niman

niman

1. romanization of 𐌽𐌹𐌼𐌰𐌽

niman

1. now; today

From Proto-West Germanic *neman, from Proto-Germanic *nemaną, from Proto-Indo-European *nem-.

Germanic cognates include Old Frisian nima, Old Saxon niman, Old Dutch neman, Old High German neman, Old Norse nema, Gothic 𐌽𐌹𐌼𐌰𐌽 (niman). The Indo-European root was also the source of Old Irish nem (“present”), Latvian ņemt (“to take”), Albanian nëm (“to take, curse”), Ancient Greek νέμω (némō).

• IPA^(key): /ˈni.mɑn/

niman

1. (transitive) [with accusative] to take
   • late 9th century, translation of Orosius’ History Against the Pagans

     ⁊ hæfdon ġeleornad mā cræfta hū hīe þā elpendas beswīcan mehton, mid þǣm þæt hīe nāmon trēowu, ⁊ slōgon on oþerne ende moniġe sċearpe īsene næġlas, ⁊ hīe mid flexe bewundon, ⁊ onbǣrndon hit, ⁊ beþyddan hit þonne on þone elpend hindan...

     And they had learned more tricks through which they could ensnare the elephants; they took stakes and drove into the other end many sharp iron nails, and wrapped them in flax, and set them on fire, and then thrust them into the elephant from behind...

   • c. 990, Wessex Gospels, Mark 2:10-11

     Hē cwæð tō þām laman, þē iċ seċġe, arīs, nim ðīn bed, and gā tō þīnum hūse.

     He said to the lame man, "I say to you, arise, take your bed, and go to your house."

• The variation in stem-vowels in the past tense is explained here. See cuman for a similar discussion.
  • The first-and-third-person singular forms in the past indicative ought to have been nam / nom. (See discussion of Proto-West-Germanic *a before nasal consonants.)
    • nam was the expected form in Late West Saxon and in Kentish. It appears in Early West Saxon, too.
    • nom was the expected form in Mercian and Northumbrian. It appears in Early West Saxon, too.
    • However, a form nōm existed in West Saxon, Mercian, and Northumbrian (if not also in Kentish). This form derived from the analogical transfer of the vowel /oː/ from the second-person singular form and the plural form into the first-and-third-person singular forms.
  • The second-person singular form and the plural form ought to have had ⟨nōm-⟩ as the stem. This results from the rounding and raising of Proto-West-Germanic *ā before nasal consonants before the written Old English period. Compare this with Old English mōna.
    • Aside from one occurrence in Mercian of a plural form indicating ⟨nām-⟩ (⟨naamun⟩ /ˈnɑː.mun/ in the Épinal Glossary), both Mercian and Northumbrian used ⟨nōm-⟩ in all past-tense forms.
    • ⟨nām-⟩ appears in West Saxon alongside ⟨nōm-⟩ due to analogical processes.

• Middle English: nimen, nymen
  • English: nim; numb (from past participle)
  • Scots: nim

• neman

From Proto-West Germanic *neman.

nīman

1. to take

• Middle Low German: nēmen
  • Low German: nehmen