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in

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Pronunciation

Forms

in[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *in, from Proto-Germanic *in.[1] The preposition is common Germanic: Gothic 𐌹𐌽 (in), Old Norse í, Old Frisian in, Old Saxon in and Old High German in.[2][3][4] It continues Proto-Indo-European *h₁en (“in”), the source also of Ancient Greek ἐν (en), Latin in, Old Irish in and Lithuanian į.[2][3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is in the Épinal Glossary (late seventh or early eighth century), where Latin “in curia” is glossed in maethlae “in the assembly”.[6][7][8]

Semantic evolution

With the dative it marks rest in a place or a state (“in, on, among”) and with the accusative motion (“into”); Klaeber finds only one temporal use with the dative in Beowulf.[9][10] Its use differs by dialect: Bosworth and Toller quote March's finding that in prevails in the north and on in the south, and that in is absent from Alfred's Metres, the Rune Poem and the poem on Byrhtnoth.[11] Campbell describes on taking over the functions of in, most strongly in late West Saxon, and Wiktionary labels the preposition Anglian.[12][1] Sweet calls it rare in West Saxon.[10]

The preposition lived on as Middle English in, now English in.[1]

Timeline

  • s. vii ex. – in maethlae “in the assembly” in the Épinal Glossary.[6][7]
  • s. ix¹ – the Corpus Glossary.[13][8]
  • 844×845 – him in ece erfe “to him in perpetual inheritance” in a charter whose single sheet is held by some to be contemporary and by others a slightly later copy.[14][8]
  • s. ix med. – the Vespasian Psalter gloss.[15][8]

Meanings

Preposition

  1. (with dative) in, within, on, of place or state.[11][9][4]
  2. (with dative) among; during, of time.[10][9]
  3. (with accusative) into, to, of motion.[10][11]

Descendants

  • Middle English in (→ English in; Scots in)[1]
  • inn
  • innan
  • on

Usage notes

In is mainly an Anglian word;[11][12][1] West Saxon prefers on in the same uses.[11][12][1] The noun inn “dwelling” is a separate word.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 269
  3. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 84
  4. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. in
  5. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 188
  6. ^ a b Pheifer, J. D. (1974), Old English Glosses in the Épinal-Erfurt Glossary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 119
  7. ^ a b 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. 610
  8. ^ 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
  9. ^ a b c d 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. in
  10. ^ a b c d Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 122
  11. ^ a b c d e Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 589
  12. ^ a b c Campbell, A. (1959), Old English Grammar, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. § 76
  13. ^ 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. 76
  14. ^ 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 204
  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. 329