𐌽𐌰𐌼𐍉

Forms

𐌽𐌰𐌼𐍉 (namō), an irregular neuter n-stem noun.^[1][2][3] The genitive singular is 𐌽𐌰𐌼𐌹𐌽𐍃 (namins), the dative 𐌽𐌰𐌼𐌹𐌽 (namin), and the plural is formed without the stem vowel: 𐌽𐌰𐌼𐌽𐌰 (namna), 𐌽𐌰𐌼𐌽𐌴 (namne), 𐌽𐌰𐌼𐌽𐌰𐌼 (namnam).^[4][5] The Wulfila project counts namin 46 times, namo 26, namna 4, namne 3 and namins and namnam once each.^[6] The dative namin is also used as an adverb, "by name".^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *namô (“name”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁nómn̥.^[7] The Germanic cognates are Old Norse nafn, Old English nama, Old Frisian noma, Old Saxon namo and Old High German namo.^[5] Feist adds an o-grade in Middle High German benuomen and Dutch noemen (“to name”).^[5][8] Outside Germanic it is the Indo-European word for "name": Hittite lāman, Ancient Greek ὄνομα (ónoma), Latin nōmen, Old Irish ainm, Old Prussian emmens and Proto-Slavic *jьmę.^[5][9] Schulze in 1867 connected it with 𐌽𐌹𐌼𐌰𐌽 (niman, “to take”), as "what one receives".^[10]

Attestation

Köbler and the Wulfila project count 81 records, in all four Gospels, in Romans, 1 Corinthians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 2 Thessalonians and 1 and 2 Timothy, and twice in the Skeireins.^[11][6] The manuscripts are CA (61 records), A, B, Car, the Speyer leaf and E.^[6] In canonical order the first is at Matthew 6:9 in CA.^[6] PROIEL aligns 74 of its 76 tokens with Ancient Greek ὄνομα (ónoma).^[12] The Lord's Prayer at Matthew 6:9 reads "weihnai namo þein", "may your name be hallowed".^[13]

Meanings

1. a name, for ὄνομα^[1][11][7]
2. name as authority ("in the name of")^[7]
3. (dative namin, bi namin) by name^[2][11]

Word family

• 𐌽𐌰𐌼𐌽𐌾𐌰𐌽 (namnjan, “to name”)
• 𐌲𐌰𐌽𐌰𐌼𐌽𐌾𐌰𐌽 (ganamnjan, “to name, call”)

References

1. ^ a b Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. namo
2. ^ a b c Streitberg, Wilhelm (1920), Gotisches Elementarbuch, 5th–6th ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 294
3. ^ Braune, Wilhelm; Heidermanns, Frank (2004), Gotische Grammatik, mit Lesestücken und Wörterverzeichnis, 20th ed., Sammlung kurzer Grammatiken germanischer Dialekte A 1, Tübingen: Niemeyer, p. 289
4. ^ Balg, G. H. (1887–1889), A Comparative Glossary of the Gothic Language, with Especial Reference to English and German, Mayville, Wis.: the author, p. 293
5. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 382
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐌽𐌰𐌼𐍉
8. ^ Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. namo
9. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 280
10. ^ Schulze, Ernst (1867), Gothisches Wörterbuch nebst Flexionslehre, Züllichau: Darnmann, p. 133
11. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. namō
12. ^ 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
13. ^ 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 6:9