Year: 2023
Type: article
Abstract: This contribution focuses on Stroh-Wollin’s (2020 inNJL) etymologies of the Nordic definite articlesennandhinnand contrastivehinn/hitt. While I do not contest her central claim that Old Icelandicennand Mainland Scandinavianhinnhave separate historical origins, I do argue that her etymologies should not be accepted over more conventional ones already present in the literature. First, the etymology ofennshould, along traditional lines, be connected to Germanic cognates such as Gothicjain-, Germanjen-, and Englishyon(rather than derived from an ancient PIE *eno-).1Furthermore, contrastivehinn/hittand definitehinn/hitshould be considered a doublet, both ultimately deriving from a distal/contrastive element (rather than the article having separate origins in an innovated Proto-Nordic proximal demonstrative).
Source: Nordic Journal of Linguistics
Author: Eric T. Lander
Institution: University of Gothenburg
Language: English
Subfield: Language and Linguistics
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,255
OpenAlex ID: W4316466447