On 2007-06-16 18:06, Andrew Jarrette wrote:
> newaere/niwa:ri = "nicht waere" = "would not be"? How does that meaning
> evolve into "only, merely, just"? And why does /nur/ have a high back
> vowel, not e.g. /"nehr"/ which might be more expected from *newaere?
No need to asterisk <newære>; it's attested. MHG has the complete
spectrum of intermediate forms, from <newære> via <newâr ~ niwâr ~ neuer
~ niwer ~ nuwer ~ nuer ~ neur ~ niur ~ nuor ~ ...> to <nûr>. The
semantic development is less odd that it might seem, as the preterite
subj. <wære> was often used in expressions indicating exclusion or
exception, more or less like "I have no friends, were (it) not (for)
John", in which "were not" (with phonetic contraction) could be
reinterpreted as "only".
Piotr