paršul-

The root verb parš-^(mi) ‘to break (bread)’ and its derivative in -iye/a-^(mi) (both often used in the medio-passive) are well attested in Hittite. In Luwian one finds only a formation in -ul- n. < *-ú-lo-, i.e. paršul- n., which is also attested in Hittite next to the competing stem paršulli- n., an instrument noun in -ulli- n. << *-ú-d^hlo- n. This implies that there should have been a u-stem built to this root, i.e. *paršu-, which is no longer attested; cf. also the obscure derivative paršūr- n. ‘cooked dish’. On the formation paršā- c. ‘crumb’, which would go back to a verbal abstract noun in *-éh₂-, instead of one in *-ó-, see most recently Yates 2025a. This is in harmony with the derived denominative in *-éh₂-i̯e/o- reflected in Hitt. paršā(i)-^(mi) ‘to crumble’. The root parš- can be reconstructed with any Proto-Indo-European labial at the beginning, but for the choice of *b^h-, see below; cf. HEG P:504f., EDHIL:642f.

[D.S.]

Hittite furnishes the only secure verbal evidence for the root *b^hers-, which can be reconstructed with the meaning ‘to break (up), burst’ (“hervorbrechen, bersten”; LIV²s.v. 2.*b^hers-). This meaning also accounts well for the semantics of the related nominal formations meaning ‘morsel, piece, portion’ (Hittite paršā-, Luwian paršul-, Ancient Greek φάρσος, Armenian pʿertʿ).

The Celtic adjective *birros ‘short’ (< *b^hers-o-) may at first sight seem semantically more remote. However, adjectives meaning ‘short’ are frequently derived from verbal roots meaning ‘to cut (off), to break (up)’. Compare Italian corto and French court from Latin curtus ‘mutilated, broken’ (< *(s)ker- ‘cut off’), English short from Proto-Germanic *skurtaz (< *skerd^(h)- ‘to cut’), and Lithuanian trum̃pas from trupė́ti ‘to crumble, break into small pieces’ (< *treu̯p- ‘to crumble’).

This root *b^hers-¹ ‘to break (up), burst’ should be kept separate from *b^hers-² ‘point, top, summit’ (cf. Vedic bhr̥ṣṭí- ‘spike, point, top, corner, edge’, Old High German parrên ‘to stand upright’, German Bürste ‘brush’, Borste ‘bristle’, English bristle, Middle Welsh bwrr, pl. byrr ‘fat, strong, big’, barr ‘head, top, summit’, Old Irish barr ‘top, tip, end’), and certainly from *b^hers-³ ‘to hurry, flee’ (Hittite parašzi ‘flees’; LIV²s.v. ?1.b^hers-).

Proto-Germanic *brestanan ‘to break, burst’ (and possibly Old Irish bres ā, f. ‘fight, blow; effot’, if *b^hrestā rather than *b^hr̥stā) exhibits schwebeablaut *b^hres-t° vis-à-vis *b^hers-. This can be explained by a phonological constraint that seemingly disallowed sequences of vowel + sonorant + fricative + consonant (i.e., *-(C)VRFC-), which were – where possible – restructured as *-(C)RVFC-. A clear parallel is provided by the root for ‘to live’, with the allomorph *g^u̯ei̯h₃- surfacing when followed by a vowel as in subj. *g^u̯ei̯h₃-e/o- > Greek βέομαι (fut.) ‘will live’, or in the noun *g^u̯oi̯h₃- o- > Vedic gáya- m., Old Avestan gaiia- m. ‘life’, Proto-Slavic *gȍjь ‘abundance; peaceful life’. By contrast, schwebeablaut *g^u̯i̯eh₃- appears before consonants as in the root aorist *g^u̯(i)i̯eh₃-t > Greek (ἐ)βίω ‘lived, survived’, in the present *g^u̯i̯eh₃-u̯° > Greek ζώω ‘live’, or in the nominal *g^u̯(i)i̯eh₃-tu- > OAv. jiiātu- ‘life’ (see Höfler 2023a:109).

Whether Proto-Germanic *brestanan is then best analyzed as reflecting a root extension or a *-te/o- (or perhaps *-de/o-?) present, must, for the time being, remain an open question.

[S.H.]

Hittite 1sg mid. paršḫa(ri) ‘I break’, 3sg. mid. paršii̯a ‘breaks’, ^NINDAparšā- c. ‘a morsel or fragment; a kind of bread’, etc., Cuneiform Luwian paršul- n. ‘morsel’.See EDHIL:642f. s.v. parši-^a(ri), parš-^a(ri), LIV2+ s.v. 2.*b^hers-, Yates 2025a.

Ancient Greek φάρσος n. ‘any piece cut off or severed, portion’ (Hdt., Nic., etc.).Cf., e.g., GEW II:994f. s.v. φάρσος, LIV²+ s.v. 2.*b^hers-.

(?) Armenian pՙeṙeke- ‘to split’ (if from an s-mobile variant < *(s)p^hers-, but k-enlargement is unclear), pՙertՙ ‘piece’ (*(s)p^hers-ti-).Cf., e.g., Klingenschmitt 1982a:167, Garnier & Sagot 2017a:47 note 38, Plötz 2022b:255.

Old Irish berr ‘short’, Middle Welsh byrr, fem. berr, Middle Cornish berr, Breton berr ‘short’ (< *b^hers-o-), Old Irish bres ā, f. ‘fight, blow; effot’, bris(s)id ‘breaks, smashes; destroys; defeats’ (*b^hr(e)s-t°).Cf., e.g., Schrijver 1995a:56.

Proto-Germanic *brestanan ‘to break, burst’ < *b^hres-t° (Old English berstan, German bersten, Old Norse bresta, etc.).Cf., e.g., Seebold 1970a:139, EDPG:75.