Ein indogermanisches Wort für ‚Bart‘ und die lateinische palma-Regel

A PIE word for ‘beard’ and the Latin palma ruleThis article discusses one of the words for ‘beard’ reconstructible for the IE protolanguage based on Latin, Germanic, Baltic, and Slavic evidence. It is usually reconstructed as PIE *bhar(s)dh-o/eh2- with *-a- of unknown origin. In this article, a new etymology will be proposed: The word for ‘beard’ stems from an underlying compound consisting of an s-stem *bherH-e/os- ‘sth. sharp, point, tip’ and zero-grade *dheh1- ‘to set, place, lay’. This compound was later remodelled into an o-stem *bhorHs-dh-ó- displaying a o-grade in the root (a so-called τομός-formation) meaning ‘the one who sets points’ accounting for the Germanic forms. Additionally, a zero-grade eh2-collective *bhŕ̥Hs-dh-eh2 ‘mass of points’ was formed eventually leading to Latin barba. Finally, a contamination of the two stems *bhorHs-dh-eh2- develops into the Baltic and Slavic forms.