ob German · revision 34908

+ {{homograph|1|whether, if}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=c. 765, Old High German glosses (Abrogans)|origins=gem-pro *ibai}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ɔp/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ob''' (subordinating conjunction)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The conjunction is [[inh|gmh|obe]], [[inh|goh|ibu]], with the later Old High German variants [[m|goh|ubi]] and [[m|goh|oba]], which arose by a shift of the vowels.^(Kluge 2011|663)^(EWA|5, 6)^(DWB|13, 1050) The same word is [[got|𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌹|tr=ibai]], [[non|ef]] and [[osx|ef]].^(Kluge 2011|663)^(Paul 2002) In [[en|if]] and [[ofs|jef]] the counterpart of [[m|got|𐌾𐌰𐌱𐌰𐌹|tr=jabai]] seems to have been mixed in.^(Kluge 2011|663)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Its further origin is not certain.^(Duden 7 2014|598)^(Duden GWDS 1999) Kluge sets up [[gem-pro|*eba-]] with various case endings, and takes it as possibly put together from a pronominal stem [[m|gem-pro|*e-]] and [[ine-pro|*bʰo-|t=both]], the root of [[beide]]: “these two” could easily come to mean “whether” at the start of a question between two possibilities.^(Kluge 2011|663) Lühr, as Kluge reports, sees in the second part a particle of affirmation.^(Kluge 2011|663) The Grimms' dictionary explained the Gothic forms as case forms of a noun meaning “doubt, condition”, kept in Notker's [[m|goh|iba|t=condition]].^(DWB|13, 1050)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''ibu'' is first recorded in the glosses of the Abrogans (about 765), and then in Isidor, the Tatian, Otfrid, the ''Hildebrandslied'', the ''Muspilli'' and the ''Ludwigslied'', meaning “if, in case, whether” and “although”, for Latin ''si'', ''num'' and ''etsi''.^(EWA|5, 6)^(Köbler AHD)^(Schützeichel 2012|163)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In older German ''ob'' mainly introduced conditions, and it was gradually pushed out of this use by [[wenn]];^(Paul 2002) Early New High German still has ''ob jemand sündiget, so haben wir einen Fürsprecher'' (Luther).^(Paul 2002) The conditional use survives in ''als ob'' “as if”.^(Paul 2002)^(Duden GWDS 1999) From conditions came concessions, as in Luther's ''ob seine Wurzel in der Erde veraltet, so grünet er doch wieder'', and the compounds [[obgleich]], [[obschon]] and [[obwohl]], formed in the 16th and 17th centuries.^(Paul 2002)^(Duden 7 2014|598) Early New High German used ''ob'' in conditional, concessive, final and temporal clauses as well.^(FWB) In student slang of 1813 ''Ob wohl?'' was the usual reply to a statement one did not believe.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 765 – Old High German ''ibu'' appears in the Abrogans glosses.^(EWA|5, 6)^(Köbler AHD)

+ * 16th–17th century – ''obgleich'', ''obschon'' and ''obwohl'' are formed.^(Duden 7 2014|598)

+ * 1813 – ''Ob wohl?'' is recorded in student slang.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Conjunction===

+ # [[m|en|whether]], if, introducing an indirect question or a doubt: ''sie fragte, ob der Laden noch offen sei''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # In ''als ob'': as if.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(dated, with auch)'' Even if.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # With ''oder'' or repeated: whether … or: ''ob jung, ob alt''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' In ''und ob!'': emphatic yes, “and how!”^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[obgleich]]

+ * [[obschon]]

+ * [[obwohl]]

+ * [[obzwar]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|above, on account of}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 8th century, Old High German glosses (Abrogans)|origins=ine-pro *upó}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ɔp/, /oːp/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ob''' (preposition with the genitive, archaic or regional with the dative)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The preposition is [[inh|gmh|obe]], [[inh|goh|oba|t=above, over]], [[inh|gem-pro|*uba]].^(Kluge 2011|663)^(EWA|6, 1095)^(Kroonen 2013) The same word is [[got|𐌿𐍆|tr=uf|t=under]] and [[non|of|t=over, about]], and Old English had it in compounds such as [[ang|ufeweard|t=upward]].^(Kluge 2011|663)^(EWA|6, 1095)^(Kroonen 2013) The EWA explains the Gothic form by loss of the final vowel, while the Old High German form kept it.^(EWA|6, 1095) It goes back to [[ine-pro|*upó]], a petrified allative according to Kroonen, also found in [[sa|उप|tr=úpa|t=towards, near]], [[grc|ὑπό|tr=hupó|t=under]] and [[sga|fo|t=under]].^(Kroonen 2013)^(Wiktionary)^(Kluge 2011|663) It is closely related to [[oben]], [[ober]], [[über]] and [[auf]].^(Duden 7 2014|598)^(DWB|13, 1046)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''oba'' is recorded from the end of the 8th century, in the Abrogans and other glosses, the Benedictine Rule, Isidor, the Tatian, Otfrid and Notker, as an adverb “above” and a preposition “on, over, above”;^(EWA|6, 1095)^(Schützeichel 2012|243) ''oba deru sachu'' meant “for this reason”.^(EWA|6, 1095)^(Schützeichel 2012|243)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ As an independent word ''ob'' has been replaced by [[oberhalb]] and [[über]].^(Kluge 2011|663)^(Duden 7 2014|598) It survives in place names such as Rothenburg ob der Tauber and in compounds: [[Obdach]], Old High German ''obadah'' “roof, shelter”, Middle High German ''obeman'' (modern [[Obmann]]), and [[Obacht]] and [[Obhut]] from the 17th century.^(Duden 7 2014|598) Participles such as ''obgenannt'' and ''oberwähnt'' “mentioned above” were much commoner in older New High German.^(DWB|13, 1046) The causal sense “on account of” is formal and literary.^(Wiktionary)^(Wiktionary DE) The word is chiefly Upper German, with a short vowel in Alemannic and a long one in Austro-Bavarian.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 8th century – Old High German ''oba'' appears in glosses.^(EWA|6, 1095)

+ * 17th century – ''Obacht'' and ''Obhut'' are formed.^(Duden 7 2014|598)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Preposition===

+ # ''(formal, literary, with the genitive)'' On [[m|en|account]] of, because of: ''ob seiner Verdienste geehrt''.^(Wiktionary)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # ''(archaic, regional)'' [[m|en|above]], over, in place names: ''Rothenburg ob der Tauber''.^(Wiktionary)^(Duden 7 2014|598)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Obacht]]

+ * [[Obdach]]

+ * [[Obhut]]

+ * [[Obmann]]

+ * [[darob]]

+ * [[obderennsisch]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[oben]]

+ * [[ober]]

+ * [[über]]

+ * [[en|if]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}