*mīnaz

Reconstruction

The word is *mīnaz in Ringe, Orel and Wiktionary,^[1][2][3] and the stem *mīna- in Kroonen and Köbler.^[4][5]

Etymology

Kroonen traces it to *h₁meino-;^[4] Wiktionary has it from a Pre-Germanic *mey-no-s, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁mey (“I”), with the adjective suffix *-nos.^[3]

Morphology

The possessive adjective of the first person singular, belonging to *eka "I".^[4] It was inflected as a strong adjective; possession was normally expressed by such adjectives, not by the genitive: Ringe reconstructs the set *mīnaz, *þīnaz, the reflexive *sīnaz, and the dual and plural *unkaraz, *inkwaraz, *unsaraz and *izwaraz.^[1] Feist and Orel analyse it as the suffix *-no- added to *mei, the locative of the PIE pronoun stem *me-, which turned an adverbial form into an adjective.^[6][2] De Vries likewise forms it on *mī from PIE *mei.^[7] The genitive of the personal pronoun, Gothic 𐌼𐌴𐌹𐌽𐌰 (meina), has the same stem,^[8] and Orel reconstructs it as *mīna.^[9]

Evidence

The word is attested in all three branches: Gothic 𐌼𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃 (meins), Old Norse minn, and Old English mīn, Old Frisian mīn, Old Saxon mīn and Old High German mīn in West Germanic.^[4] It is common in the Gothic Bible.^[10] It is found in early runic inscriptions: the accusative singular masculine Proto-Norse ᛗᛁᚾᛁᚾᛟ (minino) on the Kjølevig-Strand stone and the nominative feminine Proto-Norse ᛗᛁᚾᚢ (minu) on the Opedal stone, both of the 5th century;^[7] Lehmann quotes "swestar minu" "my sister" from Opedal and "magoz minas staina" "my son's stone" from Vetteland, after Antonsen.^[11]

Competing analyses

Lehmann notes that the PIE genitive of the pronoun was originally uninflected and that forms with *-no- are dialectal innovations, and compares the Indo-Iranian and Baltic genitives in *-n-.^[11]

Meanings

1. my, mine^[4][5][3]

Reflexes

• Gothic: 𐌼𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃 (meins, “my”)^[6]
• Old Norse: minn (“my”)^[7]
• Old English: mīn (“my”)^[12]
• Old Frisian: mīn (“my”)^[13]
• Old Saxon: mīn (“my”)^[14]
• Old High German: mīn (“my”)^[15]

References

1. ^ a b Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 323
2. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 273
3. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *mīnaz
4. ^ a b c d e Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 369
5. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *mīna-
6. ^ a b Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. meins
7. ^ a b c de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 388
8. ^ de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 387
9. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 83
10. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. meins
11. ^ a b Lehmann, Winfred P. (1986), A Gothic Etymological Dictionary, based on the third edition of Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache by Sigmund Feist, Leiden: Brill, p. 278
12. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. min
13. ^ Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. mīn
14. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. mīn
15. ^ Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. s.v. mîn