einn

Forms

einn num, pron, adj (feminine ein, neuter eitt)^[1][2] Runic in on the Norwegian stone N 184^[3] and ain on Swedish Viking Age stones.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *ainaz (“one”),^[5][6] from Proto-Indo-European *óynos.^[6] The numeral is shared by all the Germanic languages: Gothic 𐌰𐌹𐌽𐍃 (ains), Old English ān, Old Frisian ān, Old Saxon ēn and Old High German ein.^[5][7]

Outside Germanic it corresponds to Latin ūnus, Old Irish óen and Lithuanian víenas, and to Ancient Greek οἴνη (oínē, “the one on a die”).^[7][8][9] Feist analyses the Indo-European form as a stem *oi- with the suffix *-no-.^[8] Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon takes it as probably formed from the pronominal stem of Gothic 𐌹𐍃 (is, “he”) and of the Norse relative particle es.^[9] Jóhannesson puts it under the same stem.^[10]

Norse speakers lent it to Finnish, where it became aina (“always”).^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

Menota dates the word first on the Norwegian runestone N 184 of 980–1015, whose inscription ends Einn er Guð “God is one”.^[12][3] The first dated manuscript records, of about 1200 in ONP, are in the sense “a certain”: Aɴa hét spakona ein “There was a prophetess named Anna”, in the Icelandic Homily Book.^[13]

Semantic evolution

From the numeral “one” the word took the senses “the same” and “a certain, some”, and in the plural “some”, with numbers “about”.^[14][1] ONP marks a use near an indefinite article “a” as uncertain, though it is its largest group of citations.^[13] After a negation it means “any”.^[14] Placed after its noun it means “alone, only”: vín eitt “wine only”.^[14][1] The genitive plural einna before a superlative means “by far”.^[14] In the Christian vocabulary it renders Latin solus of God.^[15]

The word continues as Icelandic einn and Faroese ein, and Swedish en and Danish en.^[11][9]

Timeline

• 980–1015 – Einn er Guð “God is one” on the runestone N 184.^[12]
• 1150 – einn, ein and eitt in the First Grammatical Treatise, by IcePaHC's dating.^[16]
• 1200 – “a certain” in the Icelandic Homily Book.^[13]
• 1212 – a use close to an indefinite article in the Dialogues of Gregory.^[13]
• 1225 – einn ok annarr “one and the other”, that is, many.^[13]
• 1237 – “any” after a negation.^[13]

Meanings

Numeral

1. one.^[14][1]
2. the first (in a series).^[14][1]

Pronoun

1. one person, someone;^[13] (neuter) something.^[13]
2. the same, one and the same.^[14][1]
3. a certain, some; in the plural, some, and before numbers, “about”.^[13][14]
4. (perhaps the indefinite article) a.^[13]
5. after a negation, any, anybody.^[13][14]
6. einn ok annarr: one and the other, various.^[13]
7. einna with a superlative: of all, by far.^[14][1]

Adjective

1. alone, by oneself.^[14][2]
2. after its noun, only, mere, sole.^[14][1]

Word family

• engi
• einnhverr
• einsamall
• ekkja
• ekkill
• einka

Descendants

• Icelandic einn^[6]
• Faroese ein^[6]
• Norwegian Nynorsk ein^[6]
• Norwegian Bokmål en^[6]
• Swedish en^[6]
• Danish en^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Baetke, Walter (1965–1968), Wörterbuch zur altnordischen Prosaliteratur, Berlin (digital ed. Greifswald 2006), p. 106
2. ^ a b Faulkes, Anthony (2011), A New Introduction to Old Norse III: Glossary and Index of Names, 4th ed., London: Viking Society for Northern Research, p. s.v. einn
3. ^ a b Samnordisk runtextdatabas (Rundata 3.1), Uppsala universitet (inscriptions by signum), p. N 184
4. ^ Samnordisk runtextdatabas (Rundata 3.1), Uppsala universitet (inscriptions by signum), p. U 164
5. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 11
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
7. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 9
8. ^ a b Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 32
9. ^ a b c Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. einn
10. ^ Jóhannesson, Alexander (1956), Isländisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern, p. 42
11. ^ a b de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 97
12. ^ a b Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. N 184
13. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Ordbog over det norrøne prosasprog / A Dictionary of Old Norse Prose, Copenhagen, onp.ku.dk (CC BY-SA 4.0), p. s.v. einn
14. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. einn
15. ^ Kahle, Bernhard (1890), Die altnordische Sprache im Dienste des Christentums I, Berlin, p. 379
16. ^ Wallenberg, Joel C.; Ingason, Anton Karl; Sigurðsson, Einar Freyr; Rögnvaldsson, Eiríkur, Icelandic Parsed Historical Corpus, version 0.9