ob

ob¹ whether, if

Pronunciation

• /ɔp/^[1]

Forms

ob (subordinating conjunction)^[1]

Etymology

The conjunction is inherited from Middle High German obe, inherited from Old High German ibu, with the later Old High German variants ubi and oba, which arose by a shift of the vowels.^[2][3][4] The same word is Gothic 𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌹 (ibai), Old Norse ef and Old Saxon ef.^[2][5] In English if and Old Frisian jef the counterpart of 𐌾𐌰𐌱𐌰𐌹 (jabai) seems to have been mixed in.^[2][1]

Its further origin is not certain.^[6][7] Kluge sets up Proto-Germanic *eba- with various case endings, and takes it as possibly put together from a pronominal stem *e- and Proto-Indo-European *bʰo- (“both”), the root of beide: “these two” could easily come to mean “whether” at the start of a question between two possibilities.^[2] Lühr, as Kluge reports, sees in the second part a particle of affirmation.^[2] The Grimms' dictionary explained the Gothic forms as case forms of a noun meaning “doubt, condition”, kept in Notker's iba (“condition”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German ibu is first recorded in the glosses of the Abrogans (about 765), and then in Isidor, the Tatian, Otfrid, the Hildebrandslied, the Muspilli and the Ludwigslied, meaning “if, in case, whether” and “although”, for Latin si, num and etsi.^[3][8][9]

Semantic evolution

In older German ob mainly introduced conditions, and it was gradually pushed out of this use by wenn;^[5] Early New High German still has ob jemand sündiget, so haben wir einen Fürsprecher (Luther).^[5] The conditional use survives in als ob “as if”.^[5][7] From conditions came concessions, as in Luther's ob seine Wurzel in der Erde veraltet, so grünet er doch wieder, and the compounds obgleich, obschon and obwohl, formed in the 16th and 17th centuries.^[5][6] Early New High German used ob in conditional, concessive, final and temporal clauses as well.^[10] In student slang of 1813 Ob wohl? was the usual reply to a statement one did not believe.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 765 – Old High German ibu appears in the Abrogans glosses.^[3][8]
• 16th–17th century – obgleich, obschon and obwohl are formed.^[6]
• 1813 – Ob wohl? is recorded in student slang.^[5]

Meanings

Conjunction

1. whether, if, introducing an indirect question or a doubt: sie fragte, ob der Laden noch offen sei.^[7][1]
2. In als ob: as if.^[7][1]
3. (dated, with auch) Even if.^[7]
4. With oder or repeated: whether … or: ob jung, ob alt.^[7]
5. (colloquial) In und ob!: emphatic yes, “and how!”^[7]

Word family

• obgleich
• obschon
• obwohl
• obzwar

ob² above, on account of

Pronunciation

• /ɔp/, /oːp/^[1]

Forms

ob (preposition with the genitive, archaic or regional with the dative)^[1]

Etymology

The preposition is inherited from Middle High German obe, inherited from Old High German oba (“above, over”), inherited from Proto-Germanic *uba.^[2][11][12] The same word is Gothic 𐌿𐍆 (uf, “under”) and Old Norse of (“over, about”), and Old English had it in compounds such as Old English ufeweard (“upward”).^[2][11][12] The EWA explains the Gothic form by loss of the final vowel, while the Old High German form kept it.^[11] It goes back to Proto-Indo-European *upó, a petrified allative according to Kroonen, also found in Sanskrit उप (úpa, “towards, near”), Ancient Greek ὑπό (hupó, “under”) and Old Irish fo (“under”).^[12][1][2] It is closely related to oben, ober, über and auf.^[6][13]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German oba is recorded from the end of the 8th century, in the Abrogans and other glosses, the Benedictine Rule, Isidor, the Tatian, Otfrid and Notker, as an adverb “above” and a preposition “on, over, above”;^[11][14] oba deru sachu meant “for this reason”.^[11][14]

Semantic evolution

As an independent word ob has been replaced by oberhalb and über.^[2][6] It survives in place names such as Rothenburg ob der Tauber and in compounds: Obdach, Old High German obadah “roof, shelter”, Middle High German obeman (modern Obmann), and Obacht and Obhut from the 17th century.^[6] Participles such as obgenannt and oberwähnt “mentioned above” were much commoner in older New High German.^[13] The causal sense “on account of” is formal and literary.^[1][15] The word is chiefly Upper German, with a short vowel in Alemannic and a long one in Austro-Bavarian.^[1]

Timeline

• Late 8th century – Old High German oba appears in glosses.^[11]
• 17th century – Obacht and Obhut are formed.^[6]

Meanings

Preposition

1. (formal, literary, with the genitive) On account of, because of: ob seiner Verdienste geehrt.^[1][15]
2. (archaic, regional) above, over, in place names: Rothenburg ob der Tauber.^[1][6]

Word family

• Obacht
• Obdach
• Obhut
• Obmann
• darob
• obderennsisch