Etymologically
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mann

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Pronunciation

  • /mɑnn/, [mɑn], /mɔnn/[1]

Forms

mann m (nominative plural menn) (strong consonant stem)[1]

  • Weak by-form manna (accusative mannan), mostly in poetry and the laws.[2]
  • Early West Saxon writes man about twice as often as mann.[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *mann, from Proto-Germanic *mann- (“person, man”).[1] Kroonen sets up the Proto-Germanic noun as *mannan-, with the cognates Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌽𐌽𐌰 (manna), Old Norse maðr, Old Frisian mon and Old High German man.[4] Köbler adds Old Saxon man and Old Dutch man.[5]

The further origin is uncertain.[5][6] Köbler gives the noun Proto-Indo-European *manus (“man, person”) with a question mark, and with another question mark the root *men- (“to think”).[5] Etymonline reports the link with the root meaning “to think”, which would make a man “one who has intelligence”, as a proposal not all linguists accept.[6] Holthausen compares Mannus, the ancestor of the Germans named by Tacitus, and words for “man” in Sanskrit and Old Church Slavonic, and connects the noun with the verb munan (“to remember, think”).[7] Wiktionary reports that Kroonen, following Berneker, prefers to derive it from the Proto-Indo-European word for “human”, *(dʰ)ǵʰmon-, whose initial cluster Germanic could not keep.[1]

Before nasals short ⟨a⟩ is often written ⟨o⟩, hence the spellings ⟨mon⟩ and ⟨monn⟩.[8] As an athematic noun it has i-umlaut in the dative singular and the nominative and accusative plural, menn.[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is in the oldest English charters of Christ Church, Canterbury.[10][11] The grant of the ealdorman Oswulf and his wife Beornthryth (dated 805×810) asks to share in the prayers for ða menn ða ðaer hlafordas wæron “the men who were lords there”; its single sheet is of the ninth century, judged contemporary by Parsons and written in the 840s by Crick.[10][12] The will of Abba the reeve (833×839), a contemporary single sheet, asks that swælc monn se ðæt min lond hebbe “whatever man holds my land” make a yearly render to the community at Folkestone.[11][12]

Semantic evolution

The first sense is a human being of either sex: Ælfric's Grammar explains Latin “homo” as ægþer is mann ge wer ge wif “a mann is both a man and a woman”.[13] The noun is also used of a male, and of mankind in general.[13][14] A man under another's authority is someone's man: a servant, a vassal, and in church use a parishioner.[13] The name of the rune ᛗ was mann, and scribes sometimes wrote the rune for the word.[13]

The nominative man also served as an indefinite pronoun “one, they”, used like French “on” and German “man”, undeclined and often where Modern English has a passive.[15][16] Beowulf has it several times.[17]

The noun lived on as Middle English man, “a person, a man or woman”, now English man; the pronoun lasted into Middle English as man “one”.[18][6]

Timeline

  • s. ix – ða menn ða ðaer hlafordas wæron in Oswulf's charter for Christ Church, Canterbury (805×810).[10][12]
  • 833×839 – swælc monn se ðæt min lond hebbe in the will of Abba the reeve.[11][12]
  • 890×897 – monn oft aðint on ofermettum “a man often swells with pride” in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20).[19][20]
  • s. x/xi – the indefinite pronoun man “one” in the Beowulf manuscript.[21][17]

Meanings

Noun

  1. a human being, a person of either sex.[13][14]
  2. a man, an adult male.[13][1]
  3. mankind, people in general.[14][20]
  4. a man under another's authority: a servant, a vassal; in church use, a parishioner.[13]
  5. a brave man, a hero.[14][22]
  6. the name of the rune ᛗ (m).[13][1]

Pronoun

  1. (indefinite) one, anyone, people, they; often where Modern English uses a passive.[16][15]

Word family

  • ealdormann
  • ċēapmann
  • crīstenmann
  • frēomann
  • hēafodmann
  • lidmann
  • wǣpnedmann
  • mancynn
  • manslaga
  • mennisċ

Descendants

  • Middle English man (→ English man; English -man; Scots man)[1]
  • Middle English monne (→ English me)[1]
  • munan

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 669
  3. ^ Hogg, Richard M. (1992), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 1: Phonology, Oxford: Blackwell, p. § 7.81
  4. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 353
  5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. mann
  6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 215
  8. ^ Hogg, Richard M. (1992), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 1: Phonology, Oxford: Blackwell, p. § 2.13
  9. ^ Hogg, Richard M. (1992), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 1: Phonology, Oxford: Blackwell, p. § 5.85
  10. ^ a b c The Electronic Sawyer: Online Catalogue of Anglo-Saxon Charters, revised ed. by S. E. Kelly and R. Rushforth, King's College London / University of Cambridge, esawyer.lib.cam.ac.uk, p. S 1188
  11. ^ a b c The Electronic Sawyer: Online Catalogue of Anglo-Saxon Charters, revised ed. by S. E. Kelly and R. Rushforth, King's College London / University of Cambridge, esawyer.lib.cam.ac.uk, p. S 1482
  12. ^ a b c d Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 668
  14. ^ a b c d Clark Hall, J. R. (1960), A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 4th ed., with a supplement by H. D. Meritt, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 229
  15. ^ a b Hogg, Richard M.; Fulk, R. D. (2011), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 2: Morphology, Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, p. § 5.33
  16. ^ a b Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 666
  17. ^ a b Fulk, R. D.; Bjork, Robert E.; Niles, John D., eds. (2008), Klaeber's Beowulf and The Fight at Finnsburg, 4th ed., Toronto: University of Toronto Press (glossary), p. s.v. monn
  18. ^ Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  19. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 499
  20. ^ a b Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 631
  21. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 344
  22. ^ Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 136