Cognate Set 287 – Meaning: sea

IE-CoR reference form:
*mor-i-
IE-CoR reference language:
Proto-Indo-European
Ideophonic:
no
Parallel derivation:
no
Justification:
Slavic, Germanic, Italic, and Celtic lexemes derived from PIE *mor-i- 'lake, sea' (ESSJa} 19:227-229, Derksen 2008:325, Kroonen 2013:354-355, de Vaan 2008:365, Matasović 2009:277; cf. also Derksen 2015:305-306 for Lithuanian mãrios 'isthmus; (dial.) sea'). Generally considered a western Indo-European isogloss, but cf. a possible further attestation in Iranic via Ossetic mal 'deep standing water' (cf. EIEC 503-504, Abaev 1959–1995 II:68-69).
Found in clades:
Celtic, Germanic, Italic, Slavic
Revised by:
Matthew Scarborough
Found in 4 clades by 63 lexemes.
Language Lexeme Native script Phonetic Phonemic Notes
79   Bulgarian more море muˈɾɛ moˈre
98   Belarusian mora мора ˈmɔɾɑ̈ ˈmoro
141   Catalan mar mar mar
93   Czech moře ˈmɔr̝ɛ ˈmor̝e
136   French mer mɛːʁ mɛʁ
129   Italian mare ˈmaːɾe ˈmare
131   Ladin mer ˈmɛr
95   Sorbian: Lower mórjo ˈmɛɾʲɔ, ˈmɘ̟ɾʲɔ ˈmorʲo
94   Sorbian: Upper morjo ˈmɔʁjɔ ˈmɔʀjɔ
80   Macedonian more море ˈmo̞ɾɛ ˈmore
88   Polish morze ˈmɔʐɛ ˈmoʐe
144   Portuguese mar maɾ maɾ
97   Russian more море ˈmɔrʲɪ ˈmorʲe
134   Sardinian: Logudoro mare ˈmaːrɛ ˈmaːrɛ
133   Sardinian: Nuoro mare ˈmaːrɛ ˈmaːrɛ
83   Serbo-Croat more ˈmô̞ːɾɛ ˈmôːre
91   Slovak more ˈmɔrɛ ˈmore
85   Slovene morje móːɾje, mɔˈɾjéː móːrje, mɔˈrjéː
143   Spanish mar maɾ maɾ
99   Ukrainian more море ˈmɔɾɛ̽ ˈmore
137   Walloon mér meʁ meʁ
122   German Meer ˈmeːɐ ˈmeːʁ
121   Luxembourgish Mier miə miə
78   Old Church Slavonic morje морѥ mɔrʲɛ morʲe
124   Latin mare ˈmare ˈmare G.sg. maris.
130   Friulian mâr ˈmaːr ˈmaːr
158   Old Irish muir ˈmˠurʲ ˈmurʲ
148   Gaulish more Attested as such, and in many compound names.
155   Middle Breton mor ˈmoːr
90   Polabian mărai mɜˈrai mɜˈrai Locative sg. There is also a paraphrase 'vilťă vådă' 'big water' attested.
89   Kashubian mòrze ˈmwɛʐɛ ˈmoʐe
125   Romanian mare ˈmaɾe ˈmare
128   Neapolitan mare ˈmaɾə ˈmarə
135   Anglo-Norman mer
142   Old Spanish mar maɾ
154   Old Breton mor Attested in compounds like mor-bran gl. merges 'cormoran', lit. sea-raven or mor-moch gl. delphini 'dolphin', lit. 'sea-pig'.
156   Breton: Gwened mor moːɾ
157   Breton: Treger mor ˈmo̝ːɹ ˈmo̝ːr
151   Welsh: North môr moːr moːr
87   Old Polish morze ˈmɔr̝ʲɛ ˈmor̝e
150   Middle Welsh mor mor
149   Old Welsh mor mor LL: 140
92   Old Czech moře ˈmɔr̝ɛ ˈmor̝e
96   Old Novgorod more море ˈmɔrʲɛ ˈmɔrʲɛ
100   Rusyn móre ˈmŭɔr(ɛ/ɜ) ˈmore
81   Macedonian: Suho mòri ˈmo̞ɾʲi ˈmore
82   Macedonian: Visoka mòri ˈmo̞ɾʲi ˈmore
86   Slovene: Kostel morje ˈmo̞ːɾjɛ ˈmoːrjɛ
84   Slovene: Early Modern morje
123   German: Bernese Meer mɛːr mɛːr
138   Old Occitan mar
126   Megleno-Romanian mári
140   Old Catalan mar maɾ maɾ
127   Dalmatian: Vegliote mur mur
119   Old High German meri ˈmeri ˈmeri
120   Middle High German mer mer mer
118   Old Saxon meri ˈmeri ˈmeri
101   Gothic marei 𐌼𐌰𐍂𐌴𐌹 ˈmariː ˈmariː
152   Middle Cornish mor moːr
153   Late Cornish môr moːr
139   Franco-Provençal méh ˈmex ˈmex probably borrowed from French (< mer)
145   Portuguese: Brazilian mar
132   Milanese mãr maːr
References
  • Abaev, Vasilij Ivanovič: II:68-69
    Cf. Oss. mal 'глубокая стоячая вода', from IE *mōri or *mōryo- 'sea' with regular *r > l before *i.
  • Derksen, Rick: 325
    S.v. Proto-Slavic *moŗe 'sea' (ESSJa XIX 227-230), from PIE *mor-i- (cf. Lat. mare, OIr. muir, Goth. marei).
  • Derksen, Rick: 305-306
    Cf. Lith. mãrios 'isthmus; (dial.) sea', from PIE *mor-i- (cf. Lat. mare; OIr. muir, Goth. marei).
  • Deshayes, Albert: 519
    The simple noun is attested in the Catholicon (1499), but the compound armor m. 'coast' is found already in 1384.
  • Fleuriot, Léon: 259
    In OBr. attested as the first member of several compounds like mor-bran gl. merges 'cormoran', lit. 'sea-raven' or mor-moch gl. delphini 'dolphin', lit. 'sea-pig'.
  • Kroonen, Guus: 354-355
    S.v. Proto-Germanic *mari- 'lake, sea', from PIE *mor-i- (cf. Oss. mal 'stagnant water', Lat. mare 'sea', OIr. muir 'id.', MW mor 'id.' < *mor-i-; Lith. mãrios (f.pl.) 'id.' < *mor-ieh₂-, OCS morje, Ru. móre, SCr. mȍre, môre 'id.' < mor-io-).
  • Mallory, James P.: 503-504
    Ossetic mal 'deep standing water' may also be cognate to this class, [cf. Abaev 1959-1995 Vol. II, pp.68-69]. If the Ossetic form it is not a loanword, then the distribution of the lexeme is not exclusively to the European branches of IE.
  • Matasović, Ranko: 277
    S.v. Proto-Celtic *mori- 'sea', from PIE *mori- 'sea, standing water' (cf. Lat. mare, OHG mari, meri 'sea, lake', OCS morje 'sea', Oss. mal 'standing water').
  • Trubačev, O. N.: 19: 227-229
    PS *moŕe is derived from PIe *mori 'sea'.
  • de Vaan, Michiel: 365
    S.v. Lat. mare 'sea; sea-water'. From PIE *mor-i- 'sea, lake' (cf. OIr. muir, W mor 'sea', Oss. mal 'stagnant water', OPr. mary, Lith. mãrės < *moriā, OCS morje, Ru. móre < *morio-, Go. mari-saihws, OIc. marr 'sea', OHG mari meri 'sea, lake'). If Ossetic mal 'stagnant water' is a loan-word from Gothic, then the word is exclusive to European branches of Indo-European.