hwanon

Old English

Alternative forms

• hwanan, hwonan, hwanun

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *hwananā, with Proto-Germanic *-anē.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈxwɑ.non/, [ˈʍɑ.non]

Adverb

hwanon

1. where from, whence

   Hwanon hæfst þū þone hætt?

   Where did you get that hat?

   Sē wind blǣwþ þǣr hē wile, and þū ġehīerst his swēġ, ac þū nāst hwanon hē cymþ ne hwæder hē gǣþ.

   The wind blows where it wants, and you hear its sound, but you don't know where it comes from or where it's going.

   • c. 990, Wessex Gospels, John 19:9

     Hwanon eart þū?

     Where are you from?

   • c. 992, Ælfric, "On the Beginning of Creation"

     Nu þencð menig man and smeað hwanon deofol come; þonne wite he þæt God gesceop to mæran engle þone þe nu is deofol: ac God ne gesceop hine na to deofle; ac þaða he wæs mid ealle fordón and forscyldgod þurh þa miclan up-ahefednysse and wiðerweardnysse, þa wearð he to deofle awend, seðe ǣr wæs mære engel geworht.

     Now many a man will think and inquire, whence the devil came? be it, therefore, known to him that God created as a great angel him who is now the devil: but God did not create him as the devil: but when he was wholly fordone and guilty towards God, through his great haughtiness and enmity, then became he changed to the devil, who before was created a great angel.

   • c. 992, Ælfric, "On the Beginning of Creation"

     Nu smeagiað sume men hwanon him come sawul?

     Now some men will inquire, whence came his soul?

2. how (not the general meaning of "in which way", but meaning "from which source" or "from where")

   Hwanon sċeal iċ witan?

   How should I know?

Related terms

• āhwanon (“from anywhere”)
• nāhwanon (“from nowhere”)
• ġehwanon (“from all sides”)
• þanon (“from there”)
• heonan (“from here”)