Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/hnīwaną

This Proto-Germanic 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-Germanic

Alternative forms

*hnīgwaną (early form)
*hnīganą (Northwest dialectal)

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *kneygʷʰ- (“to bend, to droop”). Perhaps cognate with Latin coniveo (“to close up the eyes; to connive, turn a blind eye”) due to matching phonetics, but the semantic gap is wide.^[1]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈxniː.wɑ.nɑ̃/

Verb

*hnīwaną^[1]^[2]

to bow

Inflection

Note: The original stem-final consonant gw becomes w, but g next to u.

Conjugation of (strong class 1)
present tense	indicative	subjunctive	imperative	indicative	subjunctive
	active voice			passive voice
1st singular	*hnīwō	*hnīwaų	—	*hnīwai	?
2nd singular	*hnīwizi	*hnīwaiz	*hnīw	*hnīwazai	*hnīwaizau
3rd singular	*hnīwidi	*hnīwai	*hnīwadau	*hnīwadai	*hnīwaidau
1st dual	*hnīwōz	*hnīwaiw	—	—	—
2nd dual	*hnīwadiz	*hnīwaidiz	*hnīwadiz	—	—
1st plural	*hnīwamaz	*hnīwaim	—	*hnīwandai	*hnīwaindau
2nd plural	*hnīwid	*hnīwaid	*hnīwid	*hnīwandai	*hnīwaindau
3rd plural	*hnīwandi	*hnīwain	*hnīwandau	*hnīwandai	*hnīwaindau

past tense	indicative	subjunctive
1st singular	*hnaiw	*hniwį̄
2nd singular	*hnaiwt	*hniwīz
3rd singular	*hnaiw	*hniwī
1st dual	*hnigū	*hniwīw
2nd dual	*hnigudiz	*hniwīdiz
1st plural	*hnigum	*hniwīm
2nd plural	*hnigud	*hniwīd
3rd plural	*hnigun	*hniwīn

	present	past
participles	*hnīwandz	*hniwanaz

Related terms

*hnaigwijaną/*hnaiwijaną
*hnigwijaną/*hniwjaną
*hnigōną/*hniwōną (?)

Descendants

Proto-West Germanic: *hnīgan
- Old English: hnīgan
- Old Frisian: hnīga
- Old Saxon: hnīgan
  - Middle Low German: nîgen
- Old Dutch: *nīgan
  - Middle Dutch: nigen
    - Dutch: nijgen
      - Afrikaans: nyg
    - Limburgish: niege
- Old High German: nīgan
  - Middle High German: nīgen
    - German: neigen (merged with *hnaigijaną)
Proto-Norse:
- Old Norse: hníga
  - Icelandic: hníga
  - Faroese: níga
  - Norwegian Bokmål: nige
  - Old Swedish: nīgha
    - Swedish: niga
      - → Finnish: niiata
Gothic: 𐌷𐌽𐌴𐌹𐍅𐌰𐌽 (hneiwan)

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Kroonen, Guus (2013) “*hnīwan-~*hnīgan”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11)‎^[1], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 236-237
^ Vladimir Orel (2003) “*xnīʒwanan”, in A Handbook of Germanic Etymology‎^[2], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 180

[EDPG-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Kroonen, Guus (2013) “*hnīwan-~*hnīgan”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11)‎^[1], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 236-237

[2] Vladimir Orel (2003) “*xnīʒwanan”, in A Handbook of Germanic Etymology‎^[2], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 180

[1]

[2]