neorxnawang
Old English
[edit]
Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From neorxna (an element of unknown provenance) + wang (“field”). Many attempts have been made to explain the etymology of neorxna, but little agreement has been reached; the available evidence probably does not permit a definite answer.
Selected explanations
- An early attempt at etymologising the first element of this word is Edward Lye's 18th-century derivation from an adjective *neorxen, from ne (“no”) + weorc (“work”).[1][2] However, neither the medial /s/ or the final /a/ can be explained without straining the bounds of formal plausibility. Additionally, one would expect weorc to be negated with un-, not ne; compare e.g. unweorclīċ (“unsuitable for work”).
- Gostenfell instead considers it to contain a compound of eorcen (“shining”) + stan (“stone”), with initial n- through metanalysis. However, this hypothesis would require a level of phonetic reduction rarely seen in Old English.[3]
- A suggestion once "almost universally approved" connects nēo (“corpse”) and an unattested cognate of Gothic 𐍂𐍉𐌷𐍃𐌽𐍃 (rōhsns, “chamber”), this would form *nēorīehsn (literally “hall of the dead”),[2][4] which could reduce to neorxen- without undue difficulty, but 𐍂𐍉𐌷𐍃𐌽𐍃 is entirely isolated within Germanic, making the supposition of an Old English cognate very risky.
- In a 1979 article, Alan K. Brown proposes that neorxena- is an artificial distortion of OE grœ̄ne (alternative form of grēne) 'green' using then in-vogue 8th century literary tricks of reverse spelling and isolated rune use, in this case the Elder Fuþark and the Anglo-Saxon Fuþorc rune ᚷ (Proto-Germanic *gebu, Old English ġifu) 'gift', to mark the end & beginning of said reversal stemming from the left-to-right-or-right-to-left freedom of runic writing, suggesting an original *Grœ̄n(e)nawang, meaning 'green field'.[5]
- Roberts derives neorxna from *nēoryxena, the genitive plural of hypothetical *nēoryxe (literally “garden of the dead”), from nēo (“corpse”) + ryxe, variant of rysċe (“rush”); connecting this to the "reeds and rushes" of Isaiah 35:7.[6]
- For discussion of the innumerable other proposed etymologies, see the references listed below.
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]neorxnawang m
Declension
[edit]Strong a-stem:
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | neorxnawang | neorxnawangas |
| accusative | neorxnawang | neorxnawangas |
| genitive | neorxnawanges | neorxnawanga |
| dative | neorxnawange | neorxnawangum |
References
[edit]- ^ Lye, Eduardus (a. 1767), “Neoꞃcꞅen”, in Owen Manning, editor, Dictionarium Saxonico Et Gothico-Latinum […] , volume II, Londinium: Edmund Allen, published 1743.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Henry, P. L. (1966), “Some Old English Religious Terms”, in The Early English and Celtic Lyric, London: George Allen & Unwin, pages 202-205.
- ^ Langenfelt, Gösta (1936), “The OE Paradise Lost: Neorxnawang”, in Anglia - Zeitschrift fur Englisch Philologie, volume 60, , →ISSN, pages 374-376.
- ^ Brown, Alan K. (1973), “Neorxnawang”, in Neuphilologische Mitteilungen, volume 74, number 4, Modern Language Society, page 611.
- ^ Brown, Alan K. (1973), “Neorxnawang”, in Neuphilologische Mitteilungen[1], volume 74, number 4, →ISSN, →JSTOR, pages 610–623
- ^ Roberts, Jane (1985), “A Preliminary "Heaven" Index for Old English”, in Leeds Studies in English[2], volume n.s. 16, University of Leeds, pages 208-19.