An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/je
je, adv., older ie (which in the 17th cent. was supplanted by je, recorded at a still earlier period), ‘always, ever,’ from MidHG. ie, ‘at all times, always (of the past and present), the (with compars., distributives, &c.), at any (one) time,’ OHG. io, eo, ‘always, at any (one) time.’ The earliest OHG. form eo is based on *êo, aiw (comp. See, Schnee, and wie); comp. Goth. aiw, ‘at any time,’ OSax. êo, AS. â, ‘always’ (E. aye, from OIc. ei, ‘always’). Goth. aiw is an oblique case of the subst. aiws, ‘time, eternity,’ and because in Goth. only the combination of aiw with the negative ni occurs, it is probable that ni aiw (see nie), ‘never’ (‘not for all eternity’), is the oldest, and that the positive meaning, OHG. eo, ‘always,’ was obtained à posteriori; yet comp. Gr. αἰεί, ‘always,’ allied to αἰών, and see ewig and the following words.