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IF,
a conjunction, expressive of doubt. (E.) M. E. if,
Chaucer, C. T. 145;
ȝif, P. Plowman, B. prol. 7;
giff, Barbour, Bruce, i. 12.—A.
S. gif, if; Grein, i. 505. + Icel. ef, older form also if, if. + Du.
of, or, if,
whether, but; cf. Du. alsof = as if. + O. Fries. ief, gef, ef, of, if. + O. Sax.
ef, of, if. + Goth. iba, ibai, perhaps, answering in form to E. if, Icel.
ef, O.
Fries. ief, gef, ef, O. Sax. ef; whence jabai, if (compounded of
jah, and, also,
and ibai) answering in form to Du. of, O. Fries. of, O. Sax.
of, G. ob. + O. H.
G. iba, condition, stipulation, whence the dat. case ibu, ipu, used in the sense
of 'if,' lit. 'on the condition;' also (answering to Goth. jabai) O. H. G.
upi,
upa, ube, oba, mod. G. ob, whether. β. The O. H. G.
ibu is the dat.
case of iba, as said above; so also the Icel. ef, if, is closely related to (and
once a case of) Icel. ef (older form if ), doubt, hesitation, whence also the
verb efa (formerly ifa), to doubt. All the forms beginning with
e or
i can be derived from a Teutonic type EBAI, dat. case of EBA, stipulation,
doubt; see Fick, iii. 20. The other forms are evidently closely
related. γ. The W. o, if (for op, Rhys) is also cognate; we may also
compare Lat. op- in op-īnus, imagining, op-inari, to suppose,
op-inio, an
opinion; see Opinion. There is a probable further connection with
Lat. apisci, to acquire, and aptus, fit; see Apt. The probable root
is
✔AP, to attain; cf. Skt.
áp, to attain, obtain. Thus the
train of thought would pass from 'attainment' to 'stipulation,' and thence to
'doubt.' ¶ The guess of Horne Tooke's, that A. S.
gif is the
imperative mood of A. S. gifan, to give, has been copied only too often.
It is plainly wrong, (1) because the A. S. use of the words exhibits no such
connection, and (2) because it fails to explain the Friesci, Icelandic, German,
and Gothic forms, thus ignoring the value of comparison in
philology. But it will long continue to be held as indubitably true
by all who prefer plausibility to research, and who regard English as an
isolated language.
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