zero-grade

See also: zero grade

English

Alternative forms

• zero grade

Etymology

zero (“none, nothing”) + grade, as in gradation (“apophony”).

Noun

zero-grade (plural zero-grades)

1. (Indo-European linguistics) In Proto-Indo-European linguistics, an ablaut form of a root characterized by the absence of the basic ablauting vowel phonemes */e/ and */o/.

   *bʰr̥- is the zero-grade of the Indo-European root *bʰer- meaning ‘to carry, bear’.