obwohl

Forms

obwohl^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from German ob + wohl, from the older use of ob as a conditional and concessive conjunction, reinforced by the adverb.^[1][2][3] The parts were long written separately, as in Middle High German obe wol;^[4][2] today it is written only as one word.^[2]

The conjunction is obe, Old High German ibu (also spelled with other vowels), and corresponds to Old Saxon ef, Old English gif (now English if), Old Norse ef and Gothic 𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌹 (ibai).^[5][6] Pfeifer starts from a particle expressing uncertainty, of unclear origin, perhaps made of the pronoun stem Proto-Indo-European *e- and the particle *bʰe.^[5][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German ibu already meant “although, even if” beside “if” and “whether”.^[8][9] Köbler lists obe wol in Tauler (before 1350),^[4] while Paul gives 1472 as the first record.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In Luther's Bible the parts could still stand apart, as in ob sie wohl ein ungehorsames Haus sind.^[10] Adelung treated obwohl as equal to obgleich and obschon, fit for the decent style, while obschon was more common in ordinary speech.^[10] Today it is the most usual of the concessive conjunctions obgleich, obschon and obzwar.^[2]

Timeline

• 8th century – Old High German ibu appears, with a concessive sense among others.^[5][8]
• Before 1350 – Tauler uses obe wol.^[4]
• 1472 – First record of obwohl according to Paul.^[2]

Meanings

Conjunction

1. although, though; introduces a concessive clause: Obwohl es schneite, fuhr sie mit dem Rad.; also in shortened clauses: obwohl müde, blieb er wach.^[3][1]

Related words

• obgleich
• obschon
• obzwar
• gleichwohl

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
3. ^ a b Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
5. ^ a b c Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
6. ^ Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch (1952–), founded by Elisabeth Karg-Gasterstädt and Theodor Frings, Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag / De Gruyter; online awb.saw-leipzig.de, p. 4, 1442
7. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
8. ^ a b Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 5, 6
9. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 163
10. ^ a b Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf, p. 3, 574