Reconstruction:Proto-Afroasiatic/bir-

Proto-Afroasiatic

Etymology 1

Alternative reconstructions

• *-bir-

Root

*bir-

1. (intransitive) to burn brightly.

Descendants

• Proto-Cushitic:
  • Proto-East-Cushitic:
    • Lowland East Cushitic:
      • Somaloid:
        • Jiiddu: bir (“lightning”)
        • Somali: bir (“to glitter”)
• Egyptian: brg (“to light up”)
• Proto-Semitic: *br (“to be light, bright”)

Etymology 2

Related to *bir- ("to burn brightly").

Root

*bir-

1. metal.

Descendants

• Proto-Cushitic:
  • Proto-East Cushitic:
    • Lowland East Cushitic:
      • Saho-Afar:
        • Afar: birta
      • Somaloid:
        • Somali: bir
        • Jiiddu: ber
• Egyptian: bjꜣ

References

• Ehret, Christopher (1995), Reconstructing Proto-Afroasiatic, →ISBN, page 86
• Orel, Vladimir E., Stolbova, Olga V. (1995) Hamito-Semitic Etymological Dictionary: Materials for a Reconstruction (Handbuch der Orientalistik; I.18), Leiden, New York, Köln: E.J. Brill, page 72.