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Proto-Indo-European · 12 August 2026

A word a day week

*bʰer-

approximately ‘bʰer’ · reconstructed root

  • to carry
  • to bear

A small reconstructed root with a large carrying capacity: bears, burdens, transfers, and a Greek verb all travel in its family.

Then → now

The family reunion

*bʰer- → Proto-Germanic *beraną → Old English beran → English bear; *bʰer- → Latin ferō → Latin trānsferre → English transfer; *bʰer- → Ancient Greek phérō → Greek phérein → English pheromone; *bʰer- → Sanskrit bhárati
Selected routes, not an exhaustive family tree. Intermediate forms are simplified for a readable first look.
  • GermanicEnglish bearcarry; endure
  • ItalicEnglish transfercarry across
  • GreekEnglish pheromonea coined ‘carrier’ signal
  • Indo-AryanSanskrit bháraticarries

Tiny sentence

*ph₂tḗr bʰéreti.

father.NOM carry.PRS.3SG

“The father carries.”

A deliberately schematic teaching reconstruction. PIE is not directly attested, and specialists may prefer different inflectional or accentual details.

Receipts

Sources and cautions

The root and family are reconstructions supported by comparison, not a written PIE dictionary entry. The diagram selects a few routes and leaves many relatives at home.