*namō

Reconstruction

Ringe and Taylor reconstruct *namō for Proto-West Germanic,^[1] and Wiktionary has the same form.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *namô (“name”),^[3][4] which Ringe and Taylor write *namō̄, Kroonen *namōn- and Orel *namōn.^[3][4][5] The Proto-Germanic ending had a trimoric *-ō̄, which stayed *-ō in West Germanic, while bimoric *-ō at the end of a word was unrounded to *-ā.^[6]

Morphology

A masculine n-stem.^[7][8] Proto-Germanic *namō̄ was a neuter, as Gothic 𐌽𐌰𐌼𐍉 (namō) still is; in Proto-West Germanic it was shifted into the masculine n-stems, apparently because its nominative singular ended in *-ō̄.^[3][9] EWA counts the change among the shifts of neuter n-stems to the masculine that are usual in West Germanic, except in the names of parts of the body.^[8]

Evidence

The word is found in all the West Germanic languages: Old English nama, also noma, Old Frisian noma, Old Saxon namo and Old High German namo.^[3] The Old English and Old Frisian forms with o come from the nasalized *ą of *nąmō,^[10] and their ending -a from the unrounding of unstressed final *ō in Old English, Old Frisian and the Old Saxon of the Lublin psalm fragments.^[11] Old Dutch has namo in the Old Low Franconian psalms of the 10th century, in Williram's commentary of about 1100 and in the Middle Franconian Rhyme Bible.^[12]

Competing analyses

Schaffner, cited by EWA, explains the masculine gender from the nominative, which would have ended in West Germanic *-ō in both neuter and masculine n-stems.^[8] Neri, also cited by EWA, objects that the neuter ending was *-ōn, not the *-ôn of the masculine nominative, as their different outcomes in Old High German show.^[8]

Meanings

1. name^[1][2]

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

Derivatives

• *namōn "to name, to call", which Wiktionary reconstructs;^[15] Berr gives the Old Saxon verb namon (“to name”).^[16]

Reflexes

• Old English: nama (“name”)^[17]
• Old Frisian: noma (“name, title, reputation”)^[13]
• Old Saxon: namo (“name”)^[16]
• Old Dutch: namo (“name”)^[12]
• Old High German: namo (“name, word, designation, meaning”)^[14]

References

1. ^ a b Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 59
2. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *namō
3. ^ a b c d Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 79
4. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 382
5. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 280
6. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 59–60
7. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. namo
8. ^ a b c d 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
9. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *namô
10. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 144
11. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 154
12. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. namo
13. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. noma
14. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. namo
15. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *namōn
16. ^ a b Berr, Samuel (1971), An Etymological Glossary to the Old Saxon Heliand, Berne / Frankfurt: Herbert Lang, p. 299
17. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. nama