Where does “さもなくば” come from?

さもなくば (Japanese) comes from Japanese ば, from Japanese は, from Old Japanese は.

さもなくば (Japanese): otherwise, or, else

Definitions

  1. otherwise, or, else

Ancestry of “さもなくば”, step by step

さもなくば traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese ば

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1JapaneseばIn Modern Japanese, attaches to the kateikei, and...
2Japaneseはwhat about, where is; Inserted between two verbs...
3Old Japaneseは—

via Japanese さもない

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japaneseさもない—
Every word from Old Japanese は →Every word from Japanese は →Every word from Japanese ば →