Difference between revisions of "Albeit - howbeit"
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Fowler's concern is mostly with the implications for punctuation. As '''howbeit''' is most commonly used at the start of a sentence although it is not a [[conjunction]] (~ 'joining word'), it should normally be preceded by a full stop. As '''albeit''', on the contrary, <u>is</u> a conjunction, it should normally be preceded by a comma. | Fowler's concern is mostly with the implications for punctuation. As '''howbeit''' is most commonly used at the start of a sentence although it is not a [[conjunction]] (~ 'joining word'), it should normally be preceded by a full stop. As '''albeit''', on the contrary, <u>is</u> a conjunction, it should normally be preceded by a comma. | ||
| − | ::The [[etymology]] of both these words may be worth attention. They contain a use of the [[subjunctive]] mood of the [[verb]] 'to be': each was originally a three-word phrase, ''''al'''[though] '''it''' [may] '''be'''' and ''''how'''[ever] '''it''' may '''be''''. Each had a [[past tense]], '''all were it''' and '''how were it'''. Neither is | + | ::The [[etymology]] of both these words may be worth attention. They contain a use of the [[subjunctive]] mood of the [[verb]] 'to be': each was originally a three-word phrase, ''''al'''[though] '''it''' [may] '''be'''' and ''''how'''[ever] '''it''' may '''be''''. Each had a [[past tense]], '''all were it''' and '''how were it'''. Neither of these past tenses is current in [[present-day English]]. |
[[category:malaprop 5]][[category:malaprop 4]][[category:punctuation]][[category:sentence adverbs]] | [[category:malaprop 5]][[category:malaprop 4]][[category:punctuation]][[category:sentence adverbs]] | ||
Latest revision as of 13:29, 22 November 2016
This is a pair of words classed by Fowler 1931 as an example of his category Malaprop 5:
Words whose meaning is misapprehended without apparent cause,
although it might also be said that they belong to Malaprop 4:
Words having properly no connexion with each other, but confused through superficial resemblance.
- Albeit is properly a conjunction. It means the same as 'though', or 'although'. It can be used more firmly as a contrast, 'even though' or 'even if'. It is rather archaic, and is rarely found outside academic and legal English.
- Howbeit is even more archaic, although still to be found in academic writing - sometimes by the confusion that Fowler is trying to warn us against. It is nowadays only a sentence adverbial, roughly equivalent ot 'nevertheless' or 'however' (although OED records an obsolete usage as a conjunction, with a last quotation dated 1634.)
Fowler's concern is mostly with the implications for punctuation. As howbeit is most commonly used at the start of a sentence although it is not a conjunction (~ 'joining word'), it should normally be preceded by a full stop. As albeit, on the contrary, is a conjunction, it should normally be preceded by a comma.
- The etymology of both these words may be worth attention. They contain a use of the subjunctive mood of the verb 'to be': each was originally a three-word phrase, 'al[though] it [may] be' and 'how[ever] it may be'. Each had a past tense, all were it and how were it. Neither of these past tenses is current in present-day English.
