Gōdne ǣfen
The phrase "good evening" in Old English is Gōdne ǣfen.
Gōdne ǣfen is used as a greeting during the evening.
Meaning: greeting said in the evening (intj)
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase consists of gōdne, which is the accusative masculine singular form of gōd (good) and ǣfen, which is the accusative masculine singular form of ǣfen (evening).
How does it change in a sentence?
The form Gōdne ǣfen is in the accusative case because it functions as an elliptical expression of "I wish (to) a good evening."
Did you know?
- The masculinity of the word ǣfen meant that the adjective gōd had to change its ending to match the 'gender' of the time of day.
- The word ǣfen is a direct ancestor of the modern English word 'even', which once meant 'evening' in poetic contexts. This is why 'even' is still used as a literary shortening of 'evening' today.
- The spelling of ǣfen uses a ligature, the character æ, which represents a single vowel sound produced by combining 'a' and 'e'.
Examples in context
- Gōdne ǣfen.Good evening.This example shows how to use Gōdne ǣfen as a standalone greeting.Tatoeba #8865639 by iiujik, translation #333156 by Aurix
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
