neyghebour

Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Inherited from Old English nēahġebūr, from Proto-West Germanic *nāhwagabūrō, from Proto-Germanic *nēhwagabūrô. Corresponds to neygh +‎ bour.

Notes on phonological development

In late Old English, nēahġebūr is regularly shortened to nĕhġebur (/ˈnex.je.bur/); this creates a pronunciation difference between nēah and nēahġebūr); this regularly develops into /ˈnæi̯x(ə)bur/. forms with /iː/ are due to the influence of (some forms of) neygh, while forms with final-syllable /uː/ are due to the influence of bour (and possibly -our).

The last two forms discussed here are both attributable to a loss of /x/; forms with /nɛː/ is from an OE contracted form *nēahbur, *nēabur, where /x/ was lost before it could cause the diphthongisation ("breaking") of the preceding vowel and shortening was prevented due to the loss of a syllable, while forms with /p/ are apparently due to the mutual assimilation of /xb/.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈnæi̯x(ə)bur/, /ˈniːx(ə)bur/, /-ˌbuːr/
  • (reduced) IPA(key): /ˈnæi̯bur/, /ˈniːbur/, /ˈnɛːbur/, /-pur/

Noun

neyghebour (plural neyghebours)

  1. A neighbour; an adjacent or nearby individual (or thing)
  2. (by extension) A comrade; a fellow individual.

Derived terms

Descendants

  • English: neighbour, neighbor
  • Scots: neibour, nebour, neebour, nichbour, nechbour, neichbour
  • Yola: nypore, nipore

References

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