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on

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Pronunciation

Forms

on, also an (preposition with the dative, instrumental or accusative; adverb).[2][1]

  • an in the Épinal Glossary, where the Erfurt Glossary has on.[3]
  • an in the laws of Æthelberht, Hlothhere and Eadric, and Wihtred.[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *ana, from Proto-Germanic *ana (“on, at”).[1][5] The Proto-Germanic word is continued by Gothic 𐌰𐌽𐌰 (ana), Old Norse á, Old Frisian a, Old Saxon an and Old High German ana.[5][6] Orel relates it to Ancient Greek ἀνά (aná, “on, up”);[5][7]^(Köbler AE|s.v. on (1) Holthausen also compares forms in Italic, Baltic and Slavic, and Köbler sets up the root Proto-Indo-European *an- (“on, to”).[5][7][6]

In the earliest texts the vowel is written both ⟨a⟩ and ⟨o⟩, which Hogg takes as attempts to write the low back vowel, rounded or not, that Germanic /a/ became before nasal consonants.[8] The Épinal Glossary has ⟨an⟩ where the later Erfurt copy has ⟨on⟩, and the Kentish laws keep ⟨an⟩.[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is recorded in the oldest English glosses: the Épinal Glossary, written at the end of the seventh century or about 700, renders Latin “altrinsecus” with an ba halbae “on both sides” and “auehit” with an uueg aferidae “carried away”, literally “carried on the way”.[9][3][10] In a charter of King Æthelwulf dated 846, in a single sheet of the mid-ninth century, the bounds run ut on hreodpol ðonne up on afene “out to the reed pool, then up to the Avon”.[11][12]

Semantic evolution

Bosworth and Toller arrange the uses by case: with the dative or instrumental it marks rest on or contact with a thing, a position in or at a place, nearness and the time at which something happens; with the accusative it marks motion onto or into a thing and, figuratively, hostility.[2] Sweet adds the uses for the instrument (on Godes naman “in God's name”), for a form or likeness, for a change into something (of Lǣdene on Englisc āwendan “to translate from Latin into English”) and for the object of verbs such as trusting and looking.[13] It also names the place in place names, like Old Norse á.[2] The word glosses Latin “in”, “ad”, “super” and “apud”, and also “a”, “de” and “ex”.[6]

It lived on as Middle English on and Middle English an, now English on.[1]

Timeline

  • s. vii ex. – an ba halbae “on both sides” in the Épinal Glossary.[9][3]
  • 846 – ut on hreodpol ðonne up on afene in the bounds of Æthelwulf's charter for South Hams.[11][12]
  • s. x/xi – him on bearme læg madma mænigo “in his lap lay a host of treasures” in Beowulf.[14][2]

Meanings

Preposition

  1. with the dative: on, upon, resting on or touching a thing.[2][1]
  2. with the dative: in, at, among, of a place or a group of people.[2][13]
  3. with the accusative: onto, into, to, of motion or a change of state.[13][1]
  4. of time: in, at, during.[13][1]
  5. against, towards, of hostility.[13]
  6. in a language, by means of, in the form of.[13]

Adverb

  1. with verbs of taking or depriving: from.[1]

Word family

  • onġēan
  • onweġ
  • onbūtan
  • onuppan
  • onġemang

Descendants

  • Middle English an[1]
  • Middle English on (→ English on; Scots an; Scots on)[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 744
  3. ^ a b c d Pheifer, J. D. (1974), Old English Glosses in the Épinal-Erfurt Glossary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 94
  4. ^ a b Liebermann, F. (1906), Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, vol. II.1: Wörterbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 162
  5. ^ a b c d Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 17
  6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. on
  7. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 4
  8. ^ Hogg, Richard M. (1992), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 1: Phonology, Oxford: Blackwell, p. § 5.3
  9. ^ 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
  10. ^ Pheifer, J. D. (1974), Old English Glosses in the Épinal-Erfurt Glossary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 96
  11. ^ 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 298
  12. ^ a b Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
  13. ^ a b c d e f Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 152
  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. 344