Reconstruction:Proto-Celtic/butā

This Proto-Celtic entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Celtic

Etymology 1

Obvious cognates include Lithuanian bùtas (“home, house”) and Icelandic búð. It is tempting to connect these to *bʰuH- (“to be”) (whence Etymology 2),^[1]^[2] but the Lithuanian short vowel has led to Matasović^[3] and Zair^[4] dismissing a derivation from that root. Matasović consequently concludes that these words constitute a Wanderwort.

Noun

*butā f

hut, cabin
dwelling

Inflection

Feminine ā-stem
	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*butā	*butai	*butās
vocative	*butā	*butai	*butās
accusative	*butam	*butai	*butāns
genitive	*butās	*butous	*butom
dative	*butāi	*butābom	*butābos
locative	*butai	*?	*?
instrumental	*?	*butābim	*butābis

Descendants

Proto-Brythonic: *bod
- Old Breton: bot (attested in compounds)
  - Breton: bod (only in fixed phrases)
- Cornish: bod, bos (only as a place name element)
- Middle Welsh: bod (“dwelling”)
Old Irish: both
- Middle Irish: both
  - Irish: both
  - Scottish Gaelic: both (“cottage”)
Gaulish: *butā
- → French: (various dialectal terms) boye, bouatson, boen

Etymology 2

From Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- (“to be”) + *-tā (verbal noun suffix).^[1]^[5]^[4]

Noun

*butā f

being, existence
Synonym: *butis

Inflection

Feminine ā-stem
	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*butā	*butai	*butās
vocative	*butā	*butai	*butās
accusative	*butam	*butai	*butāns
genitive	*butās	*butous	*butom
dative	*butāi	*butābom	*butābos
locative	*butai	*?	*?
instrumental	*?	*butābim	*butābis

Descendants

Proto-Brythonic: *bod
- Old Breton: bot
  - Middle Breton: bout
    - Breton: bout (surviving only in dialects or fixed expressions; otherwise replaced by bezañ)
- Cornish: bos
- Middle Welsh: bod (“to be”)
  - Welsh: bod
Old Irish: buith, both (original nominative), buid (mostly Würzburg spelling) (merged with *butis)
- Middle Irish: beith, bith
  - Irish: bheith
  - Scottish Gaelic: bhith

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Irslinger, Britta Sofie (2002) Abstrakta mit Dentalsuffixen im Altirischen [Abstracts with Dental Suffixes in Old Irish] (in German), Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag C. Winter, →ISBN, pages 400-401
^ Delamarre, Xavier (2003) “buta”, in Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise: une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental [Dictionary of the Gaulish language: A linguistic approach to Old Continental Celtic] (Collection des Hespérides; 9), 2nd edition, Éditions Errance, →ISBN, page 95
^ Matasović, Ranko (2009) “*butā”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, pages 84–85
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 Zair, Nicholas (2012) The reflexes of the Proto-Indo-European laryngeals in Celtic, Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 122
^ Matasović, Ranko (2011 December) “Addenda et corrigenda to Ranko Matasović’s Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Brill, Leiden 2009)”, in Homepage of Ranko Matasović‎^[1], Zagreb, page 9

[Irslinger-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Irslinger, Britta Sofie (2002) Abstrakta mit Dentalsuffixen im Altirischen [Abstracts with Dental Suffixes in Old Irish] (in German), Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag C. Winter, →ISBN, pages 400-401

[2] Delamarre, Xavier (2003) “buta”, in Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise: une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental [Dictionary of the Gaulish language: A linguistic approach to Old Continental Celtic] (Collection des Hespérides; 9), 2nd edition, Éditions Errance, →ISBN, page 95

[3] Matasović, Ranko (2009) “*butā”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, pages 84–85

[Zair-4] 4.0 ^4.1 Zair, Nicholas (2012) The reflexes of the Proto-Indo-European laryngeals in Celtic, Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 122

[5] Matasović, Ranko (2011 December) “Addenda et corrigenda to Ranko Matasović’s Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Brill, Leiden 2009)”, in Homepage of Ranko Matasović‎^[1], Zagreb, page 9

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