*muH-ri-

By comparing Lyc. B mur(i)- c. and CLuw. mur(i)- c. with Hitt. mūr(i)- c. ‘a cluster of grapes’, we may reconstruct with Weiss 1996a a Proto-Anatolian substantive *muh₁-ri- (or perhaps *muh₃-ri-), related to Greek μυρίος ‘countless’.Doubted by HED M:193f. For outdated proposals, see HEG L-M:233.Furthermore, Weiss suggests an etymological link with Luwian mūwa- ‘might’ (see CLuw. mūwa-⁽ⁱ⁾ under Reconstruction).

[D.S.]

Weiss 1996a reconstructs a root *meu̯h_1/3- with a meaning ‘(be) abundant, reproductively powerful’ (see also CLuw. mūwa-⁽ⁱ⁾ ‘to overpower’) as the basis of *muh_1/3-ri-, for which he then assumes a basic meaning ‘abundance’ > ‘bunch’. An interesting semantic (and partly also formal) parallel is *b^huh₂-ri- > Vedic bhū́ri- ‘abundant, numerous’ and ‘strong, mighty’, Old Avestan būiri- ‘abundant’, and the derivative Lithuanian būrỹs m. ‘multitude (of people, animals, or things)’, Latvian bũris ‘id.’.

According to Weiss 1996a, the form that (potentially) underlies all formations in the table above is a *-ró-adjective *muh_1/3-ró- ‘abundant’, perhaps attested in substantivized form in Old Irish múr ‘abundance’ (but see the note above). It might also be preserved as Vedic mūrá- in a meaning ‘powerful (vel sim.)’ in RV 3.43.6d (see above for the details). This adjective was substantivized as an i-stem *múh_1/3-ri- ‘abundance’ (> Hitt. mūri- c. ‘cluster of grapes or other fruit’) according to a well-known pattern of Indo-European word formation (i.e., thematic adjective → i-stem substantivization; see Weiss 1996a:204f.; Nussbaum 1999a:399f.; Rieken 2005b:53; Vine 2006b:145; Nussbaum 2014c:304f.; Höfler 2015b:228). For Ancient Greek μῡρίος ‘numberless, countless, infinite; immense’, Weiss 1996a:211f. assumes an origin as a possessive adjective *muh_1/3-ri-(u̯)ó- (whence μῡρίος by Wheeler’s law) ‘having abundance’ or ‘having bunches’ > ‘countless’. For the possessive suffix *-ó- see Nussbaum 1986a:13 and 116f.; Balles 1997a:220f.; Fortson 2004a:116; Widmer 2004b:32ff.; Nussbaum 2010a:276; Höfler 2015b:220ff; for possessive *-u̯ó- see Rix 1981a:117ff.; Peters 1999a:447f.; García Ramón 2000c:66; Steer 2012-2013a:149f.

[S.H.]

Lyc. B mur(i)- c. ‘bunch, grapes (?)’, CLuw. mur(i)- c. ‘a cluster of grapes (?)’, Hitt. mūri- c. ‘cluster of grapes or other fruit’.See above and Weiss 1996a for Hitt. mūri-

(?) Vedic mūrá- if ‘powerful (vel sim.)’ in RV 3.43.6d (said of hárayas ‘fallow bays’ which are also br̥hántas ‘lofty’, sú-sammr̥ṣṭāsas ‘well-curried’, and vr̥ṣabhásya ‘of the bull [= Indra]’)EWAia II:367 s.v. mūrá-² envisages an identification with mūrá-¹ ‘silly’, or a connection with the root MĪV qua ‘rushing’, endorsed by Grassmann 1996a s.v. 2. mūrá.

Ancient Greek μῡρίος ‘numberless, countless, infinite; immense’ (Il.+), pl. μύριοι ‘ten thousand’ (Hes.+).Cf., e.g., GEW II:271f. s.v. μῡρίος, EDG:981f. s.v. μῡρίος.

(?) Latin muriola (also mor-, murr-) f. ‘a liqueur wine (app. made by adding boiled-down must to the skins of dried grapes’ (Varro, Paul. Fest.)Cf. OLD: s.v. muriola for the meaning. Both WH II:130 s.v. muriola and Weiss 1996a:211 prefer an explanation as a derivative of muria ‘brine’, even though there is no direct evidence that the preparation of the muriola involved the use of brine. The word muria ‘brine’ itself, also muriēs, does not have an evident etymology.

(?) Old Irish múr ‘abundance’.Connected with Greek μῡρίος in GEW II:271f. s.v. μῡρίος, but explained as a metaphorical extension of the homophonous múr ‘wall’ by Celticists such as Vendryes in LEIA M, N, O, P:76, see Weiss 1996a:206 note 29.