*namnijan

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs *namnijan "to name" for Proto-West Germanic,^[1] and Ringe and Taylor reconstruct its present second and third singular as *namnisi, *namniþi.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *namnijaną (“to name, to call”),^[1] which Kroonen cites as *namnjan-, Orel as *namnjanan, Köbler as *namnjan and EWA as *namn-i̯e/a-.^[3][4][5][6] It is a denominal verb to the word for "name", Kroonen's *namōn-, Proto-West Germanic *namō.^[3][6] EWA explains its short root vowel by Dybo's law, the short root of the weak cases having prevailed in the base.^[6] Ringe and Taylor derive Proto-West Germanic *namnisi, *namniþi from Proto-Germanic *namnīsi "you name", *namnīþi "(s)he names".^[2]

Morphology

A weak verb of class I.^[7][6] Verbs whose root syllable ends in a cluster of consonant and resonant do not normally syncopate the vowel of *-isi, *-iþi in Old English, so that *namnisi, *namniþi gave nemnest, nemneþ, beside Old High German nemnis, nemnit.^[2] In the past, early West Saxon has the syncopated nemde "(s)he named".^[8]

Evidence

The verb is attested as Old English nemnan,^[9] Old Frisian namna, also nemna, nomna, nanna and nenna,^[10] Old Saxon nemnian in the Heliand,^[7] and Old High German nemnen, first in a gloss of the late 8th or early 9th century.^[6] Wiktionary gives Old Dutch only a reconstructed *nemnen.^[1] Beside it, EWA sets up a West Germanic *nōmn-ii̯e/a- from the ablaut grade *nōm-, found only on the continent, behind Old Frisian nōmia and Middle Dutch noemen.^[6]

Meanings

1. to name^[1]

Old English also used the verb for "to call", "to enumerate" and "to appoint",^[9] and Old High German for "to designate", "to address" and "to mean".^[6]

Derivatives

• Orel derives Proto-Germanic *namniþō from the verb, with Old High German nemnida (“calling, naming”).^[4]

Reflexes

• Old English: nemnan (“to name, to call, to enumerate, to address, to appoint”)^[9]
• Old Frisian: namna (“to name”)^[10]
• Old Saxon: nemnian (“to name”)^[7]
• Old High German: nemnen (“to name, to designate, to address, to call”)^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *namnijan
2. ^ a b c Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 294
3. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 382
4. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 280
5. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *namnjan
6. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. nemnen
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. nemnian
8. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 268
9. ^ a b c Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. nemnan
10. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altfriesisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. namna