conj.
Gaw iif; WA yf, yff
'if' (Modern English if)
PGmc Ancestor
?*eƀō(i)
Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)
ef 'if, in the event that'
(ONP ef (3) (conjunc.))
Other Scandinavian Reflexes
Icel ef, if
OE Cognate
gif, gief, gyf (etc.) 'if'
Phonological and morphological markers
Summary category
CCC2a
MED’s earliest citations without an initial consonant are from manuscripts c. 1300, viz. ?a1300(a1250) Harrow.H.(Dgb 86), a1300(a1250) Bestiary (Arun 292), a1325(c1250) Gen.& Ex.(Corp-C 444), c1300(?c1225) Horn (Cmb Gg.4.27) (<ef>). LAEME dot map 00055403 shows the if-type of spellings already widely scattered, including some in the N/EM, but also a cluster in the SWM; and LALME dot map 211 has it widespread across the whole country. The clearly native-derived variants with initial /j/ are least common in the N and NM in both LAEME (dot map 00055405) and LALME (dot map 212) (see further Williamson 2002: 272-7).
Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus
Gaw 30, 272, 277, etc.; Pe 147, 264, 265 etc.; Cl 12, 13, 36 etc.; Pat 30, 75, 83 etc.; Erk 176, 271, 274; WA 13, 103, 106 etc.