*forē

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs the preposition and adverb *forē "before, in front of" for Proto-West Germanic.^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *furai (“before”),^[1][2] which Orel cites as an adverb *furai.^[2] Boutkan and Siebinga set up Proto-Germanic *furē behind Proto-Frisian *fore,^[3] and Köbler *fur, *fura.^[4]

Morphology

An adverb and preposition, also used as a prefix.^[5][6] In Old High German it also stands in the phrases dâr fora and hiar fora.^[5]

Evidence

The word is attested in Old English fore,^[7] Old Frisian fore, with variants such as fori and fora,^[8] Old Saxon fora, beside for, fore, fur and far,^[9] and Old High German fora.^[5] Old Dutch has fora as a preposition in the Old Low Franconian psalms of the 10th century and in Williram's commentary of about 1100.^[10] EWA notes that some of the corresponding forms in the other languages belong rather with Old High German furi.^[5]

Competing analyses

The Proto-Germanic ending is disputed.^[5] Wiktionary and Orel reconstruct *furai,^[1][2] Boutkan and Siebinga *furē.^[3] EWA derives the Germanic *-a from an Indo-European instrumental, perhaps a locative, in *-ē; it finds the derivations from an instrumental in *-ā or a dative or locative in *-ai, which Walde–Pokorny, Pokorny, Feist and Lehmann proposed, less likely, because *-ā would have given West Germanic *-u and *-ai Old High German -e.^[5]

Meanings

1. before, in front of^[1]

Old English also used the preposition for "because of", "for" and "instead of", and the adverb for "formerly";^[7] Old Frisian also for "on behalf of", "instead of" and "because of",^[8] and Old High German for "because of", "for" and "beyond".^[5]

Derivatives

• The prefix *forē- "fore-, pre-", which Wiktionary treats as a separate word;^[11] Old English, Old Frisian, Old Saxon and Old High German form many verbs and nouns with it.^{[12][6][13][14]}

Reflexes

• Old English: fore (“before, because of, for, instead of”)^[7]
• Old Frisian: fore (“for, before, instead of, because of”)^[8]
• Old Saxon: fora (“before, for, because of”)^[9]
• Old Dutch: fora (“before”)^[10]
• Old High German: fora (“before, in front, earlier, because of, for”)^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *forē
2. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 119
3. ^ a b Boutkan, Dirk; Siebinga, Sjoerd Michiel (2005), Old Frisian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 1, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. for- 1
4. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *fur, *fura
5. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. fora¹
6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altfriesisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. fora
7. ^ a b c Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. fore
8. ^ a b c Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. fore
9. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. for
10. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. fora
11. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *forē-
12. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. fore
13. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. fora
14. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. fora