æftan

Forms

æftan^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *aftanē̆ (“from behind”), as Orel reconstructs it, a derivative of *aftē̆.^[2] The same adverb is Gothic 𐌰𐍆𐍄𐌰𐌽𐌰 (aftana, “from behind”), Old Norse aptan (“afterwards, again”), Old Frisian efta, Old Saxon aftan and Old High German aftan (“behind, from behind”).^[2][3][4]

Holthausen groups it with æfter, æftemest and of, and compares Ancient Greek ἀπωτέρω (apōtérō, “further off”) with a query.^[3] Köbler takes the stem back to Proto-Indo-European *epi (“near, on, behind”).^[4] Etymonline explains it as a form of æf (“off”) with the Germanic suffix *-ta, which matches Indo-European *-to-.^[5]

Campbell lists it with þonan and heonan among the adverbs in ⟨-an⟩ that express the place from which.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Bosworth–Toller's first instance is in the poem on the battle of Brunanburh, entered in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle under 937, where the eagle is æftan hwit "white behind".^[7] The dated manuscripts of the DOE Corpus give nothing older than an eleventh-century copy of a Mercian charter of 884×901, in which her be æftan awritene "written hereafter" is the compound beæftan written as two words.^[8][9]

Semantic evolution

The adverb meant "behind" and "from behind": Toller's Supplement quotes Wulfstan's Ǣlc ōþerne æftan hēaweð "each strikes the other from behind".^[7][10] The DOE Corpus has only six instances, in the Brunanburh poem, the Peterborough Chronicle and the versions of Wulfstan's Sermo Lupi.^[9] More often it is found in the compounds beæftan and wiþæftan.^[7][10]

According to Wiktionary and Etymonline, the English word aft continues it.^[1][5]

Timeline

• s. xi¹ – be æftan in a copy of charter S 223 (884×901).^[8][9]

Meanings

Adverb

1. behind, in the rear.^[7][4]
2. from behind.^[10][4]

Word family

• beæftan
• wiþæftan

Related words

• æfter
• æftemest
• of

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 2
3. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 9
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. æftan
5. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ Campbell, A. (1959), Old English Grammar, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. § 677
7. ^ a b c d Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 10
8. ^ a b The Electronic Sawyer: Online Catalogue of Anglo-Saxon Charters, revised ed. by S. E. Kelly and R. Rushforth, King's College London / University of Cambridge, esawyer.lib.cam.ac.uk, p. S 223
9. ^ a b c Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
10. ^ a b c Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 12