Talk:cunnan
The Old High German "kunnan" is linked to the page on Chinese "kunnan." Is this an error, or is there an actual etymological linkage here?
Possible confusion[edit]
While it holds true that Latin cognoscere and French connaître preserve IE root *ǵn̥néh₃-, in both cases they do so by prefixing cum-, con- to the infinitive (Latin *gnoscere lost initial g-, except in the compounds, one of which is cognoscere). My point is that someone could perceive Latin cogn- and French conn- as deriving from *ǵn̥néh₃-. I suggest that Latin is to be presented here with preterito-praesens novi, novisse, and French to be all together left out.
Invented Old English usage examples[edit]
Hi there User:Hundwine! A couple of concerns about the usage examples you have composed here:
- Iċ nime þone hring, þēah iċ þone weġ ne cunne.
- I will take the ring, though I do not know the way.
I recognise that Bosworth and Toller do have a couple of attestations of niman in the sense 'to take (with one), carry, bring', but this is quite an obscure sense. 'Iċ nime þone hring' is more likely to be the sort of thing Gollum would say (in the sense 'to take hold of') than what Frodo said. Surely beran would be a more idiomatic verb here?
- Ne cūðe iċ hine wel, ac iċ cūðe hine oft.
- I didn't know him well, but I knew him often.
Most usages of cunnan denote continuous actions, whereas iċ cūðe hine oft implies repeated, occasional actions. Looking at the Dictionary of Old English, it seems to me that the likeliest sense for the second usage would be 'II.N. to know (someone) carnally'. This isn't the usage that the example is purporting to illustrate here. At best I think it's a confusing sentence in both OE and present-day English.
And, as you've probably seen, I've mentioned Atlas on your talk page!