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*habbjan

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Etymology and origin of the Proto-West Germanic word *habbjan

*habbjan1 to have

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
Inherited from
Proto-Germanic *habjaną
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European *kap-
Etymology tree of *habbjan1
inherited borrowed derived
Proto-Germanic *habjaną
Dutch hebben
German haben
Proto-West Germanic *habbjan

Reconstruction

Ringe and Taylor reconstruct *habbjan "to have", underlyingly /habjan/, for Proto-West Germanic,[1] and Wiktionary has the same form.[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *habjaną (“to have, to hold”),[2] whose stem Ringe and Taylor give as *habja- ~ *habai-,[3] and which Kroonen sets up as the stative weak verb *habēn-.[4] In Proto-West Germanic the stem was *habja- ~ *habē-,[3] the unstressed *ai of the Proto-Germanic present *habaisi "you have", *habaiþi "(s)he has" having become *ē in *habēs, *habēþ.[5]

Morphology

A weak verb of class III.[1][6] With *saggjan "to say" and *libbjan "to live", it was one of the very common and basic verbs that were not remodelled when, in part of the northern West Germanic continuum, the stem vowel of the other class III verbs was remade on the model of class I.[1] The 2nd and 3rd singular *habēs, *habēþ are continued by Northumbrian Old English hæfes, hæfeð, the Old Saxon 2nd singular haƀes and Old High German habēs, while the syncope of the West Saxon forms is analogical.[5] In Old High German the syncopated pasts of the type *habda were mostly replaced by forms of class III, but hapta also occurs, and hebita in upper German sources.[6]

Evidence

The verb is attested in all the West Germanic languages: Old English habban, Old Frisian hebba, Old Saxon hebbian and Old High German habēn.[3] In Old Dutch, ONW has hatton "had" in the Old Low Franconian psalms of the 10th century, and the 3rd plural ⟨hebban⟩ in the pen trial ⟨Hebban olla uogala⟩ of 1083–1110.[7] Old High German has the verb from the 8th century.[6]

Competing analyses

Holthausen asks whether the verb belongs with hebban (“to lift”) or was borrowed from Latin habeō;[8] Berr connects it with Latin capiō (“to seize”) and holds that it is not cognate with Latin habeō (“to have”).[9] Kroonen takes it for a stative verb formed to the same root as Proto-Germanic *habjaną2 (“to lift”).[4]

Meanings

  1. to have[2]

Old English also used the verb for "to hold, to maintain, to protect, to consider",[10] Old Frisian for "to receive, to keep" and as an auxiliary of the perfect,[11] and Old High German for "to seize, to possess, to contain"; in Old High German its use as an auxiliary began early, first with transitive verbs.[6]

Derivatives

  • *habinōn "to handle": Old English hafenian (“to lift up”), Old Frisian havenia (“to handle, to put in order”), Old High German hebinōn.[3]
  • *bihabbjan "to keep, to contain, to retain", which Wiktionary reconstructs from *bi- and *habbjan;[12] Köbler lists the Old English compound with ⟨be-⟩.[10]

Reflexes

  • Old English: habban (“to have, to hold, to keep, to protect”)[10]
  • Old Frisian: hebba (“to have, to possess, to receive, to keep”)[11]
  • Old Saxon: hebbian (“to have”)[9]
  • Old Dutch: hebben (“to have”)[7]
  • Old High German: habēn (“to have, to hold, to possess, to contain”)[6]

*habbjan2 to lift

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
Inherited from
Proto-Germanic *habjaną
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European *kapyéti
Etymology tree of *habbjan2
inherited borrowed derived
Proto-Germanic *habjaną
Dutch hebben
German haben
Proto-West Germanic *habbjan

Reconstruction

Ringe and Taylor reconstruct a second *habbjan "to lift", written *[habbjan] and underlyingly /habjan/, for Proto-West Germanic,[13] and Wiktionary has the same form.[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *habjaną2 (“to lift”),[13] which Kroonen writes *hafjan- ~ *habjan-.[14] The *bj was geminated in West Germanic.[13][15] Ringe and Taylor give the Proto-Germanic principal parts as *habjaną, *hōf, *hōbun, *habanaz: as a j-present with a zero-grade root, the verb had the voiced Verner's law variant in the present, which Old English hebban and Old Saxon hebbian confirm.[16]

Morphology

A strong verb of class VI.[17][15] Old High German heffen, 3rd singular hevit, has the *f of the past singular *hōf levelled into the present, as Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐍆𐌾𐌰𐌽 (hafjan) has.[13][16] From this Ringe and Taylor conclude that *hōf had not yet been replaced by *hōb in Proto-West Germanic, and that the levelling of the voiced Verner's law variants through the past stem, which is found in all the daughters, was a later parallel change or spread through the West Germanic dialect continuum.[16] EWA likewise puts the differing consonants of the daughters down to partial levelling after the past.[15]

Evidence

The verb is attested as Old English hebban, Old Frisian hebba, Old Saxon hebbian and Old High German heffen,[18][19] and in Old Dutch as the infinitive heuon in the Old Low Franconian psalms of the 10th century.[20] Old High German has it from the 8th century.[15]

Competing analyses

Kroonen explains the variation between geminated and ungeminated forms by a Proto-Germanic paradigm in which the suffix stood in contact with the root-final consonant in some forms and not in others, and interprets it as an old i-present.[14] Ringe and Taylor instead derive the geminate from the gemination of consonants in West Germanic and the f of Old High German from levelling.[13]

Meanings

  1. to lift[13][2]

Old English also used the verb for "to raise, to exalt",[17] Old Frisian also for "to begin",[21] and Old High German for "to raise, to take up, to rise, to set out, to begin".[15] Berr notes that Old Saxon ahebbian is a calque on Latin incipiō (“to begin”).[9]

Derivatives

  • *uppahabbjan "to hold up, to lift up", which Wiktionary reconstructs from *uppa- and *habbjan;[22] Köbler lists compounds with ⟨up-⟩ in Old English, Old Frisian and Old Saxon.[17][18][19]
  • *habbjō "lifter, raiser; yeast", which Wiktionary reconstructs;[23] EWA explains Old High German heffa (“yeast”) as properly "the lifter", from heffen.[24]

Reflexes

  • Old English: hebban (“to lift, to raise, to exalt”)[17]
  • Old Frisian: hebba (“to lift”)[18]
  • Old Saxon: hebbian (“to lift, to raise”)[19]
  • Old Dutch: heffen (“to lift”)[20]
  • Old High German: heffen (“to lift, to raise, to rise, to begin”)[15]

References

  1. ^ a b c Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 365
  2. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *habbjan
  3. ^ a b c d Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 131
  4. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 197
  5. ^ a b Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 25
  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. habên
  7. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. hebben
  8. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. habban
  9. ^ a b c Berr, Samuel (1971), An Etymological Glossary to the Old Saxon Heliand, Berne / Frankfurt: Herbert Lang, p. s.v. hebbian
  10. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. habban
  11. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. hebba
  12. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *bihabbjan
  13. ^ a b c d e f Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 51
  14. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 198
  15. ^ a b c d e f 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. heffen, heven
  16. ^ a b c Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 100
  17. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. hėbban
  18. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altfriesisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. hebba
  19. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. hėbbian
  20. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. heffen
  21. ^ Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. heffa
  22. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *uppahabbjan
  23. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *habbjō
  24. ^ 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. heffa, heva

Related etymologies

  • *stain · also from Proto-Germanic
  • *beran · also from Proto-Germanic
  • *sōkijan · also from Proto-Germanic
  • *fimf · also from Proto-Germanic
  • *hail · also from Proto-Germanic
  • *hertā · also from Proto-Germanic
  • *busk · also from Proto-Germanic
  • *reht · also from Proto-Germanic
Cite this entry

“*habbjan.” Etymologically, 16 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/gmw-pro/*habbjan. Accessed 16 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·