m
- e
-
a u n
r r
n o
-
b
a - r q r a u u i - o s e ) l s e u e ] a )
z l k z l n o e a i u i r k l s l e d h u ( g o b e a B g - p e ( s [ b
a e - -
, , e o
k h
r
e
i e
u u i
n
k t
n s , - u , q r - u
i o
n s r o e i u a o r a o
z k e z a u a i a e i u r k l g h b d s l d u o s h b e e a B e k e e j e e e a b g
7 6 9 1 9 3 1 0 1 4 3 0 # 7 0 0 0 1 5 5 0 0 2 7 4 1 1 6 2 9 4 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Table 65 (continued).
The Journal of Indo-European Studies Evidence for Basque as an Indo-European Language 111
, s s d l e e a
. v e l m r % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % c g e e 0 7 7 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 7 7 7 7 7 x n s n 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 6 6 y e e o r r h a p l p
s d e e
v m r % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % e e 0 0 7 7 3 7 7 0 0 0 0 0 7 7 7 n s 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 4 6 5 6 6 6 5 6 o e r h p p
s d
e - e e
e v m u
r r E e q I 3 e 3 2 3 3 4 3 4 5 4 3 3 4 4 4 p s
n s P a o e n i B r h p p
s s l e a
.
e l m
E c g e I 5 5 5 5 6 5 8 5 5 6 6 3 6 7 6 x n n P y e o r h a l p
s l a
e
E g
I 2 1 2 n P y r a l
s e
m
E 0 e I 7 5 5 7 5 6 5 6 6 6 6 3 5 6 1 n P o h p
-
- -
a
o
-
s - o t
- h -
- - - r o - - o
t
o - - ) e - - - - r t k o o - h l
- - s o n d V l o o
- i d - - r - ( - a s k - i i t a l s
t - - l g - n l s n k n d - r e h i e r E k e e r e k ó u u e e o e - o - I 1 h e 1 3 1 h h l o w e u o h P p m m y d m h t h t k d h p m b p
i e
e
r
z z -
z z - s
u r r i l t z
i t t t o l t n - q i i u o a e z u l a s a a r e ] ] ] l u l t r d a g r a r z r m r h h h u u m t
a B p [ [ [ e
h u o a s - - z
- t
s
z o z t e
t
,
u i z s , u r i n z n
e i e t t
l u t h q i u i u a e z z m z
a o r s a , u i r l r r l t t r d a r z a z g a r r a r r m r r u u t t a e i m i B a o e z l h h e u s o o
7 6 5 5 3 1 # 3 6 2 8 5 2 8 0 4 6 5 1 0 6 5 2 5 5 8 9 9 9 2 7 1 1 1 1 1 1 Table 65 (continued).
Volume 41, Number 1 & 2, Spring/Summer 2013 112 Gianfranco Forni
, s s d l e e a
. v e l m r % % % % % % % % % % % % % % c g e e 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 x n s n 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 y e e o r r h a p l p
s d e e
v m r % % % % % % % % % % % % % % e e 2 0 3 0 0 0 3 7 3 3 3 3 0 3 n s 5 4 5 3 4 3 3 4 4 3 3 3 4 3 o e r h p p
s d
e - e e
e v m u
r r E e q I e 2 1 4 2 1 5 1 2 1 2 2 1 2 1 p s
n s P a o e n i B r h p p
s s l e a
.
e
l m
E 0 c g e I 4 2 4 2 7 4 2 4 4 2 4 2 2 x 1 n n P y e o r h a l p
s l a
e
E g
I 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 n P y r a l
s e
m
E 2 e I 5 5 3 3 4 3 3 7 6 5 5 3 3 1 n P o h p
-
- o - 1
t ) t - - -
- h h s
- i r n - ( o - d - o - t t - k
- s - g 1 - 2 - 1 b d t w l
) s
u 2 - k k d u d u n
h
h 1 h e -
o - h o e e e e e e e e e ( o l h n H h 1 3 1 h 3 3 1 1 - - e n i V h h d h m s h ÷ PIE m l h h V t d s ÷ h
u z
t
- e
- e a l
z n ] l r
u
t
i a n o e
e i n
i - n
q s n o z , [ o s g n d e ] e k a ) a u a
s a - i l a l s e e i e r z a t h l l t e ( d e - i e a [ b B p - b h i - i b
i -
t z
z
t e t
e a - b
o l r
u e , i
o h
e e i
n n q z s , ,
i
n n - s o g h a d a , l z
s a k n a s u e e e i i t d z t l t z a a b o i b j j e b B e h i a i h
4 4 3 0 9 9 # 0 7 0 6 2 7 3 7 1 1 4 0 1 7 5 5 5 6 2 9 3 5 1 1 1 1 Table 65 (continued).
The Journal of Indo-European Studies Evidence for Basque as an Indo-European Language 113
, s s d l e e a
. v e l m r % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % c g e e 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 x n s n 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 y e e o r r h a p l p
s d e e
v m r % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % e e 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 n s 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 o e r h p p
s d
e - e e
e v m u
r r E e q I 1 2 e 4 2 1 2 1 2 2 2 1 2 2 1 2 p s
n s P a o e n i B r h p p
s s l e a
.
e l m
E c g e I 4 8 4 2 2 4 4 4 4 2 2 4 4 4 2 x n n P y e o r h a l p
s l a
e E g
I n P y r a l
s e
m
E e I 2 2 8 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 2 4 2 2 n P o h p
- - n o
r - V - - - -
w - - - - h o o V - - -
l t m k r r r r
b - h - u u
i e e e e l - k n - E
e u e e g - e I h e e e o p p p p ú h t e d m P s k u u n d g u m w p k u l
- - e o
n
u
t
r i - i h - s q
l z
a n n g , - n s i i l r
i e - n
e a u u a i i r a o u o o a u m o z g a a - g B p n g a b - g g l h - b e i
t s n
o e
, z
, i b
, e i
) s r u
, ) s
n u ) - i
z
t a , n , i
t - s ( t q ) ( i
z t n n n g ( n i s r n i i l
m u i i
o a e u ( u u a o i a a o u o o a u g g o z e a a a n m h h B j j g g j b j l g g h i i e i
1 1 1 5 9 9 # 5 4 2 5 4 2 9 2 9 1 2 1 5 4 2 6 6 4 6 3 6 4 4 4 1 1 1 1 1 1 Table 65 (continued).
Volume 41, Number 1 & 2, Spring/Summer 2013 114 Gianfranco Forni
, s s s d l l e e a a
. . v e e l l m r % % % % % % % % % % % % % % c c g g e e 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 3 3 3 5 0 x x n n s n 4 5 4 5 3 4 7 4 4 2 2 3 3 2 y y e e e o r r r h a a p l l p
s s d l e e a
. v e m l r % % % % % % % % % % % % % % g e c e 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 5 0 3 5 3 0 n n n s i 6 4 4 5 4 5 2 3 2 3 3 2 3 2 y o e r r h a p l p
s d
e - e e
e v m u
r r 9 E e q , I 2 3 2 3 1 2 e 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 p s
n s 2 P a o e n i B r h p p
s s s l l e a a
. .
e e l l m
1 E c c g g e , I 5 6 5 3 6 5 5 5 3 3 4 4 5 x x n n n 4 P y y e e o r r h a a l l p
s l a
e
E g
I 1 1 1 1 n P y r a l
s s l e a
. e m l
6 E g e c , I 5 6 5 6 4 5 6 4 3 3 5 6 5 n n n 4 P i y o r h a l p
- - 2
- -
- - 2 2 o
n h - - t o
V
i e h h e s
y e u s r s
- t
e - u u - h
- - k m 1 - h h e o
d d r g w - w i s
t V g g r d - h - E s e á k e u e e n I h e ÷ n t o o o a n e r u t h t k g V m k P k p d d t m /
b
e
z
,
l t b r
e - o a
o s
u
u r g g t n a r ] l
r
- e e k q i i i
o a u u h s o s ] ] e ] ] ] ] ] ) [ n n a e i i i k r k h h h h h h h [
( [ [ n B p b b [
[ u o [
[
- , , i r
E a - ) r u e l
m
G r i u
( i a
a A e h
a
r h
z
h
, u e
t g a R , a
,
i ,
,
i - q s k e e o
- k E u
h n t r s m o s s r k ) i i l r h n V a e i i i o k u i z a m u u h h ( k u m
m u h n b B o h A h u e h
7 9 2 8 5 5 3 8 # 8 5 4 2 6 0 5 5 4 1 1 0 2 5 6 6 6 9 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Table 65 (concluded).
The Journal of Indo-European Studies Evidence for Basque as an Indo-European Language 115
Appendix 3 – Root vs. non-root etymologies
This annex shows how many of the 148 PIE etymologies of the Basque basic lexicon are root etymologies.
Non-root etymologies The following 78 etymologies (Table 66) are based on a PIE root + one or more affixes and/or extensions.
Etym. PIE PIE Basque PIE root # prefix extension/suffix ai(n)tzin, 2 h ent- -h en- antzin 2 3
4 anaia etc. h2ed- gnh1- -yV-
6 argi h2erg- -y-
7 ats, hats h2enh1- -to- 9 barre swer- -yV-
(Pre-
10 bederatzi Basque) h3ektoh1 bede eta
12 ber- swe- -de
15 bi dw- -ih1 17 bizi gwiHwo- -to-
23 eman h1en- mehan-
24 entzun h1en- haeus- -o- 25 erori ped- -Vl-/-Vr-
26 erre h2ehx- -tr-
27 errun h1en- -dro- euri, ebri, 31 -r-i- eri ÷bh-
32 ez, ze ÷- h1s- -ti ezur, hezur, 33 h en- h eh - -tor azur 1 1 1
34 gaitz weh2k- -to- h 38 garbi g leyh2- -w- 39 gibel yekw- -®
Volume 41, Number 1 & 2, Spring/Summer 2013 116 Gianfranco Forni
40 gizon dhghom- -yo-
47 hortz h3d- -÷t-s
48 ibai h2ep- -h3on- w 51 ikusi h2ed- k eys- 52 ikuzi ghu- -d-o- 53 ilun ÷- louk- -s-no-
54 itsaso h1en-do- seh2l- -d-to- 55 itz, hitz yek- -to- 56 itzuli dhu- -li-k-
58 izar h2s- -tèr 64 lo legh- -o-
68 neska gnh1- -etV-sk-
73 oso h3ol- -so-
74 otz, hotz h3eug- -st-
75 sehi, sein seuhx- -nV- h 77 su h2eyd - -o-
78 sudur h1en-s- h3od- -o-ro-
82 zingira steh2ng- -ra- 85 zulo tuk- -slo- 87 hatz ped- -s 88 haur pau- -r 89 ile, ule pil-/pul- -Co- 90 larru pl- -etro- 93 oin pod- -en- 94 alu bhel- -n- 95 orri bhól- -io- 97 argal makre- -lo- 98 arrats merk- -e-to-
99 atso meh2- -tr- 102 erle meli- -lV-
104 handi mh1- -nt-ih1 105 herio mer- -io-
107 hil-, il- meh1- -n-lV- 108 labur m®ghu- -o-lo- 109 uzki mud- -so-ko-
The Journal of Indo-European Studies Evidence for Basque as an Indo-European Language 117
110 egun dei- -wo- mihi, mi, 112 h -VnV- min d÷g uh2- 113 behe dheub(h)- -Vn- es(e)ne, 114 dhedhh i- -n- ezne 1 115 min dhebh- -Vn- h h 116 ugatz d ug( )- -ha-to- 118 hiru, hirur trei-, tisor- -es
119 adar kerh2s- -r 120 buru ghebhl- -o- 122 euli kúl- -lV-
123 haserre keh2d- -tV- hor-, hura, 125 tor har-, haie- ke-
126 odol kruh2- -lo- ahizpa, 143 -es- aizpa, etc. genh1-
144 baso gw®H- -so-
148 bihotz swi- kord- -s 149 bortz, bost penkw- -ro-st- 154 haritz kwres- -to- 157 huts tus- -sk-io- 159 izen, uzen ghu- -to- 161 mamutz mok- -Vt-s ortzi, ortze, 162 por- -Vdo- ost- 165 ume, -kume tek- -men- Table 66.
Volume 41, Number 1 & 2, Spring/Summer 2013 118 Gianfranco Forni
Root etymologies for basic verbs The following Table 67 lists 17 root etymologies for basic verbs:
Etym. # Basque PIE root
19 eba-ki bhag- h 20 edan d eh1- 21 edun dok-
22 egin genh1- 28 esa(n), erra(n) swer- 30 etorri tork(w)-
46 har-tu h2erk- 49 igan, igo(n) uper-
57 izan h1es-
59 jakin h1ed-
60 jan h1ed- 61 jaugin meu-
62 jau(t)si, ja(i)tsi, jeutsi meu-
63 joan monH- 103 ero, erho, eho mer- 150 egosi yes- 158 izeki dhegwh- Table 67.
Other root etymologies The following Table 68 lists 53 root etymologies for other basic lexical items, excluding basic verbs.
Etym. # Basque PIE root
1 aho h1/4oh1(e)s 3 aita atta
5 ar h2nér
The Journal of Indo-European Studies Evidence for Basque as an Indo-European Language 119
8 -ba -kwá 11 beltz swer- 13 bero swel- 14 beso gwésdo- 16 -bil swel- 18 buztan gwosdho-
29 eta h1eti 35 gain uper- 36 gar gwher- 37 garai uper- 41 goi uper- 42 goiz uper- 43 gora uper- 44 gorotz grugs 45 gu wei 50 igeri, igari wadh- 65 lur lu- 66 mehe sweng- 67 mendi bend- 69 ni no-
70 no- hxen- 71 on dweno-
72 oro h3ol- 76 sei seks 79 txori, xori stor-
80 ur uhxr 81 zazpi septm 83 zorri swor-
84 zu tuhx 86 zur doru
91 lau, laur pÒh2meh2
92 luze pÒth2u- 96 ama mamma 100 eke, ke, kei mewgh- 101 ele mel- 106 hil mer- 111 hamar dekm
Volume 41, Number 1 & 2, Spring/Summer 2013 120 Gianfranco Forni
117 hi tiH 121 eri ghelH- 124 hau(-), hon- ke- w 146 begi, bet- h3ok - 151 esku ghes- h 152 euskara dng uh2-/tewteh2 153 haize peis-
155 (h)ega(l) haewei-
160 lan leh2-
163 oste h1ors- 164 uko bhághu- 166 zahar seno- 167 ze(r)- se- Table 68.
Appendix 4 – Additional etymologies Likely etymologies
202. ahantzi (L, LN), ahanzi (old LN), aantzi (HN), antzi (HN), ahatzi (LN, Z), ahatze (LN), ãhã žtze (Z), ahanze (old LN), ãtze (R), átze (R), antzitu (B), anztu (old B), aaztu (B, G, HN), aztu (B, G, HN Sout) ‘to forget’ (T-E 71) Pre-Basque: *anatzi/*anantzi/*ena(n)tzi ‘to forget’ (T-E 71) (recte *en-antz-i) Proto-Basque: *en-antsu- PIE: *men- ‘to think, remember’ (M-A 322-323) > *men-to- ‘remembered’ + *÷- negative prefix Sound laws: 2, 3, 4, 12, 16: *mento- > *ento- > *entu- > *entsu- > *antsu- > *antzi-, plus prefix *en- < *÷- by sound law #12 Comments: negative *en- prefix must have been added in the Proto- or Pre-Basque stage; otherwise PIE *÷m- would have yielded **emm- as in eman (which see) Proto-Celtic: *man-yo- ‘to think, remember’ (M 256)
203. ahari (L, LN), aari (B, HN), ari (B, G, S), adari (B) ‘ram’ (T 301, T-E 71)
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Pre-Basque: *anari ‘ram’ (T 301, T-E 20, 71, 388, 391) Proto-Basque: *anar- PIE: *h2nér ‘man’ (M 289) Sound laws: 1, 12, 13, 16: *h2nér > *aner > *anar Comment: same root as Basque ar ‘male’ (which see) < Pre-Basque *anar, with adjectival ending –i (T-E 215): semantics: ‘man’ > ‘male animal’ > ‘ram’; this very same semantic development can be observed e.g. in PIE *wersén ‘male’ > Avestan var()sni- ‘ram’ (M-A 204, V 666)
204. ala ‘or’ (T-E 85) Pre-Basque: *alla ‘or’ (T-E 85, 388, 391) Proto-Basque: *alyo- ‘other’ PIE: *h2élyo- ‘other’ (M-A 317, 318) Sound laws: 1, 13, 23: *h2élyo- > *alyo- > *allo- Comment: straightforward semantics: ‘other’ > ‘otherwise’ > ‘or’, as e.g. in English else (from the same PIE root); -a ending might be a crystallized feminine, or neuter plural. Proto-Celtic: *alyo- ‘other’ (M 31) Other IE reflexes: English else
205. ale ‘grain, seed’ (T 306, 311; T-E 87) Pre-Basque: *alle ‘seed’ (T-E 388, 391) Proto-Basque: *alg- ‘grain’ PIE: *h2/3(e)lg(h)- ‘grain’ (M-A 164, 165) Sound laws: 1, 10, 13, 23: *h2elg- > *alg- > *alg- > *all- Comment: Basque points to PIE *h2elg-.
206. ardi ‘sheep, ewe’ (T 301, T-E 101) Pre-Basque: *ardi ‘sheep’ (T-E 388, 391) Proto-Basque: *art- ‘sheep’ PIE: *h1eri- ‘sheep, goat’ (M-A 135, 140), *h1r-i-(e)t- (V 54), *h1er- ‘lamb, kid’ (M 117) Sound laws: 1, 13, syncope, 16, 23: *h1(e)rit- > *erit- > *ert- > *art- > *ard- Comment: with an early syncope (*erit- > *ert-) triggering sound law #16 (*er > *ar in closed syllables), and subsequent voicing of voiceless stop after /r/ (as in argal ‘thin’).
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Other IE reflexes: Latin ariés, ariet-is ‘ram’ (V 54), Umbrian eriet- ‘ram’ (M 117)
207. ba- ‘if’ (verbal prefix) (T-E 123) Pre-Basque: *ba- ‘if’ (T-E 387, 391) Proto-Basque: *ba w w PIE: *k - ‘interrogative stem’ (M-A 419-420), *k eh2 (fem.) (V 508) w w Sound laws: 1, 9: *k eh2 > *k a > ba- Other IE reflexes: English whether ‘if’, German wenn ‘if’, Latin quá ‘inasmuch as’ (V 507)
208. buztarri (B LN Z R), uztarri (G HN L LN Z R) ‘yoke’ (T-E 150, 362) Pre-Basque: *buztarri ‘yoke’ (T-E 20, 27, 150, 362, 390, 392) Proto-Basque: *bustary- PIE: *gwu- ‘cow’ (M-A 139-140) + *-(o)s ‘genitive’ + *dhwerhx- ‘yoke’ (M-A 247, 248) + *-yV- extension (see comparanda)
Sound laws: 3, 9, 13, 15, 16, 19, 23: *gwu-s-dhwerhx- yV- > *gwusdhweryV- > *busdhweryV- > *busteryV- > *bustaryV- > *buztaryV- > *buztarr- Comment: though no other examples of the Basque reflex of PIE cluster *-sdhw- have been found so far, it is likely that this cluster yielded *-st-: for a very similar phonetic evolution, compare 18. buztan ‘tail’ < PIE *gwosdho- ‘piece of wood, sprig’ Proto-Celtic: *bow- ‘cow’ (M 71), gen. sg. *bow-os (M 72) Other IE reflexes: Sanskrit dhúr ‘yoke’, dhúriya- ‘draft animal’; Hittite túriye- ‘harness’ (M-A 248)
209. egotzi ‘to throw’ (T-E 165) Pre-Basque: *-gotz- ‘to throw’ (T-E 21, 389, 393) Proto-Basque: *gotsu- PIE: *yoh1-to- ‘thrown’ < *yeh1- ‘to throw’ (M-A 389) Sound laws: 1, 3, 4, 14, 18, 19: *yoh1to- > *yoto- > *yotu- > *yotsu- > *gotsu- > *gotzi Other IE reflexes: Latin iaci ‘to throw’ (V 292), Greek híémi ‘to throw’ (M-A 389)
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210. egur ‘firewood’ (T 311) Pre-Basque: *egur ‘firewood’ (T-E 386, 392) Proto-Basque: *hegru- PIE: *dhegwh-ro- ‘burning’ (V 208) < *dhegwh- ‘to burn’ (M-A 124) Sound laws: 3, 7, 10, 13, 17: *dhegwh-ro- > * dhegwhru- > *hegru- > *egru- + metathesis Comment: an alternative origin < PIE *péh2ur ‘fire’ (M-A 123) poses some phonetic problems, as one should expect *eh2 > **a (by sound law #1) and *-r > **-l (by sound law #13), whereas -g- might be explained by -g- epenthesis (T-E 31: P35.1) or < *w
(by sound law 20) < *peh2wr (M 143)/*peh2ur (NIL 540); in any case, **agul should probably be
expected from *peh2ur, so this alternative etymology should be discarded. Other IE reflexes: Latin febris ‘fever’ (V 208), Greek téphra ‘ashes’ (V 208)
211. errain (G), erran (B), erren (old LN) ‘daughter-in-law’ (T-E 176) Pre-Basque: *errain ‘daughter-in-law’ (T-E 176, 386, 392) (recte *errani?) Proto-Basque: *helyV- h h PIE: *d (e)h1i-l- ‘suckling, child’ (V 219) < *d eh1- ‘to suck’ (M-A 256) + *-ia- extension (see comparanda) h h Sound laws: 1, 7, 13, 16, 17, 23: *d eh1ilia- > **d eilia- > *heilia- > *helya- > *erra- + *-ni adjectival extension Other IE reflexes: Latin and Ven. filia ‘daughter’ < proto-Italic *fíliá- (V 219)
212. eseri ‘to sit down’ (T 178) Pre-Basque: *-sed- ‘to sit (down)’ Proto-Basque: *sed- PIE: *sed- ‘ to sit (down)’ (M-A 295, 296) Sound laws: 10, 11, 19 Comment: with subsequent, common rhotacism of intervocalic –d– (T 136, T-E 28 P17)
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213. etxe (c.), etse (B, Sout R), etze (B), itxe (G, HN) ‘house’ (T 344, T-E 184) Pre-Basque: *etse ‘house’ (T-E 19, 184, 387, 392) (recte *etsi) Proto-Basque: *hetsu PIE: *(s)teg- ‘to cover’ (M-A 226) > *tek-to- ‘covered’ > ‘roof’ > ‘house’ (M-A 226, V 608) Sound laws: 3, 4, 6, 7, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19: *tekto- > *tektu- > *tektsu- > *thektsu- > *hektsu- > *heitsu- > *hetsu > *etsu > *etzi > *etsi Comment: PIE *ket- ‘room’ (M-A 220, 222) would also regularly yield Pre-Basque *etsi via *ket-o- > *ketu- > *ketsu- > *khetsu > *hetsu > *etsu > *etzi > *etsi, but semantic parallels are more compelling and numerous for *tek-to- Proto-Celtic: *tegos- ‘house’ (M 376) Other IE reflexes: Latin tectum ‘roof, ceiling, dwelling’ (M-A 226, V 608), Greek (s)tégos ‘roof, house’ (M-A 226, V 608)
214. gero ‘later’ (T-E 204) Pre-Basque: *gero ‘after, later’ (T 385, 393) Proto-Basque: *uer- PIE: *uper- ‘over’ (M 398) Sound laws: 10, 13, 16, 20: *uper > *uer- > *wer- > ger- Comment: semantics: ‘over’ > ‘beyond’ > ‘after, later’; compare Greek Other IE reflexes: Greek hupér ‘over, beyond’
215. gorri ‘red’ (T-E 210) Pre-Basque: *gorr-i ‘red’ (T-E 210, 388, 393) Proto-Basque: *wolyV- ‘bloody, blood-red’ PIE: strong grade *wolh2/3- < *welh2/3- ‘wound’ (M 410) + *-i- or *-yo- extension Sound laws: 3, 13, 14, 20, 23: *wolyV- > *golyV- > *gorr- Comment: for semantics and phonetics, see (proto-)Celtic comparanda. Proto-Celtic: *weli-, *woli- ‘blood’ (M 410) > Middle Welsh gweli, Proto-Celtic *wlanno- ‘blood-red’ (M 425)
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Other IE reflexes: Cornish goly ‘blood’ (M 410), Middle Welsh gweli ‘blood, wound’ (M 410), Latin uolnus ‘wound’ (V 687, M 425)
216. harri, arri ‘stone’ (T 163, 313; T-E 108) Pre-Basque: * [h]arri ‘stone’ (T-E 19, 389, 391) Proto-Basque: *harwi PIE: *peru- ‘stone’ (M-A 121, 122) + -i ‘adj. suffix’ Sound laws: 6, 7, 13, 16, 17, 23: *peru- > *pheru- > *heru- + -i > *herwi > *harwi > *arwi > arri Other IE reflexes: Hittite peru(n-) ‘rock’, Sanskrit párvata- ‘rock, mountain’
217. hiri (L, LN), iri (HN, S, R), uri (B, G) ‘town, city’ (T 325, T-E 229) Pre-Basque: *[h]ili ‘town, city’ (T 325, T-E 229, 389, 393) (recte *eli/*uli) Proto-Basque: *hel-/*hul- PIE: *pelhx- ‘fort, fortified place’ (M-A 220, 221) h Sound laws: 6, 7, 13, 17: *pelhx- > *p el- > *hel- > *el- for (h)iri; also 3 *polhx- > *pul- for uri (from strong grade as Greek pólis) Comment: for subsequent *eli > *ili see T-E 32 P37 Other IE reflexes: Greek pólis ‘city’ (M-A 221), Sanskrit púr ‘wall, rampart, palisade’ (M-A 221)
218. hori, ori ‘yellow’ (T-E 314) Pre-Basque: * [h]or-i ‘yellow’ (T-E 19, 390, 394) (recte *ol-i) Proto-Basque: *hol- PIE: strong grade of *ghel-/ghel- ‘yellow’ (M-A 331, 333) Sound laws: 7, 13, 17: *ghol- > *hol- > *ol- + -i adjective-forming suffix (T-E 215), with subsequent regular rhotacism of intervocalic *l from Pre-Basque to Basque (T 143), i.e. *oli > ori Comment: alternative etymologies might involve the strong grade PIE *h1elu- ‘reddish, yellow’ (M-A 331, 332) (but the loss of *u would be hard to explain) or hypothetical PIE * dhelH-/dholH- ‘yellow’ (V 248), seen in Latin fulvus ‘brown, sandy, gold-coloured’ (V
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248) and Armenian dein ‘yellow’ (V 248) Other IE reflexes: Welsh gell ‘yellow’ (M-A 333), Latin helvus ‘yellow’ (M-A 333, V 282), English yellow (M-A 333), etc.
219. ibili, ebili ‘move, be in (undirected) motion, go about’ (T 150, 154, 178, 294, T-E 217) Pre-Basque: *-bil-/ *-bill- ‘to be in motion, move’ (T-E 217, 385, 388, 392) Proto-Basque: *bel-(n-) PIE: *kwel- ‘to turn’ (M-A 377-378) Sound laws: 9 (, 23) Comment: if the correct Pre-Basque stem is *-bill-, it may derive (via sound law #23) from the same *-neh1- root extension as in Celtic (see below). Also compare compare 16. –bil ‘round’. Proto-Celtic: *kwal-na- ‘to go around’ (M 174) Other IE reflexes: Sanskrit cárati ‘moves, wanders’ (M-A 377), Greek pél ‘to be in motion’ (M-A 378)
220. ireki (G, LN), iriki (B, G, LN, R), edeki (L, LN), ideki (HN, L, LN, S), idéki (Z), idiki (G, R), iregi (Sout), irigi (old B) ‘to open’ (T-E 229, T 150) Pre-Basque: *e-re-ki/*e-de-ki/*e-rek-i/*e-dek-i ‘to open’ (T-E 229, 396, 398) (recte *e-re-ki) Proto-Basque: *reu- PIE: * reuhx- ‘to be open’ (M-A 287); also compare *reuhx-es- ‘open space’ (M-A 287, M 315, V 531) Sound laws: 1, 13, 22: *reuhx- > *reu- > *re- Other IE reflexes: Toch A, B ru- ‘to be open’ (M-A 287), Av rauuah- ‘open space’ (V 531), Latin rús ‘country, land’ (< *open space’) (V 531), Old Irish róe ‘flat field’ (V 531)
221. isuri ‘to pour (out)’ (T-E 231) Pre-Basque: *-sur- ‘to pour (out)’ (T-E 21, 231, 396, 398) Proto-Basque: *sur(u)- PIE: *sreu- ‘to flow’ (M-A 393, 394), *ser-/*sor- ‘flow(ing), liquid’ (M-A 394, V 558) Sound laws: 3 or 5 (see comment below), 19: *sor- >
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*sur or *sru- > *suru-; then shift to apical due to verbal prefix *e- Comment: according to M-A 394, the two PIE roots are related (*sreu- < *ser-); Pre-Basque *-sur- may derive either directly from strong-grade *sor- (root: *ser-) or from zero-grade *sru- (root: *sreu-) via anaptyxis (> *suru-).
222. izu, izi, uzu ‘trembling; panic, fright’ (T-E 237) Pre-Basque: *izu ‘trembling’ (T-E 389, 393) (recte *uzu ‘fear’) Proto-Basque: *huutsu- PIE: *pew-, pow- ‘to fear’ > *pow-tu- ‘fear’ (M 138), *pou-eh1- ‘to fear’ > *pou-to- (V 451) Sound laws: 3, 4, 6, 7, 17, 18, 19, 20: *pouto- > *puutu- > *puutsu- > *phuutsu- > *huutsu- > *uutsu > *uuzu > *uzu Proto-Celtic: *fowtu- ‘fear (noun)’ (M 138) > Middle Breton euz ‘horror’ Other IE reflexes: Latin paue ‘to be frightened’ (V 451)
223. jalgi (LN), jalki (G, HN), elki (S), ilki (L, LN, S) ‘to go out’ (T 154, 155, 295) Pre-Basque: *e-elki ‘to go out’ (T 154, 155, 295; T-E 241, 396, 398) Proto-Basque: *el- PIE: *h1el- ‘to go’ (M-A 397) Sound laws: 1, (16): *h1el- > *el- (> *al-) Comment: correct segmentation is *e-el-ki, with common –ki verbal extension; usual development *el > al is visible in jalki but seems to have been inhibited by *e- prefix in some variants (e.g. elki). Other IE reflexes: Armenian el ‘to come out’ (M-A 397)
224. laster (c.), laister (G, L, LN), laixter (L LN) ‘quick, fast; soon; speed’ (T 154, T-E 263) Pre-Basque: *laster ‘quick, soon’ (T-E 388, 393) (recte *rister or *razter: see comment below) Proto-Basque: *heristero- or *hrastero- (see comment
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below) PIE: *bhris-/*bhers- ‘fast’ (M-A 303) > *bhris-ti- ‘haste’ (M 78-79, V 216) Sound laws: 5, 7, 11, 13, 15, 16, 17, 19, 22: *bhrist- ero- > *bheristero- > *heristero- > *eriztero- > *rister, or else 7, 11, 13, 15, 16, 17, 19, 22; *bh®st-ero- > *h®stero- > *hrastero- > *rastero- > *raztero- > *razter Comment: with common PIE adjectival suffix *-ero-; /a/ and apical in laster could be explained in two ways: if laster derives from *bhris-t-ero-, then /i/ regularly palatalized /s/ to laminal by sound law #19, but then /a/ in laster (instead of expected **lister) is not easily explained; otherwise, if laster derives from zero-grade *bh®s-, we’d expect *razter, from which *raster could derive by sporadic change of
225. negu ‘winter’ (T 282, T-E 296) Pre-Basque: *negu ‘winter’ (T-E 390, 393) Proto-Basque: *negu- PIE: *sneigwh- ‘to snow’, *snoigwho- ‘snow’ (M-A 125, 126) Sound laws: 3, 10, 12, 16: *sneigwh-o- > *neigwho- (see comment) > *neigwhu- > *neigu- > *negu- Comment: semantically straightforward (‘snow’ > ‘winter’). Other clear Basque reflexes of PIE *sn- are
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still to be found15, but an early simplification to n- is likely, as in Breton, Welsh, Cornish (M 348-350), Latin, Greek, etc. This explains why anaptyxis (sound law #5) did not apply. Negu is also a clear example of PIE *-gwh- > -g- (also see izeki ‘to burn’). Alternatively, if PIE *sn- > *n- and/or *-gwh- > -g- turned out to be incorrect sound laws, negu might be a loan (ultimately from the very same PIE root) from some Celtic language or from Latin (compare Latin ninguis ‘snow’, V 409). Proto-Celtic: *snigw-(y)o- ‘to snow’ (M 349)
226. orein ‘deer’ (T 298, T-E 314) Pre-Basque: *orein ‘deer’ (T-E 386, 394) (recte *eleni) Proto-Basque: *eleni PIE: *h1elh1niha- ‘hind/cow-elk’ (M-A 141), feminine of *h1elh1én- ‘red deer’ (M-A 135, 139) Sound laws: 1, 12, 13, 16: *h1elh1niha > *eleni Comment: subsequent regular rhotacism of intervocalic *l from Pre-Basque to Basque (T 143) yielded *ereni, whence *oreni by analogy with orkatz ‘deer’ (T 298), then orein by P2 (T-E 25-26) Proto-Celtic: *elan(t)í ‘doe, hind’ (M 115) > Middle Welsh elein Other IE reflexes: Lith áln9 ‘young of the deer’, Arm. ełn ‘deer’ (M 115)
227. uso (western), urzo (eastern) ‘pigeon, dove’ (T 301, T-E 361) Pre-Basque: *urzo ‘pigeon, dove’ (T-E 19, 386, 394) (recte *uluzo) Proto-Basque: *huluso- PIE: *pol-u-so- ‘grey’ > ‘pigeon’ (V 442, 497) Sound laws: 3, 6, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19: *poluso- > *puluso- > *phuluso- > *huluso- > *uluso- > *uluzo- Comment: for semantics see V 442 (palumbés); for PIE root extension see V 497 (pullus); Pre-Basque *uluzo then regularly yielded *uruzo by rhotacism of intervocalic */l/ (T 143), whence urzo by syncope (T-E 32, P38) and then uso by apical assimilation (T-E
15 unless ni ‘I’ is actually < *snis as in Proto-Celtic (M 349)
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28, P19). Other IE reflexes: Greek péleia ‘wild pigeon’ (V 442), OPr. poalis ‘pigeon’ (V 442), Latin palumbés ‘wood-pigeon’ (V 442); Skr. paru§á- ‘grey’ (V 497)
228. utzi (Sout, G, HN, L, LN), eutzi (old G, S), iutzi (HN), etxi (old B, Sout), itxi (B), eitzi (old Z, R), eitzu (R) ‘to leave’ (T 154, 178; T-E 362) Pre-Basque: *e-utz-i ‘to leave’ (T 154, 178; T-E 21, 32, 36, 159, 362, 396, 398) (recte *e-etzu-i) Proto-Basque: *deutsu- PIE: *deuh4- ‘to leave, go away’ (M-A 401, 402) > *deuh4-to- Sound laws: 1, 3, 4, 8, 17, 18, 19, 22: * deuh4to- > *deuto- > *deutu- > *deutsu- > *deutsu- > *eutsu- > *eutzu- > *etzu- Comment: Pre-Basque *e-etzu-i directly yielded variants etxi, itxi, eitzi, eitzu; other variants, namely utzi, eutzi, iutzi, must go back to *e-utz-i, which may derive from *e-etzu-i either by metathesis (*e-utze-i) or by regressive vowel assimilation (*e-utzu-i)
Tentative etymologies
229. ate ‘door’ (T-E 113) Pre-Basque: *ate ‘door’ (T-E 19, 386, 391) Proto-Basque: *ant-? PIE: * haénhxt(e)ha- ‘doorjamb’ (M-A 224), *h2enHt- h2- ‘door-post’ (V 44) Sound laws: 1, 12, …?: *h2enHt-h2- > *anta > …? Comment: probably **anda should be expected as the final outcome from PIE (by law 23); alternatively, this might be a loan, ultimately from Latin antae ‘pillars framing a door’ (M-A 224), but probably via some intermediate Romance source which lost –n- (otherwise **ande should probably be expected straight from Latin antae: compare -nt- > -nd- in Latin loans listed in T 170-171: MANTILE > maindire ‘sheet’, SANCTU > saindu ‘saint’, FRONTE > boronde ‘forehead’, ADVENTU > abendu ‘December’)
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230. behi, bei ‘cow’ (T 297, T-E 133) Pre-Basque: *be[h]i ‘cow’ (T-E 19, 386, 391) (recte *be-i ‘bovine’) Proto-Basque: *beu- w w w PIE: *g us ‘cow’ (M-A 139-140), *g eh3-u-, *g h3-eu- ‘cow’ (V 74), *gww- ‘cow’ (M 71) w w Sound laws: 1?, 9, 22: *g eh3u- ?> *g eu- > *beu- > *be- Comment: no other example of PIE *eh3 occurs in the etymologies proposed in this article; if *eh3 > e (vs. *h3e > *o), then the first vowel in this etymology would be regular; final –i would then be a Basque- internal (adjectival?) suffix (T-E 215). Proto-Celtic: *bow- ‘cow’ (M 71)
231. edo, ero ‘or’ (T-E 161) Pre-Basque: *edo ‘or’ (T-E 388, 392) Proto-Basque: *eudo PIE: *h2eu ‘away’ (V 64) + *do ‘here’ (V 160) Sound laws: 1, 3, 10, 22: *h2eudo > *eudo > edo Comment: assuming *h2eu > *eu, for which this would be the only instance found so far Proto-Celtic: *aw- ‘from’ (M 46), *do ‘to’ (M 102) Other IE reflexes: Latin aut ‘either…or’ (V 64)
232. egarri ‘ thirst, thirsty’ (T-E 163) Pre-Basque: *egarr-i ‘thirsty’ (T-E 163, 389, 392) (recte *e-garr-i, a participial form) Proto-Basque: *-galyV- PIE: *gwhel- ‘to wish, want’ (M-A 342) + *-yV- extension Sound laws: 7/10, 13, 23: *gwhelyV- > *-gelyV- > *- galyV- > *-garr- Other IE reflexes: Greek thél ‘to wish’ (M-A 342)
233. hagin ‘yew’ (T 310, T-E 78) Pre-Basque: *[h]agin ‘yew’ (T 19, 390, 391) Proto-Basque: *ewVn- PIE: *h1eiwo- ‘yew’ (M-A 157, 160) + *-Vn- extension (see comparanda) Sound laws: 1, 12, 14, 16, 20: *h1eiwVn- > *eiwVn- >
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*ewVn- > *egVn- Comment: a- instead of **e- is unclear; otherwise, the semantic and phonetic match is good, including –n– extension as in comparanda. Proto-Celtic: *iwo- ‘yew’ (M 173) Other IE reflexes: Middle Welsh ywen ‘yew (singulative)’ (M 173), Middle Breton ivin, iuin ‘yew (collective)’ (M 173), Hittite eyan- ‘yew’
234. herri, erri ‘country, land, people, nation, town, inhabited place’ (T 325, T-E 178) Pre-Basque: *[h]erri- (T-E 387, 388, 392) Proto-Basque: *eryo- PIE: *h4er(y)ó- ‘member of one’s own group/community’ (M-A 266) Sound laws: 1, 13, 23: *h4eryó- > *eryó- > *err- Comment: if *h4e > e (other examples are still to be found) and if *er- did not regularly yield **ar- (as should be expected in a closed syllable by sound law #16) – possibly because *er was unstressed? Other IE reflexes: Hittite ará- ‘member of one’s own group, peer, friend’, Lycian arus- ‘citizens’, Sanskrit aryá- ‘kind’, àrya- ‘Aryan’ (M-A 266)
235. itsu ‘blind’ (T-E 232) Pre-Basque: *itsu ‘blind’ (T-E 385, 393) Proto-Basque: *etsú- PIE: *haendhó- ‘blind’ (M-A 193, 197) Sound laws: 1, 3, 4, 15, 19: *haendhó- > *endhó- > *endhú- > *entsú- > *etsú- Comment: if *-nts- > *-ts- (compare *-ns- > *-s- by sound law #15); *e- > i- is unclear Other IE reflexes: Avenstan anda- ‘blind’ (M-A 197)
236. or, hor ‘dog’ (T 298, T-E 312) Pre-Basque: *or ‘dog’ (T-E 386, 394) (recte *oli?) Proto-Basque: *holi- PIE: *(s)koli- ‘young dog’ (M-A 142) Sound laws: 3, 6, 7, 17: *koli- > *kholi- > *holi- > *oli Comment: subsequent rhotacism of intervocalic *l from Pre-Basque to Basque (*oli > *ori) is regular (T 143); but loss of final *-i (*ori > or) remains
The Journal of Indo-European Studies Evidence for Basque as an Indo-European Language 133
unexplained Other IE reflexes: Albanian këlysh ‘young dog’, Greek skúlaks ‘young dog’ (M-A 142)
237. urte ‘year’ (T 280, T-E 360) Pre-Basque: *urte < *ur- + *-te ‘duration suffix (T 280, T-E 19, 345, 360, 390, 394) Proto-Basque: *ura- PIE: *morh2- ‘lapse of time’ (V 388), *merh2- ‘delay’ (M 257) Sound laws: 1, 2, 3, 13: *morh2- > *mora- > *ora- > *ura- Comment: with subsequent syncope (T-E 32, P38) *ura- + *-te > urte (otherwise **urde would be expected from *ur- + *-te). Proto-Celtic: *mar-o- ‘remain’ (M 257) Other IE reflexes: Latin mora ‘delay, lapse of time’ (V 388)
238. zain ‘watchful, vigilant; guard, watchman’ (T 140, 317, T-E 367) Pre-Basque: *zani ‘watchful, vigilant; guardian’ (T 140, 317, T-E 367, 387, 389, 394) Proto-Basque: *saun-i
PIE: *stéh2-mn- ‘what stands’ (M-A 287, 288) (<*steh2- ‘to stand, M-A 295, 296) + –i adj. suffix (T-E 215)
Sound laws: 1, 2, 3, 12, 15, 19, 22: *stéh2mn- > *stamn- > *stan- > *staun- + -i > *sauni > *zauni > *zani Comment: phonetic evolution is perfectly regular; semantically, one must assume ‘standing’ > ‘standing firm or watchfully’ > ‘guarding’; compare Latin stati ‘guard’ (V 589), from the same PIE root *steh2-
Loans
239. ainara, ainhara, ainhera, enara, elae, elai ‘swallow’ (bird) (T 139, 169, 302; T-E 80) Pre-Basque: *ainnala/*ennala/*ellana ‘swallow’ (T 139, 169, 302; T-E 20, 80, 397, 398) (recte *ennala)
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Proto-Basque: - PIE: *wesn- ‘spring’ (season) (M 416, V 663) Sound laws: - Comment: a reflex of Proto-Celtic *wesnálá- (see below) is the obvious source; this must be a loan, because a direct reflex from PIE would yield Pre- Basque **gennala by sound law #20 Proto-Celtic: *wesnálá- ‘swallow’ (M 416)
240. behor (L LN), beor (B Sout G HN S R), bóhor (Z), beur (R) ‘mare’ (T 300, T-E 135) Pre-Basque: *be[h]or ‘mare’ (T-E 19, 387, 392) (recte *beolV?) Proto-Basque: *ebeolV? w PIE: *h1ek o- ‘horse’ (M-A 139) + *-VlV- extension (see comparanda) w w Sound laws: 1, 10, 13, 22: *h1ek VlV- > *ek VlV- > *ebVlV > *bVlV Comment: origin of eo/eu vocalism is unclear; subsequent rhotacism of intervocalic *l from Pre- Basque to Basque is regular (T 143), i.e. *beolV > *beorV; loss of *-V, if by law 23, should have taken place earlier, though. All in all, these unusual vowel outcomes seem to point to an early loan from some Celtic source (see comparanda), rather than to a direct origin from PIE. Proto-Celtic: *ekwálo- ‘foal’ (M 114) > Middle Welsh ebawl, Middle Breton ebeul
241. ber(a)un ‘lead (n.) (metal)’ (T 312, T-E 137) Pre-Basque: *ber(a)un/*bel(a)un ‘lead’ (T-E 387, 392) (recte *belun) Comment: a likely loan from Latin plumbum ‘lead’, possibly via some Romance source; an original phonetic shape such as *plun may have been borrowed as *belun via anaptyxis and common p- > b- in early loans: compare PERNA > berna ‘calf, leg’ (T 129), PECCATU > bekatu ‘sin’ (T 131), PACE > bake ‘peace’ (T 129), PICE > bike ‘pitch’ (T 129), etc.
242. burdina ‘iron’ (T 311, T-E 148)
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Pre-Basque: *burdina ‘iron’ (T 311, T-E 20, 148, 387, 392) Comment: a loan from Phoenician barzel ‘iron’ or a similar source (*bVrd-)? See V 214 s.v. ferrum
243. ihi ‘reed, rush’ (T 176, 308, T-E 200) Pre-Basque: *ini ‘reed, rush’ (T 176, 308, T-E 220, 396, 398) PIE: *yoini- ‘reed, rush’ (M-A 162, V 313, M 437) Comment: probably a Celtic loan (see below), otherwise PIE *y- should > Basque **g- by sound law 14 Proto-Celtic: *yoyni- ‘rushes, reed’ (M 437) > Middle Irish áin Other IE reflexes: Latin iuncus ‘reed, rush’ (V 313)
Appendix 5 – Basque - PIE Semantic Correspondences
This annex provides an analysis of semantic tightness or looseness for “likely” etymologies, i.e. etymologies #1 to #126.
Etymologies with semantic identity (or very close match) between Basque and PIE The following 100 etymologies (i.e. 79% of “likely” etymologies; Table 69) are based on either a semantic identity or a very close semantic similarity between Basque and PIE.
Etym. Basque Basque pIE Celtic Other # term meaning meaning meaning meanings
1 aho mouth mouth 2 ai(n)tzin before, in front, front of forehead 3 aita father father 5 ar male man 6 argi light (n.), white bright 7 ats breath breath
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Etym. Basque Basque pIE Celtic Other # term meaning meaning meaning meanings
8 -ba kinship suffix kinship suffix 10 bederatzi nine eight plus one 11 beltz black darken 12 ber- self self 13 bero hot, heat burn 15 bi, biga two two 16 -bil round to turn 17 bizi alive, life alive 19 ebaki cut divide 20 edan drink suck 21 *edun have take, accept 23 eman give in + hand, give 24 entzun hear in + ear Greek (in+ear > listen) 25 erori fall (v.) fall 26 erre burn, bake, burn, be grill, roast hot 27 errun lay eggs egg 28 esan, say say, speak erran 31 euri, rain rain ebri 32 ez not is not 35 gain (on) top over 36 gar flame heat to heat 37 garai high place, over height 38 garbi clean shine clear 39 gibel liver liver 40 gizon man human, human, earthling person
The Journal of Indo-European Studies Evidence for Basque as an Indo-European Language 137
Etym. Basque Basque pIE Celtic Other # term meaning meaning meaning meanings
41 goi height, high over 43 gora up over 44 gorotz dung dirt 45 gu we we 46 hartu take hold, have 47 hortz incisor tooth tooth 48 ibai river river 49 igan ascend over 50 igeri swmming wade 51 ikusi see perceive 52 ikuzi wash pour 53 ilun dark(ness), unlit night 54 itsaso sea with salt inside 55 itz word say, speak 56 itzuli turn whirl 57 izan be be 58 izar star star 60 jan eat eat 61 jaugin come move 65 lur earth, land, dirt, soil soil, dirt 71 on good good, favorable 72 oro all all 73 oso total, whole, all entire 74 otz cold cold 75 sehi boy, child son 76 sei six six 77 su fire firewood fire
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Etym. Basque Basque pIE Celtic Other # term meaning meaning meaning meanings
78 sudur nose having smell inside 79 txori bird a kind of bird 80 ur water water 81 zazpi seven seven 82 zingira lake, swamp shallow water, swamp 84 zu you you 85 zulo hole beat, pierced, perforate perforated 86 zur wood tree, wood 87 hatz paw, foot footprint 89 ile, ule hair, fur, hair/wool wool 90 larru skin skin 92 luze long broad 93 oin foot, leg foot 95 orri leaf leaf 96 ama mother mommy 97 argal thin thin, long 98 arrats early darkened evening, late afternoon 100 eke smoke smoke 101 ele word, to argue, Old conversation contend Norse ‘speech’ 102 erle bee honey 103 ero, eho kill die 105 herio death die 106 hil dead, die die 107 (h)il- moon moon
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Etym. Basque Basque pIE Celtic Other # term meaning meaning meaning meanings
108 labur short short 110 egun day, today day 111 hamar ten ten fingers 112 mihi tongue tongue 113 behe below, deep OCS bottom ‘bottom’ 114 esne milk sour milk Old Prussian ‘milk’ 115 min pain harm 116 ugatz female breast milked 117 hi thou thou 118 hiru three three 119 adar horn horn 120 buru head head 121 eri sick, ill evil, sickness, unhealthy distress, pain 122 euli fly (n.) mosquito mosquito, fly 123 haserre angry, anger strong hatred, negative hate emotion 124 hau-, this this hon- 125 hor- that this + there 126 odol blood gore, raw flesh, blood Table 69.
Etymologies with a good semantic match between Basque and some IE language In the following 15 etymologies (i.e. 12% of “likely” etymologies; Table 70), the meaning of the Basque term is fairly different from the reconstructed PIE meaning, but
Volume 41, Number 1 & 2, Spring/Summer 2013 140 Gianfranco Forni other IE languages display a similar semantic shift.
Etym. Basque Basque pIE Celtic Other # term meaning meaning meaning meanings
9 barre smile, laugh make a laugh sound 18 buztan tail piece of tail wood, sprig 22 egin do, make bear, do generate 29 eta and beyond yet, still, Latin ‘and’ but 34 gaitz bad be empty, bad lacking 59 jakin know eat > taste Romance ‘taste’ > ‘know’ 62 jautsi fall, move Hittite descend ‘fall’ 63 joan go tread, go stamp on 64 lo sleep lie 66 mehe thin bend thin 67 mendi mountain point, pin peak, top 68 neska girl bear, girl generate 83 zorri louse wound louse 88 haur child little, few Latin ‘child’ 104 handi big measure quantity, greatness Table 70.
Etymologies with a loose semantic match between Basque and PIE The following 11 etymologies (i.e. 9% of “likely” etymologies; Table 71) are based on a loose semantic match between Basque and PIE, as well as other IE languages.
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Etym. Basque Basque pIE meaning Celtic Other # term meaning meaning meanings
4 anaia brother to beget to be Latin born ‘relative’ 14 beso arm branch 30 etorri come twist 33 ezur bone internal organ 42 goiz morning over 69 ni I we 70 no- interrogative maybe/this stem 91 lau four palm, hand palm, hand 94 alu vulva, vagina to swell penis 99 atso old woman mother 109 uzki anus dirty/sexual organ Table 71.
Abbreviations
Acronym Meaning c common Basque B Bizkaian Basque G Gipuzkoan Basque HN High Navarrese Basque IE Indo-European L Lapurdian Basque LN Low Navarrese Basque PIE Proto-Indo-European R Roncalese Basque Z Zuberoan Basque
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