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ut

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Pronunciation

Forms

ūt (comparative ūtor, superlative ȳtemest)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *ūt, from Proto-Germanic *ūt (“out”), from Proto-Indo-European *úd (“up, out”).[1][2] The adverb is common Germanic: Gothic 𐌿𐍄 (ut), Old Norse út, Old Frisian ūt, Old Saxon ūt and Old High German ūz.[2][3][4] Kroonen takes it as a direct continuation of the Proto-Indo-European adverb, its vowel lengthened because the word was a monosyllable.[2] Outside Germanic he compares a preverb meaning “up, out” in Sanskrit and a prefix meaning “out” in Slavic;[2][3] Orel adds Old Irish ud- (“out”).[2][3]

It has the comparative ūtor and the superlative ȳtemest.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The adverb is first recorded in a charter of Berhtwulf, king of Mercia, for his thegn Forthred (844×845), in the phrase & ut bi Geht; its single sheet is of the mid-ninth century, perhaps the original according to Brooks and Gelling, perhaps a slightly later copy according to O'Donovan.[5][6] The bounds of Æthelwulf's charter of 846 run on geryhte ut on hreodpol “straight out to the reed pool”; its mid-ninth-century single sheet has been held contemporary by some scholars and doubtful by others.[7][6] In the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20, 890×897) Moses oft eode inn & ut on ðæt templ “often went in and out of the temple”.[8][6]

Semantic evolution

With verbs of motion the adverb means out, beyond the bounds of a place: out on an expedition, out of a place one leaves, and in the medical texts out to the privy; of time it means out to the end.[9] Without motion it means outside, and also out at sea or abroad.[9][10] In the laws it stands before verbs as a separable particle, as in ut adrifan “to drive out”, and with of in ut of earde “out of the country”.[11]

It lived on as Middle English oute, now English out.[1][12]

Timeline

  • 844×845 – & ut bi Geht in Berhtwulf's charter for Forthred.[5][6]
  • 846 – ut on hreodpol “out to the reed pool” in the bounds of Æthelwulf's charter.[7][6]
  • 890×897 – eode inn & ut “went in and out” in the Pastoral Care.[8][6]
  • s. ix/x – Ceawlin wæs ut adrifen “Ceawlin was driven out” in the Parker Chronicle.[13][6]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. out, outward, of motion from inside.[9][14]
  2. out on an expedition; abroad, at sea.[9][10]
  3. outside, without.[9][14]

Word family

  • ūte
  • ūtan
  • ūtfūs
  • ūtgān
  • ūtera
  • ȳtemest

Descendants

  • Middle English oute (→ English out; English oot; Scots out)[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 562
  3. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 437
  4. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 377
  5. ^ 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 204
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
  7. ^ 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
  8. ^ 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. 499
  9. ^ a b c d e Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 1143
  10. ^ a b Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 219
  11. ^ Liebermann, F. (1906), Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, vol. II.1: Wörterbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 230
  12. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  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. 83
  14. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. ūt