A small stream or a seasonal brook that flows only during wet weather or in spring, common in southern England and chalky regions.
From Old English burna, related to 'burn' (stream) in Germanic languages. The term survived in southern England while 'burn' remained standard in the north, making it a geographical dialect word showing linguistic variation in Britain.
English contains two words for the same thing—'bourn' in the south, 'burn' in the north—a living fossil of Anglo-Saxon settlement patterns that divided Britain linguistically 1,500 years ago.
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