Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/ab

This Proto-Germanic entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Germanic

Alternative forms

• *aba, *af, *afa

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑβ/
• Rhymes: -ɑβ

Preposition

*ab

1. away from, off of [with dative]
2. of [with dative]

Adverb

*ab

1. away

Descendants

• Proto-West Germanic: *ab(a), *af(a)
  • Old English: æf, of, ob — before b
    • Middle English: of, ofe, offe
      • English: off
      • Scots: aff
    • Middle English: of, ofe, offe, hof, ove, ob, om, oþ (before b, m, þ)
      • English: of
      • Scots: o, o'
      • Yola: ov, of, af, av
  • Old Frisian: af, of
    • Saterland Frisian: oawe, ou
    • West Frisian: af, ôf
  • Old Saxon: af
    • Middle Low German: af
      • Low German: af, of
      • Plautdietsch: auf
  • Old Dutch: ava, af-
    • Middle Dutch: ave, af
      • Dutch: af (but also ave- in averechts)
        • Afrikaans: af
      • Limburgish: aaf, aof
      • West Flemish: of
  • Old High German: aba; (rarely) ab; (northern) ava, af
    • Middle High German: abe, ab; (northern) ave, af
      • German: ab
        • Norwegian Bokmål: ab
      • Luxembourgish: of
      • Yiddish: אָפּ (op)
• Proto-Norse: *ᚨᛒ (*ab)
  • Old Norse: af
    • Icelandic: af
    • Faroese: av
    • Norwegian Nynorsk: av
    • Norwegian Bokmål: av
    • Norn: av
    • Elfdalian: åv
    • Old Swedish: af, āf, aff
      • Swedish: av, af (pre-1906 spelling; remains in surnames)
    • Danish: af
• Gothic: 𐌰𐍆 (af)

Related terms

adverbs and adpositions

• *aferą, *afurą (“after”)
• *aftai (“behind”)
• *aftanē (“from behind”)
• *after (“after”)
• *aftrą (“back”)
• *fanē, *funē (“from”)

nominals

• *abjǫ­̄ f (“ebb”)
• *abuhaz (“turned the wrong way”)
• *aferadagaz m (“morrow, day after”)
• *aferaz (“later”)
• *afteraz (“back”)
• *aftumô (“last”)
• *fursaz m (“waterfall”) (possibly)