*namô

Reconstruction

The word is *namô in Wiktionary,^[1] *namōn- in Kroonen,^[2] *namōn in Orel,^[3] *naman in Köbler^[4] and *naman- in Bammesberger.^[5] Ringe writes the nominative *namō, with an oblique stem *namn-.^[6]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₁nómn̥ (“name”), the Indo-European word for "name", whose exact form and inflection are very uncertain.^[2][1]

Morphology

An n-stem.^[2][4] It is a neuter in Gothic, with the plural Gothic 𐌽𐌰𐌼𐌽𐌰 (namna), a masculine in West Germanic, and a neuter a-stem in Old Norse.^[2][7] Ringe takes the Old Norse singular nafn as a back-formation from the plural.^[6]

The ablaut of the root is explained in different ways: Kroonen sets up a proterodynamic PIE paradigm, nominative *h₃néh₃-mn, genitive *h₃nh₃-mén-s, and thinks that Germanic generalised the zero grade of the root, in which the laryngeal became a vowel.^[2] Ringe derives the Germanic word from the PIE collective *h₁nóh₃mō, oblique *h₁n̥h₃mn-: the first syllable of the direct cases was carried into the oblique ones, the suffix n was not syllabic, and Osthoff's law shortened the vowel before the cluster, which gave *namō, *namn-.^[6] Bammesberger names the two rival PIE starting points, *nom-en- and *hneh-men-.^[5] A long grade *nōm- survives in a derived verb: Kroonen's *nōmjan- "to call, to give a name", in Middle Dutch noemen and Middle High German benüemen, keeps the original full grade of the root, otherwise lost in Germanic;^[8] Orel's *nōmjanan includes Old Frisian nōmia (“to name”), which Kroonen reads instead with a short vowel, from *namōjan-.^[9][8] Feist also cites this ō-grade, like that of Latin nōmen.^[10]

Evidence

The word is attested in all three branches: Gothic 𐌽𐌰𐌼𐍉 (namo) in Gothic, Old Norse nafn in Old Norse, and Old English nama, Old Frisian noma, Old Saxon namo and Old High German namo in West Germanic.^[2] The Gothic word is in Wulfila's Bible.^[11] De Vries cites a runic Swedish dative plural ⟨nabnum⟩ on the Rök stone of about 800.^[12] Outside Germanic, Kroonen lists Hittite lāman-, Tocharian B ñem, Ancient Greek ὄνομα (ónoma) and Latin nōmen, among others.^[2]

Meanings

1. name^[2][3][4][1]

Old Frisian also used the word for "person",^[13] and Old High German for "word, designation, meaning".^[14]

Derivatives

• *namnijaną "to name",^[1][15] Kroonen's *namnjan- and Orel's *namnjanan, in Gothic 𐌽𐌰𐌼𐌽𐌾𐌰𐌽 (namnjan), Old Norse nefna and Old English nemnan.^[2][3]
• Orel's *namnōn "namesake", *namniþō "naming" and *naman-līkōt "by name".^[3]
• Kroonen's *nōmjan- and *namōjan-, both "to call, to name".^[8]

Reflexes

• Gothic: 𐌽𐌰𐌼𐍉 (namo, “name”), plural 𐌽𐌰𐌼𐌽𐌰 (namna)^[16]
• Old Norse: nafn (“name”)^[12]
• Old English: nama (“name”)^[17]
• Old Frisian: nama (“name, person”), also noma^[13]
• Old Saxon: namo (“name”)^[18]
• Old High German: namo (“name, word, designation”)^[19]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *namô
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 382
3. ^ a b c d Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 280
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *namō-
5. ^ a b Bammesberger, Alfred (1990), Die Morphologie des urgermanischen Nomens, Heidelberg: Winter, p. 184
6. ^ a b c Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 94
7. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Altnordisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary database copy), p. s.v. nafn
8. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 391
9. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 288
10. ^ Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. namo
11. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. namō
12. ^ a b de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. nafn
13. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altfriesisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. nama
14. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. namo
15. ^ Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 284
16. ^ 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. s.v. namo
17. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. nama
18. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. namo
19. ^ 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. namo