𐌽𐌹

Forms

𐌽𐌹 (ni), an uninflected negative particle.^[1][2] Streitberg notes the spelling 𐌽𐌴 (ne) at John 18:40.^[1] The particle merges with a following word: with 𐌹𐍃𐍄 (ist, "is") it gives 𐌽𐌹𐍃𐍄 (nist, "is not"), and with the interrogative -u it gives 𐌽𐌹𐌿 (niu), a question expecting the answer yes.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *ne (“not”), from Proto-Indo-European *né (“not”).^[4][5] Kroonen calls it the Indo-European negation adverb.^[5] The Germanic cognates are Old Norse né, Old English ne, Old Frisian ni, Old Saxon ni and Old High German ni.^[6][7] Outside Germanic it matches Latin ne- (in compounds), Lithuanian nè and Proto-Slavic *ne.^[6][8] Feist and Uhlenbeck relate it by ablaut to 𐌽𐌴 (nē, “no”) and the prefix 𐌿𐌽- (un-).^[7][8] Orel takes it as the short variant of Proto-Germanic *nē.^[6]

Attestation

Lehmann calls it the third most frequent word of the corpus.^[3] The Wulfila project counts 1,510 tokens, in every book of the corpus from Matthew to Philemon, in Nehemiah and in the Skeireins.^[9] Köbler counts 1,307 records.^[2] The tokens are in manuscripts CA, A, B, C, D, E, Car, Speyer and Lat5750.^[9] The first in canonical order is at Matthew 5:17.^[9] In PROIEL's Gospels and Epistles the adverb renders Ancient Greek οὐ (ou) 654 times and μή (mḗ) 341 times, and the conjunction ni … ni renders οὔτε (oúte) twelve times.^[10] Matthew 5:17 reads ni hugjaiþ ei qemjau gatairan witoþ aiþþau praufetuns; ni qam gatairan ak usfulljan, "do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets: I came not to destroy but to fulfil".^[11]

Meanings

1. not, negating statements and commands; for Ancient Greek οὐ (ou) and μή (mḗ).^[1][3][10]
2. ni … ni or ni … nih: neither … nor; for οὔτε (oúte) … οὔτε (oúte).^[12][13]
3. In fixed phrases: ni nauh "not yet", ni waiht "nothing", ei ni "lest".^[12]

Word family

• 𐌽𐌹𐌷 (nih, “and not, nor”)
• 𐌽𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌹 (nibai, “unless”)
• 𐌽𐌹𐌿 (niu, “not? (question)”)

Related words

• 𐌽𐌴 (nē, “no”)
• 𐌽𐌴𐌹 (nei, “not? (question)”)
• 𐌿𐌽- (un-, “un-”)

Usage notes

In questions ni asks whether something is not so, "do(es) not …?".^[12] Streitberg's Elementarbuch notes its use with the genitive (§ 262).^[14]

References

1. ^ a b c Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. ni
2. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. ni
3. ^ a b c 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
4. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐌽𐌹
5. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 385
6. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *ne
7. ^ a b Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. ni
8. ^ a b Uhlenbeck, C. C. (1900), Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 2nd ed., Amsterdam: Müller, p. 116
9. ^ a b c 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
10. ^ a b 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
11. ^ 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 5:17
12. ^ a b c Regan, Brian T. (1974), Dictionary of the Biblical Gothic Language, Phoenix: Wulfila House, p. 116
13. ^ Lambdin, Thomas O. (2006), An Introduction to the Gothic Language, Eugene, Or.: Wipf and Stock, p. 181
14. ^ Streitberg, Wilhelm (1920), Gotisches Elementarbuch, 5th–6th ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 294