libban

Old English

Alternative forms

• lybban, lifian, leofian
• lifġan — Anglian

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *libbjan, from Proto-Germanic *libjaną.

Cognate with Old Frisian leva, Old Saxon libbian, Old High German lebēn, Old Norse lifa, Gothic 𐌻𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌽 (liban).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlib.bɑn/

Verb

libban

1. to live
   • late 10th century, Ælfric, the Old English Hexateuch, Genesis 45:3

     And hē cwæþ tō his ġebrōðrum, "Iċ eom Iosep! Leofaþ ūre fæder nū ġīet?" Þā ne meahton his ġebrōðru him for eġe ġeandwyrdan.

     And he said to his brothers, "I am Joseph! Is our father still alive?" But, out of fear, his brothers could not answer him.

Conjugation

The class III weak verbs were all subject to some degree of remodeling in Old English. In libban this can be seen in the sg. imp. and the 2nd. & 3rd. sg. prs. ind., which resemble class II weak forms. In the Anglian dialects, forms with libb- are instead found as lifġ-. Unlike habban & secgan, class II variants can also be found for the entire remainder of the paradigm in all dialects.

Conjugation of libban (weak, class 3)

infinitive	libban	libbenne
indicative mood	present tense	past tense
first person singular	libbe	lifde
second person singular	leofast	lifdest
third person singular	leofaþ	lifde
plural	libbaþ	lifdon
subjunctive	present tense	past tense
singular	libbe	lifde
plural	libben	lifden
imperative
singular	leofa
plural	libbaþ
participle	present	past
	libbende	(ġe)lifd

Derived terms

• ġelibban
• mislibban
• oferlibban

Descendants

• Middle English: lyven, leeve, lefe, leve, leven, libbe, libben, lifen, live, liven, lybbe, lyve, libbæn, libbenn, livie, livien, luvien (Early Middle English)
  • English: live
  • Scots: leeve
  • Yola: live