forþ

Forms

forþ^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *furþą, an adverb made to *fura (“before”), the source of for and fore.^[1][2][3] The same adverb is Old Frisian forth, Old Saxon forth and Middle High German vort;^[2][3][4] Orel compares Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌸𐌹𐍃 (faurþis, “earlier”).^[2][3][4] Wiktionary takes it from Proto-Indo-European *pr̥to-, and Köbler from the root *per- (“forward, beyond”) (Pokorny's *pr̥- “in front”).^[1][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest record is the will of Abba, dated 833×839 and surviving as a contemporary single sheet: the land is to pass to his child and sioððan swæ forð min cynn “after that, so onward, my kin”, as long as any of them is fit to hold it.^[6][7]

Semantic evolution

The adverb is used of movement forward or outward, from a place or from an upright position, and of time, “henceforth, thenceforward, still”.^[8][9] The laws use it of place (“out, away”) and of time, in heonan forð “from now on”, and the phrase and swa forð means “and so on”.^[10] In Beowulf it means “forth, onward, away”, and forð sprecan is “to go on speaking”.^[11] Holthausen and Köbler also record it as a preposition “during”.^[3][12] It forms many verbs, such as forðfaran “to die”.^[10]

The word lived on as Middle English forth, now English forth.^[13][14]

Timeline

• 833×839 – swæ forð min cynn in the will of Abba, a contemporary single sheet.^[6][7]
• 890×897 – in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20).^[15][7]
• s. x/xi – forð sprecan “to go on speaking” in the Beowulf manuscript.^[16][11]
• a1121 – Middle English swa forð in the Peterborough Chronicle.^[13]

Meanings

Adverb

1. forth, forward, onward, of movement.^[8][11]
2. forward from an upright position, bending down.^[9]
3. out, away, hence.^[8][10]
4. of time: henceforth, still, continually.^[8][5]

Preposition

1. during.^[3][12]

Word family

• forþian
• forþweard
• forþfaran
• forþfōr
• forþgān
• heonanforþ

Related words

• furþor
• fyrþran
• fore

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 121
3. ^ a b c d e Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 113
4. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. forth
5. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. forþ 1
6. ^ 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 1482
7. ^ 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
8. ^ a b c d Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 320
9. ^ a b Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 254
10. ^ a b c Liebermann, F. (1906), Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, vol. II.1: Wörterbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 79
11. ^ a b c Fulk, R. D.; Bjork, Robert E.; Niles, John D., eds. (2008), Klaeber's Beowulf and The Fight at Finnsburg, 4th ed., Toronto: University of Toronto Press (glossary), p. s.v. forð
12. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. forþ 2
13. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
14. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
15. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 499
16. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 344