Etymology

Usually derived straightforwardly from OE gebyrian (rarer by-form byrian) ‘to belong; happen, occur’ (cp. the n. OE byre ‘time, instance’); cp. OIcel byrja ‘to belong to, be (someone’s) due; (impers.) be (someone’s) due, be fitting for (someone), be appropriate for (someone)’, OFris bera, OS giburian ‘to happen’, OHG kipurjan, giburren ‘to happen, meet’. These words have been referred to the stem of PGmc *beran 'to bear' (supposing a PGmc *burjan-) (thus e.g. Torp-Falk, Pokorny, AEW, OED, Kroonen, Mag.) or more recently connected to the arguably different root of PGmc *buriz (as in OIcel byrr ‘favourable wind’; see bur) (thus Orel). MED suggests ON input, apparently on the grounds of the word’s regional distribution ('in the NM and the N, and only in the 3rd person') (Coleridge 1858: 27 also derives ME burde from ON byrjar).

PGmc Ancestor

*burjan- or *buriz 

Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)

byrja ‘to belong to, be (someone’s) due; (impers.) be (someone’s) due, be fitting for (someone), be appropriate for (someone)’
(ONP byrja (vb.) (3))

Other Scandinavian Reflexes

Far byrja, Icel byrja, Norw byrja, OSw byria, böria, Sw börja

OE Cognate

gebyrian, byrian ‘to belong; happen, occur’; cp. byre ‘time, instance’

Phonological and morphological markers

Summary category

CCC5ac

Attestation

Apart from c1175(?OE) Bod.Hom.(Bod 343) 2/16 <bureð>, attested in MED only from N/EM texts.

Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus

Gaw 2278, 2428; Pe 316; Pat 117, 507; Erk 260; WA 510, 776*, 1966 etc.

Bibliography

MED biren (v.) , OED bir (v. impers.) , HTOED , Dance burde, de Vries byrja (1), Mag. byrja, Orel *ƀurjanan ~ *ƀurjōjanan, Kroonen *burjan-, AEW byrian, DOE gebyrian; byrian