Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/269

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night’ (allied to OTeut. galan, ‘to sing’); OSax. nahtigala, Du. nachtegaal, AS. nihtegale, E. nightingale.

Nacken, m., ‘nape,’ from MidHG. nacke, nac (gen. -ckes), m., ‘hind part of the head, nape,’ OHG. nac hnac (cch), m.; comp. Du. nek, AS. hnëcca, m., ‘neck, nape,’ E. neck, OIc. hnakke, m., ‘hind part of the head’ (Goth. *hnakka, *hnikka, is wanting). In Suab. and Franc. Anfe or Genick is mostly used, and in Bav. Genäck (the Bav. meaning of nacken, ‘bone,’ is remarkable). The graded form with ë (AS. hnëcca) parallel to a-o is preserved by ModHG. in Genick; E. nape (AS. hnapa?) seems to be a corresponding form with a medial labial. In the non-Teut. languages the word may be cognate with OIr. cnocc, OBret. cnoch, ‘hill, elevation’ (stem cnocco-).

nackt, nackend, adj., ‘naked, bare, nude,’ from the equiv. MidHG. nackt, nackent, OHG. nacchut, nahhut, adj.; corresponding to Du. naakt, AS. nacod, E. naked, OIc. nǫkkverðr, Goth. naqaþs, with the same meaning; a partic. derivative (see falt) naqe-dó from pre-Teut. nogetó- (OIr. nocht, ‘naked,’ from the prim. form nokto-). In Ind. the form nagná occurs with a particip. na for ta; OSlov. nagŭ, Lith. nu̇gas, ‘naked,’ are formed without a suffix. Nothing further is known concerning the Aryan root nō̆g (allied to Lat. nûdus for *novdus, *nogvidus?), which has a bearing on the history of civilisation, since it implies the correlative ‘non-naked,’ i.e. ‘clad,’ and thus assumes that a sort of dress was worn in the primit. Aryan period. See also bar.

Nadel, f., ‘needle,’ from the equiv. MidHG. nâdel, OHG. nâdal, nâdala, f.; corresponding to Goth. nêþla, OIc. nál, AS. nœ̂dl, f., E. needle, Du. naald, OSax. nâdla. A common Teut. form for ‘needle,’ with the suffix þlô- (tlâ-), from the root nê (Radel, lit. ‘an instrument for sewing), appearing in ModHG. nähen.

Nagel, m., from the equiv. MidHG. nagel, OHG. nagal, f., ‘nail’; corresponding to OSax. nagal, Du. nagel, AS. nœgel, E. nail, OIc. nagl, ‘nail’; Goth. *nagls may be deduced from the recorded vb. nagljan, ‘to nail.’ The West Teut. words have mostly the double sense ‘nail of the finger or toe’ and ‘wooden, iron nail.’ The former meaning, in accordance with the corresponding words in the other Aryan languages, is the original one (in OIc. there

is a distinction between nagl, ‘finger-nail,’ and nagle, ‘wooden, iron nail’). Teut. naglo- originated in Aryan noghlo-, or rather nokhló-; comp. OInd. nakhá, m. and n., ‘finger or toe nail, claw of birds,’ Gr. ὀνυχ- (nom. ὄνυξ), ‘claw, talon, hoof,’ then also ‘hook,’ Lat. unguis, ‘claw, talon,’ OSlov. nogŭtĭ, ‘nail, claw’ (from OSlov. nogà, f., ‘foot’); Lith. nágas, ‘finger-nail,’ nagà, ‘horse's hoof.’ ‘The root nokh, nogh, is unknown; it must not be sought for in nagen, the root of which was rather pre-Teut. ghnagh. See Nelke.

nagen, vb., ‘to gnaw, nibble,’ from the equiv. MidHG. nagen, OHG. nagan, with the earlier variant gnagan; comp. OSax. and AS. gnagan, E. to gnaw, OIc. gnaga, ‘to gnaw.’ There are also forms with initial k instead of g, Du. knagen, OLG. cnagan, likewise HG. chnagan, ‘to gnaw’; the form nagen originated in gnagen. To the Teut. root gnag, knag, no correspondences have been found as yet in the non-Teut. languages.

nah, adj., ‘near, impending,’ from MidHG. nâch (inflect. nâher), OHG. nâh (inflect. nâhêr), adj., ‘near’; corresponding to OSax. nâh, LG. and Du. na, AS. neáh, E. nigh, adj. (whence the comp. AS. neár, adv., E. near; superl. next, E. next); OIc. nár, Goth. néhws, ‘near.’ To the Goth. stem nêhwa- (for further derivatives see under Nachbar and nah) we should have expected néko-, nêqe-, in the non-Teut. languages, but they do not occur. Gr. ἐγγύς, ‘near,’ is no more equiv. in sound to nahe than Sans. nā̆́huša, ‘neighbouring."—

nahe, adv., from the equiv. MidHG. nâhe, OHG. nâho, adv., ‘near, nearly.’—

Nähe, f., ‘nearness, proximity,’ from the equiv. MidHG. nœhe, OHG. nâhî, f.; an abstract of the adj. nâh.

nähen, vb., ‘to sew, stitch,’ from the equiv. MidHG. nœjen, OHG. nâjan; corresponding only to Du. naaijen; Goth. *naian is wanting, neither is the word found in the other Teut. languages. The verbal stem nê contained in nähen was at one time more widely diffused in the Teut. group, as may be inferred from the common Teut. Nadel (nêþlô-); comp. further Naht. In the non-Teut. languages a root nê, ‘to spin,’ is found, which is usually connected with the root of nähen; comp. Lat. neo, Gr. νέω, ‘I spin,’ νῆμα, ‘thread,’ νῆτρον, ‘spindle’; to this is allied a root snâ in OIr. snáthe, ‘thread,’ snâthat, ‘needle’