COMMENTS:Forms of type *behar̄i contaminated with the verb *beha- 'to listen, look'. Michelena posited *berarri as the most ancient form, which is also possible, since *l often changes to /r/ between vowels, which would then dissimilate to /l/ because of the following /r̄/.
COMMENTS:"ber- 'self, same' ... serves as the base of several derivatives ... western dialects have recently generalized this form into an ordinary third-person prounoun 'he', 'she'" (Trask 1995).
COMMENTS:Older sources cite the Bsq meaning as 'cauldron' (caldero / chaudron), Aulestia & White have bertz 'bucket, pail'. The variant best is only attested in a manuscript, but seems to be a trace of an alternation *berc / *beśt, parallel to *borc / *bośt 'five' and some other cases. 'Hearth grate' is more specifically defined as 'palette of iron or other metal, to move and pick up the fire in fireplaces and braziers': the Bsq word is a compound of *berc + *hoin 'foot' (q.v.). In some dialects it can mean 'foot of cauldron' or 'fire-shovel'.
COMMENTS:Expressive/diminutive form bello /belyo/ in ZBR, RNC, SAL = ‘slightly warm, lukewarm’, or ‘warm, hot’ when speaking to a child. In RNC (Isaba) béllo became the only (unmarked) form.
COMMENTS:The variants bi-ga, bi-da occur in noun phrases and in counting (Trask 1997: 273). Cf. similar suffixes in Avar and Andian languages: Av ḳi-go, Akh Kar ḳe-da, etc.
MEANING:1 jewel 2 pearl 3 brooch 4 original, extravagant, graceful 5 pretty (children's word) 6 element in words for 'godparent', 'godchild'
BZK:bitxi 2, pitxi 1, 5, -bitxi 6
GIP:pitxi 1, 5
ANV:pitxi 1
BNV:bitxi 4
LAB:bitxi 4, pitxi 5, -bitxi 6
RNC:bitxi 3
COMMENTS:The oldest attested uses of the word (15th-16th c.) refer to jewels of great price. This, and the use of *-biči in aita-bitxi ‘godfather’, etc. (ama-bitxi, seme-bitxi, alab-itxi), match well with the NC meanings ‘rich’ and ‘honor(able)’. The ‘god-(parent, -child)’ usage is probably calqued on Romance forms like Fr. beaupère ‘godfather’. Palatal /č/ by expressive palatalization and/or position between two /i/s; the form pitxi by expressive devoicing.
PROTO:*bide
MEANING:road
BZK:bide
GIP:bide
ANV:bide
BNV:bide
SAL:bide
LAB:bide
BZT:bide
AZK:bide
ZBR:bide
RNC:bide
COMMENTS:External parallels uncertain: borrowed from Berber, e.g. Nefusa brid 'road'?
MEANING:1 to bend, twist 2 to turn 3 to return, come back 4 bent, curved
ARB:biur-tu 1
BZK:bior-tu, biur-tu 1, 2, 3, biurri 4
GIP:biur-tu, bior-tu 1, 3, biurri 4
ANV:biur-tu, bior-tu 1, biurri 4
BNV:bihur-tu 1, 3, bihurri 4
SAL:biurri 4
LAB:bihur-tu 1, 3, bihurri 4
BZT:biurri 4
ZBR:bühür-tu 1, 3, bühürri 4
RNC:biur-tu 1, 2, 3, biurri 4
COMMENTS:There are other, more abstract, meanings, such as 'to translate' (languages), 'to convert' (religion), etc. For semantics, cf. *e=cuɫi 'to turn'. This is one of the words in which PSC *gw or *Gw has changed to Bsq *b (in the environment of high vowels).
COMMENTS:Trask (1999) passes on Michelena's idea that *bilho comes from a cross of Lat. pilum 'single hair' and villum 'tuft of hair', adding "don't know if this is right or not." The aspirated *-lh- matches well with PNC *ṗVħVɫV.
