*efþau
Runic: ᛖᚠᚦᚨᚢ Pronunciation: /ˈeɸ.θɑu̯/conjunction
Meanings
or
Etymology
From *eh (‘but, except’, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eǵʰs/*h₁eḱ (s), ‘out’) + *þau (‘in that case’, from PIE *tó-we, from PIE *to-, ‘this, that’ + *-we, ‘or’). The first element *eh is debated: many accounts assume *ef- matching West Proto-Germanic f-variants (e.g. Old English ofþe, Old Saxon eftha), possibly influenced by the Proto-Germanic conditional particle family (‘if’); however, Gothic aiþþau is often taken to point to an earlier *ehþau with subsequent assimilation producing *-þþ-. The second element *þau is less controversial, though there are many other competing theories on its PIE heritage.
Descendants
-
eþþa, ofþe, oððe, oðþe, oþðe, oþþa, oþþe, oþþon (Old English)
-
oththe, other, or (Middle English)
- or (English)
- or (Scots)
-
oththe, other, or (Middle English)
-
ieftha, ioftha, jef, jof, jova, ofte (Old Frisian)
- af, of (Saterland Frisian)
- of (West Frisian)
-
efdo, eftha, eftho, ettho (Old Saxon)
- edder, odder (Middle Low German)
-
efdo, eftha, eftho, ettho (Old Saxon)
-
efte, afte, ufte, uft, uf (Middle Low German)
-
of (Low German)
- of, o' (Sauerland Low German)
-
of (Low German)
-
efte, afte, ufte, uft, uf (Middle Low German)
-
*oftho, *ofto (Old Dutch)
-
ofte, ochte (Middle Dutch)
-
ofte, of (Dutch)
- ofte, of (Afrikaans)
-
ofte, of (Dutch)
-
ofte, ochte (Middle Dutch)
-
odo (Old High German)
- Middle High German:
-
odo (Old High German)
-
odar, odor (Old High German)
-
od, ode, oder (Middle High German)
- oder (German)
- oder (Luxembourgish)
- אָדער (oder) (Yiddish)
-
od, ode, oder (Middle High German)
-
odar, odor (Old High German)
-
eða, eðr (Old Norse)
- eða, eður (Icelandic)
- æthæ, eth (Old Danish)
- eþa (Old Gutnish)
- 𐌰𐌹𐌸𐌸𐌰𐌿 (aiþþau) (Gothic)