hwæþer

hwæþer is an Old English conjunction and pronoun with the sense of “whether” or “which of two.” In medieval texts it functions to introduce alternatives or to mark a conditional choice, and it commonly appears in paired constructions such as hwæþer … oþþe …, meaning “whether … or ….” The form is found across various Old English dialects, principally in the 9th to 11th centuries, and occurs in prose and poetry both in West Saxon and other dialects.

Orthography and attestation: Spelling variants include hwæþer and its later-medieval reflexes such as hwæðer, reflecting scribal and dialectal variation. Scholarly editions often normalize the form depending on the manuscript tradition. The word is typically analyzed as a central element of the interrogative and demonstrative system in Old English, closely related to other forms used to pose alternatives or question possibilities.

Etymology: The exact origin of hwæþer is a subject of debate. It is generally thought to be connected with the broader Old English and Proto-Germanic interrogative/relatival vocabulary, forming a lexical unit that functions as “whether” or “which (of two).” While precise derivation is uncertain, the consensus places hwæþer within the Germanic family of words used to introduce alternatives and indirect questions.

Modern language and scholarship: hwæþer is obsolete in Modern English, but it is a standard item in dictionaries and grammars of Old English. It appears in philological discussions of syntax, particularly in analyses of how Old English encoded choice, condition, and indirect inquiry.

See also: Old English grammar; Interrogatives and relative pronouns in Old English; Conjunctions in Old English; Bosworth-Toller’s An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary.