hvenær
Icelandic
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Adverb
[edit]hvenær
- when
- Hvenær er von á þér?
- When may we expect you?
- Hvenær áttu afmæli?
- When is your birthday?
Usage notes
[edit]This word is only used as an interrogative pronoun. In statements, the word þegar is used.
Old Norse
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]- hvenar (in the Droplaugarsona saga)
- hvener
Etymology
[edit]Likely an exact cognate to Dutch wanneer (“when”). De Vries, however, prefers a derivation from hvé (“how”) + nær (“near”), with sense development "how near" > "how early" > "when". The first component is regardless related to Proto-Germanic *hwan (“when”).[1]
Adverb
[edit]hvenær
References
[edit]- ^ de Vries, Jan (1977) “hvénær, hvénar, hvéner”, in Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Old Norse Etymological Dictionary][1] (in German), 2nd revised edition, Leiden: Brill, page 271
Further reading
[edit]- “hvenær”, in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press