Lemizh / English dictionary

wràf.

to make brown, to brown, to tan

wrìlf. a tan

wryfnÌs. bromine (symbol: Κ)

Etymology

gender change of
< NLem war‑a
< LMLem, MLem war‑yr
< OLem war‑ ‘glossy brown’
< PLem *bwar‑ ‘shiny, glossy’, r-stem adjective of
< PIE *bʰeh₂‑ ‘shine’

Gender change avoided homonymy with wrà. ‘carry, bear’, and is in line with the fact that nearly all basic colour terms are have a ‘male’ poststem (with the notable exception of orange).

Most basic colour terms in Lemizh are r-stem Caland adjectives, perhaps motivated by the word for ‘red’.

Cognates

Gk φαίνω ‘show, bring to light’, Ger bohnern ‘polish’