neyghebour

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word neyghebour. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word neyghebour, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say neyghebour in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word neyghebour you have here. The definition of the word neyghebour will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofneyghebour, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

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 /ˈnɛi̯x(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): /ˈnɛi̯x(ə)bur/, /ˈniːx(ə)bur/, /-ˌbuːr/
  • (reduced) IPA(key): /ˈnɛi̯bur/, /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

References

Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia