How Does the Word Behave Reflect Its Etymological Roots?

[Astronuc]

Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -gies
Etymology: Middle English ethimologie, from Latin etymologia, from Greek, from etymon + -logia -logy
1 : the history of a linguistic form (as a word) shown by tracing its development since its earliest recorded occurrence in the language where it is found, by tracing its transmission from one language to another, by analyzing it into its component parts, by identifying its cognates in other languages, or by tracing it and its cognates to a common ancestral form in an ancestral language

2 : a branch of linguistics concerned with etymologies

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I listen to the local Public Radio, and they broadcast "Word for the Wise", which always has interesting stories about words.

The one on "Behave" was interesting - http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/wftwarch.pl?120805

A fellow whose behavior, in our experience, has been nothing other than exemplary—but who has admittedly spent a fair amount of time with a toddler—urged us to have at the word behave.

Much to our surprise, behave is composed of be plus have. To have is to "own, possess, contain, hold," or "include." Have also means to "be marked, distinguished," or "characterized by"; to "exhibit, show, or manifest"; and to "know" or "understand."

What's the buzz on be? That prefix is used to mean "on, around, over," or "throughout" and "thoroughly; excessively." To possesses oneself thoroughly or to distinguish oneself throughout is, in a roundabout sort of way, to behave. In fact, the very earliest meaning of behave was to conduct oneself in a specified manner. In the past, behave has also been used to mean "restrain" or "regulate."

Over the centuries, behave also has come to refer to meeting a standard of what is proper and decorous. It compares with behoove, which means "to be necessary, fit, proper, or advantageous for" and which is commonly used impersonally.

It behooves us to pass along our e-mail address if we expect to hear from you.

WFTW archives at - http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/wftw_arcindex.pl

I would like to dedicate this thread in honor of honestrosewater.

 

[honestrosewater]

I would like to dedicate this thread in honor of honestrosewater.

Are you trying to say something about my behavior?

What interests me most about this proposed origin of behave is that the pronunciation of the root's vowel (the a in have) is different. Have is pronounced /hæv/; behave is pronouned /bihev/, not /bihæv/, as I would expect.¹ /bihæv/ is an acceptable English word, and pairs similar to have ~ behave do not show the same difference -- half ~ behalf, chance ~ bechance, dazzle ~ bedazzle, etc. So why is there a difference in this case? Was have pronounced /hev/ when behave originated and the pronunciation of have has since changed? When did behave orignate and in what form anyway? Is there some phonological process, or set of processes, that would change /bihæv/ to /bihev/? What is it? I've started to look into this, but it may take a while before I find an answer, if I ever do -- there's not enough time in a day. Anyone have information to add?

Something else that caught my eye: compare the meanings of have, hold, behave, and behold.

Thanks for sharing.

1. Or perhaps behave is more commonly pronounced /bIhev/ or /bəhev/ or some other way; my transcriptions are only meant as options -- and broad ones at that. (I'm not very good at transcriptions yet, and what is in one respect 'the same word' can be pronounced in different ways anyway.)