նէր

Old Armenian

Alternative forms

• նեար (near) — reading variant
• ներ (ner)

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *h₁yenh₂tēr. Armenian presents phonological problems. The nominative ներ (ner) is analogical after the oblique ներ- (ner-).

Noun

նէր • (nēr)

1. sister-in-law (husband’s brother’s wife)
2. husband’s the other wife

Usage notes

According to Martirosyan, although the evidence is not sufficient to reconstruct the original paradigm with safety, the attested forms seem to point to nominative singular նէր (nēr) vs. oblique ներ- (ner-). The following inflected forms are attested: accusative plural ներս (ners), i-type or i-a-type genitive-dative singular նիրի (niri) and ablative singular ներէ (nerē), o-type ablative singular ներոյ (neroy)

Derived terms

• ներթակն (nertʻakn)

Descendants

• Armenian: ներ (ner)

References

• Petrosean, Matatʻeay (1879) “նէր”, in Nor Baṙagirkʻ Hay-Angliarēn [New Dictionary Armenian–English], Venice: S. Lazarus Armenian Academy
• Awetikʻean, G., Siwrmēlean, X., Awgerean, M. (1836–1837) “նէր”, in Nor baṙgirkʻ haykazean lezui [New Dictionary of the Armenian Language] (in Old Armenian), Venice: S. Lazarus Armenian Academy
• Ačaṙean, Hračʻeay (1971–1979) “նէր”, in Hayerēn armatakan baṙaran [Armenian Etymological Dictionary] (in Armenian), 2nd edition, a reprint of the original 1926–1935 seven-volume edition, Yerevan: University Press
• Martirosyan, Hrach (2010) “nēr”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Armenian Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 8), Leiden and Boston: Brill, page 503
• Thorsø, Rasmus (2023) Prehistoric loanwords in Armenian: Hurro-Urartian, Kartvelian, and the unclassified substrate‎^[1], PhD dissertation, Leiden University, pages 27-28