Where does “birken” come from?

birken (Middle English) comes from Old English bircen, from Proto-Germanic birkīnaz, from Proto-Germanic -īnaz, from Proto-Indo-European -iHnos, from Proto-Indo-European -no- — adjectival suffix.

Ancestry of “birken”, step by step

birken traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via Old English bircen

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Englishbircenbirchen; made of birch
2Proto-Germanicbirkīnazbirchen, made of birch
3Proto-Germanic-īnaz-en
4Proto-Indo-European-iHnosCreates adjectives of materials
5Proto-Indo-European-no-adjectival suffix

via Old English biercen

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Englishbiercen—

via Old English beorcen

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Englishbeorcenmade of birch, birchen

Words derived from “birken”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European -no- →Every word from Proto-Germanic -īnaz →Every word from Proto-Indo-European -iHnos →