Henry, Victor (1900), “aber”, inLexique étymologique des termes les plus usuels du breton moderne (Bibliothèque bretonne armoricaine; III) (in French), Rennes: J. Plihon et L. Hervé
Unlike most other conjunctions,aber doesn't need to be the first word of a clause and can thereby emphasize the preceding word(s):Ich bin dafür, eraber lehnt es ab. — “I’m in favour,buthe has rejected it.” In such a construction,aber can be considered an adverb, though the usual interpretation is that it is still a conjunction.
After a negative,sondern is used to announce a reinforcing specification of the negative statement, whileaber announces a correction to its suggestion. Compare:
Wir haben keine Pizza gekauft,sondern Zutaten, um eine selbst zu machen. ―We didn't buy a pizzabut (look here, we bought) ingredients to make one ourselves.
Wir haben keine Pizza gekauft,aber Zutaten, um eine selbst zu machen. ―We didn't buy a pizzabut (don't worry, we did buy) ingredients to make one ourselves.
Wir haben die Pizza nicht selbst gemacht,aber haben auch Zutaten gekauft, um sie zu verbessern. ―We didn't make the pizza ourselvesbut (do not or do worry) also bought ingredients to improve it.
It's usually better or less dated English to not translatesondern withbut:
Er ist nicht genial,sondern dumm. ―He isn’t brilliant;in fact he's stupid. / He isn’t brilliant, (damnit) he's stupid.
Er ist nicht genial,aber ziemlich klug. ―He isn’t brilliantbut quite intelligent.
Ali, Hasan (2002), “aber”, inKamus Bahasa Daerah Using-Indonesia [Osingese-Indonesian Dictionary][3], 1st edition (in Indonesian), Banyuwangi: Pemerintah Kabupaten Banyuwangi, page 1
2010, John Cumming, “Whin a man turns aald”, inWhite below: poems and stories from Shetland's fishing industry, Orkney: Hansel Cooperative Press, page50:
He luikit at da younger man, fresh faced andaaber in his best Fair Isle gansey. O a sudden a heaviness caam ower him, and he booed his haed.
He looked at the younger man, fresh faced andkeen in his best Fair Isle jersey. Suddenly a heaviness came over him, and he bowed his head.
Isaković, Alija (1993), “aber”, inRječnik karakteristične leksike u bosanskome jeziku [Dictionary of characteristic words of the Bosnian language] (in Serbo-Croatian), Wuppertal: Bambi,→ISBN, page44
^Delyth Prys; J.P.M. Jones; Owain Davies; Gruffudd Prys (2006),Y Termiadur: termau wedi'u safoni; standardised terminology[1] (in Welsh), Cardiff: Awdurdod cymwysterau, cwricwlwm ac asesu Cymru (Qualifications curriculum & assessment authority for Wales),→ISBN, page 1
^R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke,et al., editors (1950–present), “aber”, inGeiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies
