lán

Forms

lán n (genitive láns, plural lán) (strong a-stem)^[1] Runic lani in at lani “on loan” on the Danish Asmindrup stone DR 241, of the Romanesque period.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *laihną (“loan, loaned property”),^[3][1] a noun with the suffix ⟨-no-⟩ made to the strong verb Proto-Germanic *līhwaną (“to lend”), the source of ljá “to lend”.^[3][4] The noun is also Old Frisian lēn, Old Saxon lēhan and Old High German lēhan;^[3] Old English lǣn may go back to a variant *laihni-, and an s-stem compared with Sanskrit रेक्णस् (rékṇas, “property, inheritance”) has been reconstructed from it, which Kroonen thinks uncertain.^[3]

The verb continues Proto-Indo-European *leykʷ- (“to leave”), the root of Gothic 𐌻𐌴𐌹𐍈𐌰𐌽 (leihwan, “to lend”), Ancient Greek λείπω (leípō, “to leave”) and Latin linquō (“to leave”).^[5][6] lén “fief” and the verb lána “to lend” belong with it.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest dated record, in the homily fragment AM 237 a fol, which ONP dates to about 1150, has the sense “what is granted (by God)”, a gift: Sa es litet lán heuer þione hann trulega goþe í lítlo láne “let him who has a small gift serve God faithfully with the small gift”.^[8][9] The sense “loan” follows in texts ONP dates to about 1200: baþ kꜹpmaþriɴ hann selia sér fe at lani “the merchant asked him to give him money on loan”.^[8]

Semantic evolution

ONP orders the senses as the act of lending, the thing lent, and what is granted by fate or God, a gift, with the phrase lán guðs; the last is the commonest in religious writing, which ONP lists as the main genre of the word.^[8][10] Land held of the king at láni is a fief, like at léni.^[11][8] Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon derives the senses “luck” and “fief” from “what is lent or granted by heavenly or earthly powers”;^[4][12] “luck” is the common sense in modern Icelandic, with ólán “misfortune”.^[4][12] In the laws the word is used for loans and hire, with the rule that the borrower answers for the thing lent.^[13]

The English word loan comes from the Norse word, as do Finnish laina and the Sami word.^[7][14][15]

Timeline

• 1150 – lán “gift” in the homily fragment AM 237 a fol.^[8]
• 1200 – at lani “on loan” in the text ONP cites as Nik655.^[8]
• 1200–1225 – lán, láni and láns in AM 677 4to and AM 619 4to.^[16][17]
• 1276–1300 – laan, lánit in the law manuscript Holm perg 34 4to.^[18]

Meanings

Noun

1. the act of lending or borrowing;^[8][11] at láni, on loan.^[8][11]
2. a loan, something lent or borrowed.^[8][12]
3. what is granted by fate or God, a gift or talent.^[8][10]
4. luck.^[8][19]
5. a fief, land held of the king.^[11][8]

Word family

• lána
• lánardróttinn
• lánsfé
• lánshestr
• lánsmaðr
• ólán
• gripalán

Descendants

• Danish lån^[1]
• Faroese lán^[1]
• Icelandic lán^[1]
• Norwegian Bokmål lån^[1]
• Norwegian Nynorsk lån^[1]
• Swedish lån^[1]

Related words

• ljá
• lén

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Samnordisk runtextdatabas (Rundata 3.1), Uppsala universitet (inscriptions by signum), p. DR 241
3. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 323
4. ^ a b c Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. lán
5. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 336
6. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
7. ^ a b de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 345
8. ^ 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. lán
9. ^ Larsson, Ludvig (1891), Ordförrådet i de älsta islänska handskrifterna, Lund: Ph. Lindstedt, p. 194
10. ^ a b Fritzner, Johan (1886–1896), Ordbog over det gamle norske Sprog, 2nd ed., Kristiania, p. s.v. lán
11. ^ a b c d Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. lán
12. ^ a b c Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 376
13. ^ Hertzberg, Ebbe (1895), Glossarium, in Norges gamle Love indtil 1387, vol. 5, Christiania, p. 377
14. ^ Hellquist, Elof (1922), Svensk etymologisk ordbok, Lund, p. s.v. lån
15. ^ Torp, Alf (1909), Wortschatz der germanischen Spracheinheit (Fick, Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der indogermanischen Sprachen, 4th ed., vol. 3), Göttingen, p. 367
16. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. AM 677 4to
17. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. AM 619 4to
18. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. Holm perg 34 4to
19. ^ Finnur Jónsson (1931), Lexicon Poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis, 2nd ed., Copenhagen: S. L. Møller, p. 361