alyve

alyve

Middle English

Alternative forms

• alife, a-live, alive, a-lyve, olife, olive, o-live, olyve

Etymology

From Old English on līfe; equivalent to a- +‎ lyve (dative singular of lyf (“life”)).[1][2]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aˈliːv(ə)/, /ɔˈliːv(ə)/

Adjective

alyve

1. alive, living
   • c. 1395, John Wycliffe, John Purvey [et al.], transl., Bible (Wycliffite Bible (later version), MS Lich 10.)‎, published c. 1410, Apocalips 1:18, page 117v, column 2; republished as Wycliffe's translation of the New Testament, Lichfield: Bill Endres, 2010:

     […] I am alyue ⁊ I was deed / ⁊ lo I am lyuynge in to woꝛldis of woꝛldis / ⁊ I haue þe keies of deþ ⁊ of helle.

     […] I am alive, though I was dead. Now see - I will be living forever, and I have the keys to death and Hell.

2. extant, existent

Usage notes

• Like modern English alive, alyve usually follows the noun it modifies.

Descendants

• English: alive, live
• Scots: alive, live

References

1. Jespersen, Otto (1909) A Modern English Grammar on Historical Principles (Sammlung germanischer Elementar- und Handbücher; 9)‎, volume I: Sounds and Spellings, London: George Allen & Unwin, published 1961, § 6.31, page 194.
2. “alīve, adv. & adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.