ef

ef¹ doubt

Forms

ef (strong a-stem)^[3]

Etymology

The word for “doubt” is inherited from Proto-Germanic *jabą (“doubt, condition”),^[3] with the older form if, which survives in poetry.^[4][5] Feist gives it beside the conjunction under Gothic 𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌹 (ibai), and compares Old High German iba (“condition”).^[6][7] De Vries hesitates between this connection and a link with an Old Church Slavonic word for “supposition” and Latin opīnor (“to suppose”).^[5] Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon explains the alternation of ⟨e⟩ and ⟨i⟩ by differences of stress.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

ONP's first dated record is from 1275, in Barlaams saga: en ef nokkot er ef a þuisa male “but if there is any doubt in this matter”.^[1] In the older poetry the form is if: eromk if á því, at aptr komak in the Helgakviða Hjǫrvarðssonar.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The noun is mostly found in set phrases: ef er á e-u “something is doubtful”, e-t er til efs “something is open to doubt” and útan ef “without doubt”.^[9][1] ONP's genre table shows it most often in religious works.^[1] It survives in the Icelandic phrase mér er til efs “I doubt”,^[10] and Old Swedish iæf gave Swedish jäv.^[3] According to de Vries, Finnish borrowed both the noun and the related verb efa “to doubt”.^[5]

Timeline

• 1275 – ef “doubt” in Barlaams saga.^[1]
• 1300 – þar sem ef er a “wherever there is doubt” in a Christian law.^[1]
• 1312 – útan ef “without doubt” in Stjórn.^[1]

Meanings

Noun

1. doubt, uncertainty;^[1][9] til efs, doubtful.^[1][9]
2. útan ef, fyrir útan ef without a doubt, for certain.^[1][11]

Word family

• efa
• efasamr
• eflauss
• efalauss

Descendants

• Icelandic ef^[3]
• Old Swedish iæf^[3]
• Swedish jäv^[3]

ef² if

Forms

ef^[3]

Etymology

The conjunction “if” is inherited from Proto-Germanic *jabai (“if”),^[3][12] which Wiktionary explains as the dative of *jabą (“doubt, condition”), the source of ef¹ “doubt”.^[3] Its cognates are Gothic 𐌾𐌰𐌱𐌰𐌹 (jabai, “if”) and 𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌹 (ibai, “whether”), Old English gif, Old Frisian jef, Old Saxon ef and Old High German ibu.^[2][13][14]

Jóhannesson and de Vries derive it from the pronoun stem Proto-Indo-European *e-, *i-,^[15][2] while Feist and Torp connect the Gothic word with the relative stem Proto-Indo-European *yo- and Lithuanian jei (“if”).^[16][12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The conjunction is first in the Swedish runic inscription Hs 7, which Rundata dates to the 800s; it lays down fines ef hann hafsk ekki rétt fyrir “if he does not act rightly”.^[17][18] In manuscripts ONP's first record is in the homily manuscript Hóm237 of about 1150: ef ver liuom sva hręínlega at ver sem verþer at callasc goþs mustere “if we live so purely that we are worthy to be called God's temple”.^[1]

Semantic evolution

Besides conditions ef introduces indirect questions, “whether”, and once in a while stands for the relative er.^[9][11] In poetry it often takes the subjunctive.^[4][19] It survives as Icelandic ef,^[10] while in Swedish and Danish it became Swedish om and Danish om, which Hellquist and Falk–Torp explain as reshaped after the negative num “if not”.^[20][21]

Timeline

• 800s – if “if” in the runic inscription Hs 7.^[17]
• 1150 – ef ver liuom “if we live” in the homily manuscript Hóm237.^[1]
• 1150–1250 – ef and æf in the Norwegian fragments NRA norr fragm 81.^[22]
• 1200–1225 – ef in AM 677 4to.^[23]

Meanings

Conjunction

1. if, in case, should it happen that.^[1][9]
2. whether (in indirect questions).^[9][24]
3. since (in causal clauses); so that, to see if.^[1]

Descendants

• Icelandic ef^[3]
• Old Swedish ef^[3]
• Swedish om^[3]
• Old Danish æf^[3]
• Danish om^[3]