𐌽𐌹𐌼𐌰𐌽

Forms

𐌽𐌹𐌼𐌰𐌽 (niman), a strong verb of the fourth class.^[1][2][3] Its principal parts are 𐌽𐌹𐌼𐌰𐌽, 𐌽𐌰𐌼, 𐌽𐌴𐌼𐌿𐌼, -𐌽𐌿𐌼𐌰𐌽𐍃 (niman, nam, nemum, -numans).^[4] Streitberg classes it as a perfective simple verb.^[1] The commonest recorded forms are the third person singular present 𐌽𐌹𐌼𐌹𐌸 (nimiþ, 22 times), the preterite singular 𐌽𐌰𐌼 (nam, 17), the infinitive (12), the present participle 𐌽𐌹𐌼𐌰𐌽𐌳𐍃 (nimands, 11) and the third person plural preterite 𐌽𐌴𐌼𐌿𐌽 (nemun, 8), in the Wulfila project's count.^[5] The second person singular preterite is 𐌽𐌰𐌼𐍄 (namt), at 1 Corinthians 4:7.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *nemaną (“to take”),^[6][7][8] whose other descendants are Old Norse nema, Old English niman, Old Frisian nima, Old Saxon niman and Old High German neman.^[7][9] The deeper origin is disputed.^[10] Lehmann, following Benveniste, connects it with Proto-Indo-European *nem- and Ancient Greek νέμω (némō, “to distribute”), through a sense "to receive legally", and finds the decisive argument in the parallel between κληρονόμος (klēronómos, “heir”) and Gothic 𐌰𐍂𐌱𐌹𐌽𐌿𐌼𐌾𐌰 (arbinumja, “heir”); he finds a link with Latin emō (“to buy”) and Lithuanian im̃ti (“to take”) far less credible because of the form.^[10] Orel also relates the Greek verb.^[8] Kroonen takes the opposite view: following Kortlandt, he sees a verb back-formed from a perfective compound Proto-Indo-European *kom-h₁em-e-, related to the Latin and Lithuanian verbs, and unrelated to the Greek one.^[7] Feist and Uhlenbeck give both sets of comparisons, the Greek ones under *nem- and the Latin, Lithuanian and Slavic ones under a zero-grade present.^[9][11]

Attestation

The Wulfila project counts 111 tokens, in all four Gospels, in Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Ephesians, Galatians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, Nehemiah and the Skeireins.^[5] Köbler counts 105 records.^[2] Most are in manuscript CA (72), the rest mainly in A (17) and B (15).^[5] The first in canonical order is the infinitive at Matthew 5:40.^[5] Of the 99 tokens PROIEL aligns with the Greek, 63 render Ancient Greek λαμβάνω (lambánō), 19 Ancient Greek ἀείρω (aeírō) and five Ancient Greek δέχομαι (dékhomai).^[12] At Matthew 5:40: jah þamma wiljandin miþ þus staua jah paida þeina niman, aflet imma jah wastja, "and to the one who wants to go to law with you and take your shirt, let him have your cloak too".^[13]

Meanings

1. to take, take hold of, for Ancient Greek λαμβάνω (lambánō)^[2][12][6]
2. to take up, take away, for Ancient Greek αἴρω (aírō)^[2][10]
3. to accept, receive, for Ancient Greek δέχομαι (dékhomai)^[2][10]
4. to catch^[6][1]
5. niman qen, to take a wife, for Ancient Greek γαμέω (gaméō)^[2]
6. niman ana armins, to take in one's arms, for Ancient Greek ἐναγκαλίζομαι (enankalízomai)^[2]

Word family

• 𐌰𐍆𐌽𐌹𐌼𐌰𐌽 (afniman, “to take away”)
• 𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌽𐌹𐌼𐌰𐌽 (andniman, “to accept, receive”)
• 𐌰𐍄𐌽𐌹𐌼𐌰𐌽 (atniman, “to take to a place”)
• 𐌱𐌹𐌽𐌹𐌼𐌰𐌽 (biniman, “to take away, steal”)
• 𐌳𐌹𐍃𐌽𐌹𐌼𐌰𐌽 (disniman, “to possess”)
• 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌽𐌹𐌼𐌰𐌽 (franiman, “to receive”)
• 𐌲𐌰𐌽𐌹𐌼𐌰𐌽 (ganiman, “to take along”)
• 𐌹𐌽𐌽𐌹𐌼𐌰𐌽 (inniman, “to take in”)
• 𐌼𐌹𐌸𐌽𐌹𐌼𐌰𐌽 (miþniman, “to receive”)
• 𐌿𐍃𐌽𐌹𐌼𐌰𐌽 (usniman, “to take out”)
• 𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌰𐌽𐌴𐌼 (andanēm, “acceptance”)
• 𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌰𐌽𐌴𐌼𐍃 (andanēms, “acceptable”)
• 𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌰𐌽𐌴𐌼𐌴𐌹𐌲𐍃 (andanēmeigs, “holding fast”)
• 𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌰𐌽𐌿𐌼𐍄𐍃 (andanumts, “acceptance”)
• 𐌰𐍂𐌱𐌹𐌽𐌿𐌼𐌾𐌰 (arbinumja, “heir”)

References

1. ^ a b c Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. niman
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. niman
3. ^ Braune, Wilhelm; Heidermanns, Frank (2004), Gotische Grammatik, mit Lesestücken und Wörterverzeichnis, 20th ed., Sammlung kurzer Grammatiken germanischer Dialekte A 1, Tübingen: Niemeyer, p. 290
4. ^ Miller, D. Gary (2019), The Oxford Gothic Grammar, Oxford: Oxford University Press
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 Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐌽𐌹𐌼𐌰𐌽
7. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 387
8. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *nemanan
9. ^ a b Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. niman
10. ^ a b c d 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. niman
11. ^ Uhlenbeck, C. C. (1900), Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 2nd ed., Amsterdam: Müller, p. 116
12. ^ 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
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 5:40