nan

Forms

nān^[1] Accusative singular masculine nǣnne beside nānne.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *nain, from Proto-Germanic *nainaz (“none”), made of Proto-Germanic *ne (“not”) and Proto-Germanic *ainaz (“one”).^[1] In Old English it is still the negative ne joined to ān (“one”), with the vowel of the negative lost before the vowel of the numeral.^[3][4][5] The same compound is Old Saxon nēn, Old High German nein and Old Norse neinn.^[6][3] Holthausen compares Latin nōn (“not”), from older noenum.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first dated record is the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20, 890×897), of rulers who are ne for nanum cræfte gecorene “not chosen for any skill”.^[7][8]

Semantic evolution

As an adjective it means “no, not one”, with or without other negatives in the clause; as a pronoun, often with a partitive genitive, it means “no one, none”.^[3][4] Liebermann finds it in the laws always with the particle ne before the verb.^[2] Nānes þinga means “on no account”.^[9]

The word became Middle English noon, now English none.^[10][1]

Timeline

• 890×897 – ne for nanum cræfte “not for any skill” in the Pastoral Care.^[7][8]
• s. ix/x – ac hi þar næfdan nanne “but they had none there” in the Parker Chronicle.^[11][8]
• s. x/xi – nān as adjective and pronoun in Beowulf.^[4][12]

Meanings

Determiner

1. no, not one, not any.^[3][1][13]

Pronoun

1. none, no one, nobody; with a partitive genitive.^[3][4][1]

Word family

• nānwiht

Descendants

• Middle English noon (→ English none; Scots nane)^[1]

Related words

• ān
• ne
• nǣniġ

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Liebermann, F. (1906), Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, vol. II.1: Wörterbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 153
3. ^ a b c d e Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 709
4. ^ a b c d 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. nān
5. ^ Hogg, Richard M. (1992), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 1: Phonology, Oxford: Blackwell, p. § 5.152
6. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 331
7. ^ a b 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
8. ^ a b c Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
9. ^ Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 144
10. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ 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. 83
12. ^ 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
13. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. nān