nawiht

Forms

nāwiht n (strong a-stem)^[1] Also nāwuht and nōwiht, and contracted nāuht, nāht and nōht.^[1][2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *naiwwiht (“nothing”), made of *naiw (“never”) and *wiht (“thing”), the latter from Proto-Germanic *wihtą.^[1] In Old English terms it is nā “not, never” with wiht “thing, creature”, or ne with āwiht “anything”;^[1][3][4] Holthausen sets up *ni-ā-wiht.^[1][3][4] The noun for “thing” is old: Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌹𐌷𐍄𐍃 (waihts), Old Norse véttr, Old High German wiht.^[5]

Comparable compounds are Old Frisian nāwet, Old Saxon neowiht, Old Dutch niewiht and Old High German niowiht, the source of German nicht;^(Köbler AE|s.v. nāht the Gothic phrase is 𐌽𐌹 (ni) with the same noun.^[6][4][7]

In the unstressed second element the /i/ either stayed (nāwiht) or was retracted to /u/ after /w/ (nāwuht).^[8] The contracted forms nāuht, nāht, nōht stand beside the full ones; the earliest is nōht in the Vespasian Psalter gloss, beside nōwiht.^[2][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is dated from the mid-ninth century in the Old English gloss of the Vespasian Psalter: Dryhten receð me & nowiht me wonu bið “the Lord rules me and nothing will be lacking to me” renders “Dominus regit me et nihil mihi deerit” (Psalm 22).^[10][11] The Pastoral Care of 890×897 has ðætte he ne ðohte nawuht ungesceadwislices “that he should think nothing unreasonable”.^[12][11]

Semantic evolution

As a noun it means “nothing”, a thing of no value, and also wickedness: in the Pastoral Care náwht renders Latin “nequitia”.^[13][14] The Old English Boethius argues Yfel is náuht “evil is nothing”, since God could have made it if it were anything.^[13] The genitive nāhtes means “worthless”, and the word is also an indeclinable adjective “worthless, bad”.^[14][6] As an adverb it means “not, not at all”, often strengthening ne.^[13][1] In glosses it renders Latin “nihil”.^[6]

Middle English nought kept the senses “nothing” and “evil”.^[15] English naught and nought go back to the two Old English vowels, and the adjective meaning “good for nothing” led to English naughty.^[7] The adverb, weakened when unstressed, became not in the thirteenth century.^[7]

Timeline

• s. ix med. – nowiht me wonu bið “nothing will be lacking to me” in the Vespasian Psalter gloss.^[10][11]
• 890×897 – nawuht in the Pastoral Care.^[12][11]
• s. x med. – Yfel is náuht “evil is nothing” in the Old English Boethius.^[16][13]
• ?a1160 – naht “nothing” in the Peterborough Chronicle, annal for 1137.^[15]
• mid-13th century – the unstressed adverb not.^[7]

Meanings

Pronoun

1. nothing, naught.^[13][14][3]
2. a thing of no value; nothingness.^[13][14]
3. wickedness, an evil deed.^[14][3]

Adjective

1. (indeclinable) worthless, bad.^[14][6]

Adverb

1. not, not at all.^[13][14]
2. used with ne for emphasis.^[1]

Word family

• nāteshwōn

Descendants

• Middle English nought (→ English naught; English nought; English not)^[1][15][7]

Related words

• āwiht
• wiht
• nānwiht
• nā

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Hogg, Richard M.; Fulk, R. D. (2011), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 2: Morphology, Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, p. § 5.34
3. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. nāwiht
4. ^ a b c Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 231
5. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 578
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. nāht
7. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ Hogg, Richard M. (1992), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 1: Phonology, Oxford: Blackwell, p. § 6.8
9. ^ Hogg, Richard M. (1992), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 1: Phonology, Oxford: Blackwell, p. § 6.71
10. ^ 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. 329
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 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
13. ^ a b c d e f g Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 709
14. ^ a b c d e f g Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 144
15. ^ a b c 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. ^ 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. 296