*uba

Reconstruction

The preposition is *uba in Kroonen and Köbler,^[1][2] who also gives *uf-, and *uƀa in Orel.^[3] Ringe writes *ub beside *uba.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₁up-o (“under”), which Kroonen reconstructs as *h₁up-o,^[1] Orel and Köbler as *upo.^[3][2] Köbler's *uba- "abundance" and *ūba- "evil" are separate headwords.^[5]

Morphology

An adverbial preposition: Kroonen calls it a petrified allative in *-o.^[1] According to EWA, Gothic 𐌿𐍆 (uf), 𐌿𐌱- (ub-) before a vowel, continues *uƀ, shortened from *uƀa by apocope, while Old High German oba kept the final -a because the word stood in proclisis.^[6] Ringe derives *ub ~ *uba through *ufó and possibly *ubó, with Verner's law before the final vowel was lost.^[4]

Evidence

The word is attested in all three branches: Gothic 𐌿𐍆 (uf, “under”), Old Norse of (“over, about”) and Old High German ob(a) (“above, on, over”).^[1] In Kroonen's table of the Germanic directional adverbs the preposition has no Old English or Old Saxon form;^[7] Old English has it only in ufe- of ufeweard (“upper”) and in the prefix of-.^[3][6] The Gothic word occurs 37 times in Wulfila's Bible.^[8] De Vries cites a runic Swedish form from the Rök stone of about 800.^[9] Outside Germanic, Kroonen compares Ancient Greek ὑπό (hupó, “under, by”) and Old Irish fo (“under”).^[1]

Competing analyses

Ringe starts from a possible PIE *supó "under, near", which became *upó under the influence of *upér(i) "over"; he notes that the preposition is a potential counterexample to his rule that the accent moved back when a final vowel was lost, but not a probative one.^[4] Karsten derived Finnish upota (“to sink, to drown”) from the Germanic prefix, a view that LÄGLOS finds semantically untenable and that found no support.^[10]

Meanings

1. under; above^[1][2]

Gothic 𐌿𐍆 (uf) means "under",^[11] Old Norse of "on, over, through, between, because of, against",^[9] and Old High German oba "above, upon, over, beyond".^[6]

Derivatives

• *ubilaz "evil, bad": Kroonen thinks *ubila- possibly derived from *uba with the suffix *-ila-,^[12] Orel derives *uƀelaz from *uƀa.^[13]
• *uftō "often", an adverb derived from *uba,^[14] Orel's *uftai.^[13] EWA notes that most scholars follow F. A. Wood in this, though the semantic development is difficult.^[15]
• *ufuman- "upmost, highest", an old adverbial comparative.^[14]
• In Orel: *uƀanē̆ "from above", *uƀaraz "upper", a comparative, and *uƀeswō "eaves, portico".^[3] Kroonen sees the base of the root *ub- in the ablative *ubané.^[7]
• West Germanic *uba-ēta- "fruit", a compound with *uƀa- "beyond" and *-ēta- "food".^[16][17]
• *upp "up": Kroonen relates the ablauting adverb *eup ~ *upp to *uba,^[18] and Orel calls *uppa a geminated form of *uƀa.^[19] Orel's *uƀeri "over" continues IE *uperi and is compared with it.^[13]

Reflexes

• Gothic: 𐌿𐍆 (uf, “under”)^[11]
• Old Norse: of (“on, over, through, between, because of”)^[9]
• Old English: ufe- in ufeweard (“upper”)^[3][6]
• Old High German: oba (“above, upon, over”)^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 556
2. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *uba
3. ^ a b c d e Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 432
4. ^ a b c Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 125
5. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *uba-
6. ^ a b c d e Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. s.v. oba
7. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2011), The Proto-Germanic n-stems: A Study in Diachronic Morphophonology, Leiden Studies in Indo-European 18, Amsterdam / New York: Rodopi
8. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. uf
9. ^ a b c de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 416
10. ^ Kylstra, A. D.; Hahmo, Sirkka-Liisa; Hofstra, Tette; Nikkilä, Osmo (1991–2012), Lexikon der älteren germanischen Lehnwörter in den ostseefinnischen Sprachen, 3 vols, Amsterdam / Atlanta / New York: Rodopi, p. 337
11. ^ a b Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. uf
12. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 557
13. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 433
14. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 558
15. ^ Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. s.v. ofto
16. ^ Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. s.v. obaz
17. ^ Pronk-Tiethoff, Saskia (2013), The Germanic Loanwords in Proto-Slavic, Leiden Studies in Indo-European 20, Amsterdam / New York: Rodopi, p. s.v. *ovotjь
18. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 120
19. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 435