Reconstruction talk:Proto-Germanic/efþau
Etymology[edit]
Most reflexes listed here as descendants come from a few different forms:
*efþau (or *ifiþau) > Old Saxon eftha/eftho/efdo
*ehþau > Old English eþþa; Old Saxon ettha/ettho; Old Norse eða; Gothic aiþþau (the -h- is required, otherwise we'd expect *iþþau)
*ufþau > Old English ofþe; Old Dutch *oftho
*uþþan > Old English oþþon
*uþþau > Old English oþþe; Old High German odo
It seems that Proto-Germanic didn't have one specific term for "or", except apparently mostly *þau, but this was used in combination with a preceding particle denoting a more specific or directional sense to the phrase, probably equivalent in meaning perhaps to: *ehþau, "except that...", *ufþau, "upon that..." or maybe "supposing that...". *uþþau is a little harder to pin down, but looks to be related to Sanskrit utá, with similar semantics "and, also, even, or"; and it also shows up in Old High German dār-ot, German dort, as if from *þar-ud.
I don't really like making big changes like this on someone's else work, so I thought I'd leave this here for further discussion if I ever decide to do it. Burgundaz (talk) 07:05, 8 December 2021 (UTC)