*bakaburdą

Runic: ᛒᚨᚲᚨᛒᚢᚱᛞᚨ Pronunciation: /ˈbɑ.kɑ.ˌbur.ðɑ̃/

noun · neuter · a-stem

Meanings

the port (larboard) side of a ship; the left-hand side when facing the bow

Etymology

From *baką + *burdą. Traditionally explained as ‘back-board’: early Germanic ships were steered by a steering oar mounted on the right side, so that the opposite, left side lay behind the helmsman’s back (Boehmer 1891: 594; Nicolaysen 1882: 18). The compound is directly continued by Old English bæcbord (Bosworth & Toller 2014: s.v. bæc-bord) (attested ca. 885); Old Norse has both bakborð n. and bakborði m.; the earliest securely dated North Germanic occurrence is the dative singular bac borða of the weak masculine bakborði, ca. 1250 (Kero 2002: 73–74). The historical relationship between the two Old Norse formations is uncertain. Carr (1939: 109) regards the weak North Germanic form as a modification of Middle Low German backbord, but the Old Norse attestation predates the surviving Middle Low German evidence, which begins only in the fifteenth century (Kero 2002: 73–74).

Declension

CaseSingularPlural
Nom.bakaburdąbakaburdō
Acc.bakaburdąbakaburdō
Gen.bakaburdas, bakaburdisbakaburdǫ̂
Dat.bakaburdaibakaburdamaz
Inst.bakaburdōbakaburdamiz
Voc.bakaburdąbakaburdō

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Descendants

  • *bakabord (Proto-West Germanic)
    • bæcbord (Old English)
      • *bakbord (Middle English)
        • backboard (English)
        • backburd (Scots)
  • *bakabord (Proto-West Germanic)
    • *bakbord (Old Saxon)
      • backbort, bakbōrt (Middle Low German)
        • Backbord (German)
        • Backboord (Low German)
        • Bakboud (Saterland Frisian)
        • bakboard (West Frisian)
  • *bakabord (Proto-West Germanic)
    • *bakbord (Old Saxon)
      • backbort, bakbōrt (Middle Low German)
        • *bakbord (Middle Dutch)
          • bakboord (Dutch)
  • *bakabord (Proto-West Germanic)
    • *bakbord (Old Saxon)
      • backbort, bakbōrt (Middle Low German)
        • *bakbord (Middle Dutch)
          • babort (Middle French)
            • bâbord (French)
              • babordo (Italian)
              • babordo, bombordo (Portuguese)
              • baburd, babord (Scots)
              • babor (Spanish)
  • bakborð, bakborði (Old Norse)
    • bagbord (Danish)
    • bakborð (Faroese)
    • bakborð, bakborði (Icelandic)
    • bakbord (Norwegian)
    • babord (Swedish)

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