bihabbjan (Proto-West Germanic)
Where does "bihabbjan" come from?
The Proto-West Germanic verb 'bihabbjan', meaning 'to have around, keep', 'to contain', or 'to retain', was formed by combining the prefix '*bi-' with the verb '*habbjan'[1]. The latter descends from Proto-Germanic '*habjaną'[2], which traces back to an innovated post-Indo-European stative present '*kh₂ph₁yé-' originating from the Proto-Indo-European root '*kap-' meaning 'to seize'[3].
Open questions
- The Proto-Indo-European root 'kap-' is possibly a non-Indo-European loanword and perhaps onomatopoeic or sound-symbolic. [4]
Full etymology tree
- *bihabbjan (Proto-West Germanic), 'to have around, keep'
- prefix *bi- (Proto-West Germanic)
- compound *habbjan (Proto-West Germanic), 'to have'
- inherited *habjaną (Proto-Germanic), 'to have, to hold'
- derived *kh₂ph₁yé- (Proto-Indo-European)
- derived *kap- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to seize, to grab'
- derived *kh₂ph₁yé- (Proto-Indo-European)
- inherited *habjaną (Proto-Germanic), 'to have, to hold'
Ancestors
- *habbjan (Proto-West Germanic)
Descendants and derived words
- behabban (Old English)
- bihebbian (Old Saxon)
Sources
- bihabbjan (Proto-West Germanic) - Wiktionary
- habbjan (Proto-West Germanic) - Wiktionary
- habjaną (Proto-Germanic) - Wiktionary
- kap- (Proto-Indo-European) - Wiktionary
Updated August 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris