𐍆𐌰𐌽𐌰

Forms

𐍆𐌰𐌽𐌰 (fana), a masculine noun of the weak (n-stem) declension.^[1][2][3] The nominative is not recorded: the three forms are the accusative singular 𐍆𐌰𐌽𐌰𐌽 (fanan), the dative singular 𐍆𐌰𐌽𐌹𐌽 (fanin) and the genitive singular 𐍆𐌰𐌽𐌹𐌽𐍃 (fanins), once each.^[2][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *fanô (“cloth”),^[5] the Germanic weak noun Kroonen writes *fanan- and Orel *fanōn.^[6][7] The cognates are Old Norse fani (in compounds, "flag"), Old English fana (“flag, banner”), Old Frisian fona, Old Saxon fano (“cloth”) and Old High German fano (“flag”).^[7][8][9] Casaretto counts it among the unclear formations, with no Germanic base word.^[3] Outside Germanic it is compared with Latin pannus (“cloth, rag”) and Ancient Greek πήνη (pḗnē, “thread of the woof”);^[6][7][9] Kroonen sets up a European Proto-Indo-European *peh₂-on- and thinks the link with the Old Church Slavonic word for "curtain", from the root of spinning, less likely,^[6] while Casaretto finds the Slavic word the closest match and notes that the root Proto-Indo-European *(s)penh₁- (“to stretch, pull”) otherwise always has s- in Germanic, as in 𐍃𐍀𐌹𐌽𐌽𐌰𐌽 (spinnan, “to spin”).^[3] Lehmann assumes a root Proto-Indo-European *pān- (“web”) only tentatively, given the phonological and semantic problems.^[8] Kiparsky rejects Hirt's view that the Slavic word was borrowed from Gothic fana.^[10]

Attestation

The word occurs three times, at Matthew 9:16, Luke 19:20 and Mark 2:21, all in manuscript CA.^[4][2] PROIEL aligns the three tokens with Ancient Greek ἐπίβλημα (epíblēma), Ancient Greek ῥάκος (rhákos) and Ancient Greek σουδάριον (soudárion), once each;^[11] Köbler gives ῥάκος and σουδάριον as the Greek words.^[2] Luke 19:20 reads frauja, sai, sa skatts þeins þanei habaida galagidana in fanin, "Lord, here is your pound, which I kept laid away in a cloth".^[12]

Meanings

1. A piece of cloth, a patch (for ῥάκος).^[1][13][14]
2. A napkin or handkerchief (for σουδάριον).^[13][15]

Borrowings into other languages

• Italian: fanone, through Late Latin fanōnem^[16]

Usage notes

The two patch verses differ: Matthew 9:16 has du plata fanan þarihis, Mark 2:21 plat fanins niujis, "a patch of new cloth".^[17]

References

1. ^ a b Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. fana
2. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. fana*
3. ^ a b c Casaretto, Antje (2004), Nominale Wortbildung der gotischen Sprache: Die Derivation der Substantive, Heidelberg: Winter
4. ^ a b 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
5. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐍆𐌰𐌽𐌰
6. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 126
7. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 92
8. ^ a b 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. *fana
9. ^ a b Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. fana
10. ^ Kiparsky, Valentin (1934), Die gemeinslavischen Lehnwörter aus dem Germanischen, Annales Academiae Scientiarum Fennicae B XXXII,2, Helsinki
11. ^ 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. Lk 19:20
13. ^ a b Regan, Brian T. (1974), Dictionary of the Biblical Gothic Language, Phoenix: Wulfila House, p. 58
14. ^ Wright, Joseph (1910), Grammar of the Gothic Language, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. fana
15. ^ Balg, G. H. (1887–1889), A Comparative Glossary of the Gothic Language, with Especial Reference to English and German, Mayville, Wis.: the author, p. 87
16. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. fanone
17. ^ Miller, D. Gary (2019), The Oxford Gothic Grammar, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 37