Physical Action and Verbal Aggression: The Conceptual Continuity of ‘Killing’ and ‘Insult’ in Albanian and ancient Greek
The Albanian verbs vras and vrit , both meaning “ to kill ,” exemplify a notable phonetic and semantic pattern. The present tense form vras (“I kill”) alternates with vrit in the imperative and third-person forms, reflecting a regular phonetic alternation in certain Albanian verb stems, specifically the s → t shift. Semantically, this root captures a progression from a concrete physical action—“to strike”—to its more abstract consequence—“to kill.” This development illustrates how tangible motor actions provide the foundation for conceptualizing moral or social acts within the language. A comparable conceptual trajectory can be observed in ancient Greek. The notion of ὕβρις (hybris), traditionally understood as excessive pride or insolence, is likely reflected in later verbal forms such as βρίζω and βρισιές . The verb βρίζω denotes “to insult” or “to harm someone with words,” while βρισιές refers to verbal insults in the plural. Here, the metaphorical extension of physical action i...