Etymologically
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nama

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Pronunciation

Forms

nama m (nominative plural naman) (weak)[1] Lindisfarne Gospels gloss (Northumbrian): noma.[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *namō, from Proto-Germanic *namô (“name”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁nómn̥ (“name”).[1] The Germanic cognates are Gothic 𐌽𐌰𐌼𐍉 (namō), Old Norse nafn, Old Frisian noma, Old Saxon namo and Old High German namo.[3][4][5] It is the Indo-European word for name, found also in Latin nōmen, Ancient Greek ὄνομα (ónoma) and Old Irish ainm.[3][4][6]

Kroonen reconstructs a proterodynamic paradigm *h₃néh₃-mn̥, genitive *h₃nh₃-mén-s, and thinks that Germanic generalised the zero grade of the root.[3] Wiktionary calls the exact Indo-European form highly uncertain.[1] The Proto-Germanic noun was a neuter, as in Gothic, but became masculine in West Germanic.[7] Before the nasal the stem vowel was nasalised, so that it is written both ⟨a⟩ and ⟨o⟩: ⟨nama⟩ ~ ⟨noma⟩.[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is recorded in the will of Abba, a Kentish reeve, of 833×839, which survives as a contemporary single sheet; its endorsement says that his wife Heregyth commands those who hold the land after her, on Godes noman, "in God's name", to keep the render to Christ Church.[10][11]

Semantic evolution

Toller's Supplement separates the name of a single person, animal, place or thing, the word used for a kind of thing, the name of God or Christ with the power in it, and reputation.[12] In the laws it is nearly always the name of God, and for Godes naman means "for God's sake, unselfishly".[13] Ælfric's Grammar uses it for the grammatical noun, Latin nōmen, beside āgen nama "proper noun".[14]

The word lived on as Middle English name, now English name.[15][16]

Timeline

  • 833×839 – on Godes noman “in God's name” in Abba's will, a contemporary single sheet.[10][11]
  • s. ix med. – in the Vespasian Psalter gloss.[17][11]
  • 890×897 – in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20).[18][11]
  • s. x/xi – Hrunting nama “Hrunting by name”, of a sword, in the Beowulf manuscript.[19][14]

Meanings

Noun

  1. a name of a person, place or thing.[14][12]
  2. the name of God, invoked with its power.[12][13]
  3. reputation, repute.[12][20]
  4. (grammar) a noun.[14][21]

Word family

  • bīnama
  • forenama
  • frēonama
  • nambōc
  • nambred
  • namcūþ
  • namcūþlīċe
  • namian
  • nammǣlum
  • tōnama

Descendants

  • Middle English name (→ English name; Scots name)[1]
  • nemnian

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Cook, Albert S. (1894), A Glossary of the Old Northumbrian Gospels, Halle: Niemeyer, p. s.v. noma
  3. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 382
  4. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 280
  5. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. nama
  6. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 331
  7. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 79
  8. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 144
  9. ^ Hogg, Richard M. (1992), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 1: Phonology, Oxford: Blackwell, p. § 5.4
  10. ^ a b 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
  11. ^ 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
  12. ^ a b c d Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 646
  13. ^ a b Liebermann, F. (1906), Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, vol. II.1: Wörterbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 153
  14. ^ a b c d Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 708
  15. ^ 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)
  16. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  17. ^ 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. 329
  18. ^ 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
  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. 344
  20. ^ Clark Hall, J. R. (1960), A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 4th ed., with a supplement by H. D. Meritt, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 245
  21. ^ Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 144