*Burgundijô

from *burgund- (‘high, elevated’; probably substantivized as a place name) + relational *-(i)jô. The base continues a Proto-Indo-European *-nt- adjective from root *bʰerǵʰ-; its precise prehistoric ablaut paradigm is disputed (Wodtko et al. 2008: 30–34). Cognate with Sanskrit बृहत् (bṛhát-), Avestan 𐬠𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬰𐬀𐬧𐬙 (bərəzaṇt-), and Proto-Celtic *brigant- in Brigantes (tribal ethnonym) (Schaffner 2015: 169; Wodtko et al. 2008: 30–31). The ethnonym may originally have meant ‘those belonging to the high/exalted ones’, ‘inhabitants of a high place’, or ‘inhabitants of Burgund/Bornholm’; the precise motivation is uncertain (Schaffner 2015: 169).