𐌺𐌿𐌽𐌽𐌰𐌽

Forms

𐌺𐌿𐌽𐌽𐌰𐌽 (kunnan), a preterite-present verb: the present 𐌺𐌰𐌽𐌽 (kann, "I know, he knows") has the form of a strong preterite, plural 𐌺𐌿𐌽𐌽𐌿𐌼 (kunnum), and the past is the weak 𐌺𐌿𐌽𐌸𐌰 (kunþa).^[1][2][3] Köbler places it in the third class of preterite-presents.^[4] The commonest recorded forms in the Wulfila project's count are 𐌺𐌰𐌽𐌽 (kann, 21 times), 𐌺𐌿𐌽𐌽𐌿𐌸 (kunnuþ, 16), 𐌺𐌿𐌽𐌽𐌰𐌽 (kunnan, 10), 𐌺𐌿𐌽𐌸𐌰 (kunþa, 9) and 𐌺𐌿𐌽𐌽𐌿𐌼 (kunnum, 8); the second person singular is 𐌺𐌰𐌽𐍄 (kant), once written 𐌺𐌰𐌽𐌽𐍄 (kannt) at 1 Corinthians 7:16.^[5][4] Feist explains the plural kunnum as inherited and the singular kann as made on the pattern of strong preterites such as band, bundum.^[6]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *kunnaną (“to know”),^[7][8][4] the preterite-present that is also Old Norse kunna in Old Norse, Old English cunnan in Old English, Old Frisian kunna in Old Frisian, Old Saxon kunnan in Old Saxon and Old High German kunnan in Old High German.^[9][8] It belongs to the root Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- (“to know, recognize”).^[7][4] Kroonen and Feist trace the double n to a present with a nasal suffix, the type of Lithuanian žinóti (“to know”) in Lithuanian and of the Sanskrit verb for "know".^[8] Feist starts from a zero-grade plural with that suffix.^[8][6] Other words of the root are Ancient Greek γιγνώσκω (gignṓskō, “I come to know”) and Latin nōscō (“I get to know”).^[8][10]

Attestation

Köbler gives the count as 97=96, in the Gospels, the Epistles and the Skeireins.^[4] The Wulfila project lists 114 tokens, 30 of them ambiguous, with John (40), 2 Corinthians (16) and Mark (11) the books where it is most frequent; most are in manuscript CA, the others in A, B, C, E and Lat5750.^[5] The first in canonical order is kunþa at Matthew 7:23.^[5] In PROIEL's alignment it renders Ancient Greek γιγνώσκω (gignṓskō) 45 times and Ancient Greek οἶδα (oîda) 39 times, with single instances for ἐπίσταμαι, ἐπιγιγνώσκω and γνωρίζω.^[11] Matthew 7:23 reads jah þan andhaita im þatei ni ƕanhun kunþa izwis, "and then I will declare to them that I never knew you".^[12]

Meanings

1. To know, be acquainted with a person or thing; for γιγνώσκω and οἶδα; with ni, not to know.^[1][4][11]
2. To know how, understand; for ἐπίσταμαι.^[3][4][11]
3. With 𐌰𐍆𐌰𐌹𐌺𐌰𐌽 (afaikan), to deny knowing someone.^[13]

Word family

• 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌺𐌿𐌽𐌽𐌰𐌽 (frakunnan, “to despise”)
• 𐌲𐌰𐌺𐌿𐌽𐌽𐌰𐌽 (gakunnan, “to submit; to get to know”)
• 𐌰𐌽𐌰𐌺𐌿𐌽𐌽𐌰𐌽 (anakunnan, “to read”)
• 𐌰𐍄𐌺𐌿𐌽𐌽𐌰𐌽 (atkunnan, “to grant”)
• 𐌿𐍆𐌺𐌿𐌽𐌽𐌰𐌽 (ufkunnan, “to recognize”)
• 𐌿𐌽𐌺𐌿𐌽𐌽𐌰𐌽𐌳𐍃 (unkunnands)
• 𐌺𐌿𐌽𐌸𐍃 (kunþs, “known”)
• 𐌿𐌽𐌺𐌿𐌽𐌸𐍃 (unkunþs, “unknown”)
• 𐌿𐍃𐌺𐌿𐌽𐌸𐍃 (uskunþs)
• 𐍃𐍅𐌹𐌺𐌿𐌽𐌸𐍃 (swikunþs)
• 𐌱𐌹𐌺𐌿𐌽𐌸𐌾𐌰𐌽 (bikunþjan)
• 𐌺𐌿𐌽𐌸𐌹 (kunþi, “knowledge”)

Related words

• 𐌺𐌰𐌽𐌽𐌾𐌰𐌽 (kannjan)

Usage notes

Beside the preterite-present there is a weak class-3 verb -kunnan, past -kunþa or -kunnaida, found only in compounds: 𐌰𐌽𐌰𐌺𐌿𐌽𐌽𐌰𐌽 (anakunnan, “to read”), 𐌰𐍄𐌺𐌿𐌽𐌽𐌰𐌽 (atkunnan, “to grant”), 𐌲𐌰𐌺𐌿𐌽𐌽𐌰𐌽 (gakunnan, “to get to know”) and 𐌿𐍆𐌺𐌿𐌽𐌽𐌰𐌽 (ufkunnan, “to recognize”).^[2][1][6] The Wulfila project keeps it apart as a lemma of its own, with 19 tokens.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. kunnan
2. ^ a b Braune, Wilhelm; Heidermanns, Frank (2004), Gotische Grammatik, mit Lesestücken und Wörterverzeichnis, 20th ed., Sammlung kurzer Grammatiken germanischer Dialekte A 1, Tübingen: Niemeyer, p. 285
3. ^ a b Miller, D. Gary (2019), The Oxford Gothic Grammar, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. kunnan 1
5. ^ a b c d De Herdt, Tom (2004–2026), Project Wulfila: digital edition of the Gothic Bible with lemma and morphological annotation, data release 2026-09-03, wulfila.be
6. ^ a b c Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. kunnan
7. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐌺𐌿𐌽𐌽𐌰𐌽
8. ^ a b c d e Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 311
9. ^ Uhlenbeck, C. C. (1900), Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 2nd ed., Amsterdam: Müller, p. 97
10. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 210
11. ^ a b c Haug, Dag T. T. et al., PROIEL Treebank: The Gothic Bible (gothic-nt), 2023 release, Pragmatic Resources in Old Indo-European Languages, University of Oslo
12. ^ De Herdt, Tom (2004–2026), Project Wulfila: digital edition of the Gothic Bible with lemma and morphological annotation, data release 2026-09-03, wulfila.be, p. Mt 7:23
13. ^ Schulze, Ernst (1867), Gothisches Wörterbuch nebst Flexionslehre, Züllichau: Darnmann, p. 112