nú

Forms

nú^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *nu (“now”), an Indo-European adverb, Proto-Indo-European *nu.^[2][1] The same word is Gothic 𐌽𐌿 (nu), Old English nū, Old Frisian nū, Old Saxon nū and Old High German nu;^[2][3] outside Germanic it matches Hittite nu (“now, and”), Sanskrit नु (nu, “now, just”), Ancient Greek νυ (nu) and Lithuanian nù (“now, well now”).^[2][3][1] Forms with a nasal, Ancient Greek νῦν (nûn) and Latin nunc, belong to the same adverb.^[4][3]

Kroonen explains the long vowel of ⟨nú⟩ and its relatives by the adverb's frequent use in stressed position.^[2] De Vries and Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon connect it with nýr (“new”).^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Peterson's register of Swedish Viking Age inscriptions files nu under this word on eight stones, among them the Rök stone (Ög 136) and several Uppland stones, though Rundata's lemma list shares those forms with another word.^[6][7] The first dated record is the Norwegian runic inscription N 393 at Hopperstad church, dated about 1150: Nú er palmsunnuaptann “Now it is Palm Sunday eve”.^[8][9] In the Icelandic Homily Book, dated 1200 by ONP, it means “now, at this time”: Verom ólmoso giarnare nu heldr an hingat til “Let us be more eager in almsgiving now than until now”.^[10]

Semantic evolution

Besides its plain temporal sense, nú serves in narrative as a word of transition, “then, next”, as in nú er þar til máls at taka “now the story turns to”;^[10][11] ONP has more citations for this use than for the temporal one.^[10][11] Repeated, nú … nú means “now … now, at one time … at another”.^[10][12] In the laws it introduces a case, “now if, if”: nú kemr hann aptr, þá … “if he comes back, then …”.^[12][13] It is also an interjection, nú nú “now, now!” and nú þá “now then!”.^[14]

The adverb continues in all the Nordic languages: Icelandic nú, Faroese nú, Norwegian no, Swedish and Danish nu.^[4][15] Icelandic also has the extended form núna.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 1150 – Nú er palmsunnuaptann on the runic inscription N 393, Hopperstad.^[8][9]
• 1150–1250 – Nú in the Norwegian fragment NRA norr fragm 81 A.^[16]
• 1200 – nu “now” and as a narrative transition in the Icelandic Homily Book, by ONP's dating.^[10]

Meanings

Adverb

1. now, at present, at this moment.^[10][11]
2. in narrative: next, then, thereupon.^[10][11][12]
3. (law) introducing a case: if, now if.^[12][13]

Interjection

1. now!, now then! (nú nú, nú þá).^[14]

Descendants

• Icelandic nú^[1]
• Faroese nú^[1]
• Norwegian Nynorsk no^[1]
• Norwegian Bokmål nå^[1]
• Swedish nu^[1]
• Danish nu^[1]

Related words

• nýr

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 392
3. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 289
4. ^ a b c de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 412
5. ^ Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. nú
6. ^ Peterson, Lena (2006), Svenskt runordsregister, 3rd rev. ed., Runrön 2, Uppsala: Institutionen för nordiska språk
7. ^ Samnordisk runtextdatabas (Rundata 3.1), Uppsala universitet (inscriptions by signum), p. Ög 136
8. ^ a b Samnordisk runtextdatabas (Rundata 3.1), Uppsala universitet (inscriptions by signum), p. N 393
9. ^ a b Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. N 393
10. ^ a b c d e f g Ordbog over det norrøne prosasprog / A Dictionary of Old Norse Prose, Copenhagen, onp.ku.dk (CC BY-SA 4.0), p. s.v. nú
11. ^ a b c d Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. nú
12. ^ a b c d Hægstad, Marius; Torp, Alf (1909), Gamalnorsk ordbok med nynorsk tyding, Kristiania: Det norske samlaget, p. 314
13. ^ a b Fritzner, Johan (1886–1896), Ordbog over det gamle norske Sprog, 2nd ed., Kristiania, p. s.v. nú
14. ^ a b Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 458
15. ^ Hellquist, Elof (1922), Svensk etymologisk ordbok, Lund, p. s.v. nu
16. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. NRA norr fragm 81 A