Pre-Indo-European Relics: The *borm- Root in the European Pre-Latin Context

This paper provides an innovative hermeneutic interpretation of the possible pre- Indo-European origins of the root ∗borm- (> ∗bormo), meaning 'warm water', 'hot water', according to a new convergent approach. The stem ∗borm- (> ∗bormo) is considered, in this study, as not directly related to the (proto-)Indo-European root ∗g^whermó- / ∗g^whormo-, meaning 'warm', 'hot'. It could be, rather, a trace of the pre-Indo-European linguistic substrate, with the voiced bilabial (/b/) phonetic treatment of the voiced aspirate labiovelar consonant ∗GwH. The presumably pre-Indo-European root ∗borm- (> ∗bormo) would have been, over time, transferred (after the possible 'arrival' of the Indo-Europeans in their European territories) in the linguistic system of (proto-)Indo-European through a process of reuse and refunctionalization of roots and (loan-)words due to linguistic contact. Phonetically adapted to the (proto-)Indo-European standards and equated with the stem ∗g^whermó- / ∗g^whormo-, the root ∗borm- (> ∗bormo) could have been preserved in the hydronymy and toponymy of North-Western Italy, for instance in the river name Bòrmida (water course flowing between Liguria and Southern Piedmont) and in the place name Bòrmio (small town located in Lombardy).