Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₁nómn̥

This Proto-Indo-European entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Indo-European

Etymology

Kloekhorst 2008:518 argues for a *-mn̥ derivative of the root *h₃neh₃- (“to name”), reflected in Hittite 𒄩𒀭𒈾𒄿 (ḫannaⁱ-, “to sue, judge”) (originally “to call to court”) and Ancient Greek ὄνομαι (ónomai, “to blame, scold, insult”) (with a semantic shift comparable to English to call names); see also *h₃en(h₂)-.

Within the disputed Indo-Uralic theory, it has been connected with the Uralic root *nime, whence Finnish nimi, Estonian nimi and Hungarian név.

Reconstruction

Sources disagree on the reconstruction of this word. Some reconstruct it with initial *h₃- because of Greek ὄνομα (ónoma), ὄνυμα (ónuma) and (ἀ)νώνυμος ((a)nṓnumos) (*n̥h₃C>νωC), but the lack of an initial laryngeal in Hittite 𒆷𒀀𒈠𒀭 (lāman) might suggest *h₁ (although the fate of word-initial *h₃ in Anatolian is unclear and controversial), and Armenian անուն (anun) could be from either one. The Greek o- could be due to assimilation to the following o-, just as in ὀδούς (odoús, “tooth”), from *odonts, assimilated from *edonts, from *h₁dont-, although this is now reconstructed with *h₃ by some authorities. Medial *-eh₃- is sometimes reconstructed on the basis of length in some Dutch and Low German denominal verbs, but these are more likely to be late forms using the Germanic a/ō ablaut found also in class VI strong verbs (and in Indo-Iranian it could have arisen by Brugmann's law, and in Latin by the analogy co-gnōscō (“to know”) : cōg-nōmen (“surname”) = nōscō (“to know”) : nōmen, with the other forms from PIE *ǵneh₃-).

The original paradigm is also somewhat difficult to reconstruct precisely; it might be proterokinetic ablauting *h₁nómn̥ ~ *h₁n̥méns, or just acrostatic with or without zero grade in weak cases. The Tocharian forms seem to come from *(h₁)nem-, which could be from the oblique form in an acrostatic paradigm. However, Ronald Kim reconstructs Proto-Tocharian *ñemə as *h₁nḗh₃mn̥.

Alternative reconstructions

*h₃néh₃mn̥ ~ *h₃nh₃méns^[1]^[2]
*nómn̥ ~ *n̥méns^[3]
*h₁nḗh₃mn̥ ~ *h₁néh₃mnos^[4]
*h₁néh₃mn̥
*h₃nómn̥

Noun

*h₁nómn̥ n

name

Inflection

Athematic, acrostatic
	singular	collective
nominative	*h₁nómn̥	*h₁némō
genitive	*h₁némn̥s	*h₁nm̥nés
	singular	dual	plural	collective
nominative	*h₁nómn̥	*h₁nómnih₁	—	*h₁némō
vocative	*h₁nómn̥	*h₁nómnih₁	—	*h₁némō
accusative	*h₁nómn̥	*h₁nómnih₁	—	*h₁némō
genitive	*h₁némn̥s	*?	—	*h₁nm̥nés
ablative	*h₁némn̥s	*?	—	*h₁nm̥nés
dative	*h₁némney	*?	—	*h₁nm̥néy
locative	h₁némn̥, h₁némni	*?	—	h₁n̥mén, h₁n̥méni
instrumental	*h₁némn̥h₁	*?	—	*h₁nm̥néh₁

Derived terms

*h₃nómn̥-ye-ti
- Proto-Hellenic: *onoməňňō
  - Ancient Greek: ὀνομαίνω (onomaínō)
*n̥-h₃nomn-o-
- Proto-Hellenic: *nōnomnos
  - Ancient Greek: νώνυμνος (nṓnumnos)

Descendants

Proto-Albanian: *enmen-, inmen-
- Albanian: emër (Tosk), êmën (Gheg)
Proto-Anatolian: *ʔlā́mn ~ *ʔlāmn
- Hittite: 𒆷𒀀𒈠𒀭 (lāman)
- Luwian: /alaman‑/: Luwian: 𔐓𔓇𔒅 (á‑lá/í‑ma‑(n‑)), Luwian: 𔐓𔕦𔒅 (á‑la/i‑ma‑(n‑)), Luwian: 𔐓𔓊𔒅 (á‑la‑ma‑(n‑)), Luwian: 𔗸𔒅 (a+ra/i‑ma‑(n‑))
- Lycian: 𐊀𐊍𐊙𐊎𐊀 (alãma)
Proto-Armenian: *anuwn
- Old Armenian: անուն (anun), *անումն (*anumn)
  - Armenian: անուն (anun), անում (anum) (dialectal)
Proto-Balto-Slavic: *inˀmen (see there for further descendants)
Proto-Celtic: *anman (see there for further descendants)
Proto-Germanic: *namô (see there for further descendants) (from the collective)
Proto-Hellenic: *ónomə (see there for further descendants)
Proto-Indo-Iranian: *Hnā́ma (see there for further descendants)
Proto-Italic: *nōmn̥
- Latin: nōmen (see there for further descendants)
- Oscan: 𐌍𐌖𐌌𐌍𐌄𐌝𐌔 (numneís)
- Umbrian: 𐌍𐌏𐌌𐌄 (nome), 𐌍𐌖𐌌𐌄𐌌 (numem)
Phrygian: ονομαν (onoman)
Proto-Tocharian: *ñēmä^[5]
- Tocharian A: ñom
- Tocharian B: ñem

References

^ Kloekhorst, Alwin (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Hittite Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 5), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 518
^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2011), Comparative Indo-European Linguistics: An Introduction, 2nd edition, revised and corrected by Michiel de Vaan, Amsterdam, Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company, page 32
^ Sihler, Andrew L. (1995), New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 97
^ Ringe, Donald (2006), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic (A Linguistic History of English; 1)‎^[1], Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 47
^ Adams, Douglas Q. (2013), “ñem*”, in A Dictionary of Tocharian B: Revised and Greatly Enlarged (Leiden Studies in Indo-European; 10), Amsterdam, New York: Rodopi, →ISBN, page 288

[1] Kloekhorst, Alwin (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Hittite Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 5), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 518

[2] Beekes, Robert S. P. (2011), Comparative Indo-European Linguistics: An Introduction, 2nd edition, revised and corrected by Michiel de Vaan, Amsterdam, Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company, page 32

[3] Sihler, Andrew L. (1995), New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 97

[4] Ringe, Donald (2006), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic (A Linguistic History of English; 1)‎^[1], Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 47

[5] Adams, Douglas Q. (2013), “ñem*”, in A Dictionary of Tocharian B: Revised and Greatly Enlarged (Leiden Studies in Indo-European; 10), Amsterdam, New York: Rodopi, →ISBN, page 288

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]