*ne

Reconstruction

The particle is *ne in Kroonen, Orel, Wiktionary and Ringe,^[1][2][3][4] and *ne- in Köbler, who also heads a *ni.^[5][6]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *né (“not”),^[3][4] which Kroonen calls the Indo-European negative adverb.^[1]

Morphology

An adverb or particle, with an unstressed variant *ni.^[4] As a monosyllable it kept its final vowel when final short vowels were otherwise lost.^[4] Orel calls *ne a short variant of *nē, the source of Gothic 𐌽𐌴 (ne, “no, nay”).^[2][7] Orel compares the long form with Latin nē (“not, lest”).^[7] Feist sets both Gothic particles beside the prefix *un- as ablaut variants.^[8]

Evidence

The particle is attested in all three branches: Gothic 𐌽𐌹 (ni) in Gothic, Old Norse ne in Old Norse, and Old English ne, Old Frisian ne and Old High German ne in West Germanic, beside ni and ni.^[1] Orel adds Old Saxon ni and ne.^[2] De Vries cites a Norwegian runic ni on the Eggjum stone of about 700.^[9] In Gothic the particle is the third most frequent word, the sentence negative in statements and commands.^[10] Its cognates include Latin ne- in compounds, Old Irish ní and Lithuanian nè.^[2]

Meanings

1. not^[1][5][3][4]

In the daughters the simple particle was often strengthened: Lehmann cites German nicht and English not as more recent strengthened forms.^[10] In Old Frisian it also meant "unless" with the subjunctive.^[11]

Derivatives

• *nehw "lest, that not", from PIE *nékʷe.^[12][13]
• *niitjaną "to say no, to deny, to refuse".^[14]
• Orel's univerbation *ne ainaz, continued in Old Norse neinn (“any”) and Old English nān (“no one, none”), which he finds structurally close to Latin nōn.^[2]
• Orel's *nī(t), in Gothic 𐌽𐌴𐌹 (nei, “not”), from an earlier *ne it.^[15]

Reflexes

• Gothic: 𐌽𐌹 (ni, “not”)^[8]
• Old Norse: né (“not, nor”)^[9]
• Old English: ne (“not, nor”), older ni^[16]
• Old Frisian: ne (“not; unless”), also ni, en^[11]
• Old Saxon: ne (“not, that not”), also ni^[17]
• Old High German: ni (“not”), also ne^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 385
2. ^ a b c d e Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 283
3. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *ne
4. ^ a b c d e Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 142
5. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *ne-
6. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *ni
7. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 285
8. ^ a b Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. ni
9. ^ a b de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. né
10. ^ 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. s.v. ni
11. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. ne
12. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *nehw
13. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *nehw
14. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *niitjaną
15. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 288
16. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. ne
17. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. ne