*biūtan

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs *biūtan for Proto-West Germanic as an adverb "outside", a preposition "out of, apart from, without" and a conjunction "unless, except".^[1] Fulk writes the West Germanic form *bi-ūtan,^[2] and de Vaan *bī-ūtan.^[3]

Etymology

It is formed from Proto-Germanic *bi (“by”) + *ūtanē (“from without”): Old English, Old Saxon and Old High German dictionaries analyse their forms as the prefix "by" and the adverb "from outside",^[4][5][6] Boutkan and Siebinga call the Old Frisian word a compound of bi- and ūta,^[7] and Orel derives Proto-Germanic *ūtanē "from outside" from *ūt.^[8] Wiktionary takes it from the unstressed *bi- of *bī and *ūtan, the accusative of *ūtō "outside".^[1] Fulk lists Old English and Old Saxon būtan (“except”) from *bi-ūtan among the cases where the vowel of an unstressed prefix was lost in the individual West Germanic languages.^[2]

Evidence

The word is found in Old English būtan,^[4] Old Frisian būta,^[9] Old Saxon biūtan^[10] and Old High German biūzan.^[6] Old High German has it only in the Lex Salica and in Isidore, as a preposition "apart from, except, without".^[6] Köbler dates the Isidore record to the end of the 8th century.^[11] In the Heliand, Tiefenbach lists ⟨biutan⟩ and ⟨biuten⟩ in manuscript M beside ⟨butan⟩, and ⟨botan⟩ in manuscript C and in the Old Saxon Genesis.^[10]

Competing analyses

Wiktionary also reconstructs *biūtanā "from without, outside of", from *bi- and *ūtanā, and lists Old English būtan and the other West Germanic forms under that word too.^[12]

Meanings

1. (adverb) outside, externally; completely around^[1]
2. (preposition) out of, apart from, besides; outside of; without^[1]
3. (conjunction) unless, except^[1]

Old English also used the word for "except that" and "round about", and after a negative for "only".^[4][13] Old Frisian also used the preposition for "seaward" and "less, minus" in amounts, and the conjunction for "but rather".^[9]

Reflexes

• Old English: būtan (“except, without, except that, round about”)^[4]
• Old Frisian: būta (“outside, except, without; except, but”)^[9]
• Old Saxon: biūtan (“except, but”)^[10]
• Old High German: biūzan (“apart from, except, without”)^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *biūtan
2. ^ a b Fulk, R. D. (2018), A Comparative Grammar of the Early Germanic Languages, Studies in Germanic Linguistics 3, Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins, p. 96
3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2017), The Dawn of Dutch: Language Contact in the Western Low Countries before 1200, NOWELE Supplement Series 30, Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins, p. 332
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. būtan
5. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. būtan
6. ^ a b c d 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. biūzan
7. ^ Boutkan, Dirk; Siebinga, Sjoerd Michiel (2005), Old Frisian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 1, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. buta
8. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 437
9. ^ a b c Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. būta
10. ^ a b c Tiefenbach, Heinrich (2010), Altsächsisches Handwörterbuch / A Concise Old Saxon Dictionary, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, p. s.v. biūtan
11. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. biūzan
12. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *biūtanā
13. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 39