hu

Forms

hū^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *hwō (“how”), originally an instrumental form of *hwaz (“who, what”).^[1][2][3] The same word is Old Frisian hū, Old Saxon hwō, Old Dutch huo and Old High German wuo.^[4][5][6] It belongs to the interrogative stem Proto-Indo-European *kʷo-, and Wiktionary compares Latin quō (“where to; why”).^[3][1]

Hogg explains the ⟨ū⟩ of the Old English form, shared with Old Frisian and Old Saxon, by a raising of Germanic /oː/ to /uː/ after /w/ in monosyllables, as in tū “two” from Proto-Germanic *twō.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is recorded from the 830s, in the will of Abba the reeve (833×839), whose single sheet is held to be contemporary: Ic Abba geroefa cyðe & writan hate hu min willa is þæt mon ymb min ærfe gedoe æfter minum dæge “I, Abba the reeve, make known and have it written how it is my will that my inheritance be dealt with after my day”.^[8][9]

Semantic evolution

It asks how something is done (hu mæg man ingan on stranges hus “how can anyone enter a strong man's house”), introduces exclamations, and with a negative asks rhetorical questions (hu ne synt ge selran for Latin “nonne vos magis plures estis illis”).^[10] As a conjunction it opens dependent clauses, usually with the indicative, as in the will of Abba and in Beowulf.^[11][12] With a comparative it means "the more", and in the glosses it renders Latin “quomodo”, “qualis” and “quemadmodum”.^[12][4]

It lives on as Middle English hou and English how.^[13][3]

Timeline

• 833×839 – hu min willa is in the will of Abba, a contemporary single sheet.^[8][9]
• s. ix med. – hu longe “how long” for Latin “usquequo” in the Vespasian Psalter gloss.^[14][9]
• 890×897 – hu he on ðone folgoð becume “how he comes to that office” in the Pastoral Care.^[15][9]
• s. x/xi – hū in direct and dependent questions in the Beowulf manuscript.^[16][11]

Meanings

Adverb

1. how?, in what way, in direct questions.^[10][12]
2. in exclamations: how!^[10][12]
3. hū ne: introducing a negative rhetorical question.^[10][17]
4. with a comparative: the (more).^[12]

Conjunction

1. how, in what manner, in dependent clauses.^[11][10]
2. that, introducing a statement.^[1]

Word family

• hūmeta
• hūlīċ

Descendants

• Middle English how (→ English how; English hoo; Scots hoo)^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. hū
5. ^ Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. hū
6. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
7. ^ Hogg, Richard M. (1992), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 1: Phonology, Oxford: Blackwell, p. § 3.26
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 1482
9. ^ a b c d 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 d e Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 564
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. hū
12. ^ a b c d e Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 116
13. ^ 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. ^ 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. 329
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
17. ^ Clark Hall, J. R. (1960), A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 4th ed., with a supplement by H. D. Meritt, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 195