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Does English have letter sequence GN 'natively'?
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I noticed that in English the letter sequence GN appears in a strange way. Some examples I can find are the word stems -cogn-, -sign-, -lign-, all of which looks very similar to French counterparts. By this I think GN is of French origin, and therefore comes from Latin, ultimately.
OTOH, GN in many words are pronounced separately, which contradicts with the "French origin" hypothesis, because in French GN is pronounced like "ny" (e.g. canyon). And also note that this pronunciation is similar to other Germanic languages like German, but I can't find any similarity between a German word containing GN and an English -GN- word.
Assume "native" = Old English, that is pre-1066 origin. Words imported from Latin or Greek families via French -after- 1066 probably wouldn't count as "native". I think Romance originating words borrowed into Old English before 1066 are probably fair game (but there probably aren't any).
etymology vocabulary
edited 54 secs ago
Mitch
48.7k1596205
asked 1 hour ago
iBug
1265
 |Â
show 3 more comments
up vote
1
down vote
favorite
I noticed that in English the letter sequence GN appears in a strange way. Some examples I can find are the word stems -cogn-, -sign-, -lign-, all of which looks very similar to French counterparts. By this I think GN is of French origin, and therefore comes from Latin, ultimately.
OTOH, GN in many words are pronounced separately, which contradicts with the "French origin" hypothesis, because in French GN is pronounced like "ny" (e.g. canyon). And also note that this pronunciation is similar to other Germanic languages like German, but I can't find any similarity between a German word containing GN and an English -GN- word.
Assume "native" = Old English, that is pre-1066 origin. Words imported from Latin or Greek families via French -after- 1066 probably wouldn't count as "native". I think Romance originating words borrowed into Old English before 1066 are probably fair game (but there probably aren't any).
etymology vocabulary
edited 54 secs ago
Mitch
48.7k1596205
asked 1 hour ago
iBug
1265
3
Define "natively". The vast majority of "English" words in use today were originally imported from other languages.
– FumbleFingers
1 hour ago
Agnostic is from Greek - it's an a- prefix but you don't explicitly rule that out. Pugnacious is apparently directly from Latin
– Chris H
59 mins ago
@FumbleFingers I'm not an expert in that subject, but I wouldn't consider "different" as a "native" word, but I would agree if one says "word" is native.
– iBug
59 mins ago
1
You appear to use a rather idiosyncratic definition of native = Germanic. If this is actually what you mean, could you be clear about that in the question?
– Chris H
50 mins ago
3
I'm tempted to make an argument in favour of words of Celtic origin but I don't honestly think you can define native English
– Chris H
43 mins ago
 |Â
show 3 more comments
up vote
1
down vote
favorite
up vote
1
down vote
favorite
I noticed that in English the letter sequence GN appears in a strange way. Some examples I can find are the word stems -cogn-, -sign-, -lign-, all of which looks very similar to French counterparts. By this I think GN is of French origin, and therefore comes from Latin, ultimately.
OTOH, GN in many words are pronounced separately, which contradicts with the "French origin" hypothesis, because in French GN is pronounced like "ny" (e.g. canyon). And also note that this pronunciation is similar to other Germanic languages like German, but I can't find any similarity between a German word containing GN and an English -GN- word.
Assume "native" = Old English, that is pre-1066 origin. Words imported from Latin or Greek families via French -after- 1066 probably wouldn't count as "native". I think Romance originating words borrowed into Old English before 1066 are probably fair game (but there probably aren't any).
etymology vocabulary
edited 54 secs ago
Mitch
48.7k1596205
asked 1 hour ago
iBug
1265
I noticed that in English the letter sequence GN appears in a strange way. Some examples I can find are the word stems -cogn-, -sign-, -lign-, all of which looks very similar to French counterparts. By this I think GN is of French origin, and therefore comes from Latin, ultimately.
OTOH, GN in many words are pronounced separately, which contradicts with the "French origin" hypothesis, because in French GN is pronounced like "ny" (e.g. canyon). And also note that this pronunciation is similar to other Germanic languages like German, but I can't find any similarity between a German word containing GN and an English -GN- word.
Assume "native" = Old English, that is pre-1066 origin. Words imported from Latin or Greek families via French -after- 1066 probably wouldn't count as "native". I think Romance originating words borrowed into Old English before 1066 are probably fair game (but there probably aren't any).
etymology vocabulary
etymology vocabulary
edited 54 secs ago
Mitch
48.7k1596205
asked 1 hour ago
iBug
1265
edited 54 secs ago
Mitch
48.7k1596205
asked 1 hour ago
iBug
1265
edited 54 secs ago
Mitch
48.7k1596205
edited 54 secs ago
Mitch
48.7k1596205
edited 54 secs ago
Mitch
48.7k1596205
48.7k1596205
asked 1 hour ago
iBug
1265
asked 1 hour ago
iBug
1265
asked 1 hour ago
iBug
1265
1265
3
Define "natively". The vast majority of "English" words in use today were originally imported from other languages.
– FumbleFingers
1 hour ago
Agnostic is from Greek - it's an a- prefix but you don't explicitly rule that out. Pugnacious is apparently directly from Latin
– Chris H
59 mins ago
@FumbleFingers I'm not an expert in that subject, but I wouldn't consider "different" as a "native" word, but I would agree if one says "word" is native.
– iBug
59 mins ago
1
You appear to use a rather idiosyncratic definition of native = Germanic. If this is actually what you mean, could you be clear about that in the question?
– Chris H
50 mins ago
3
I'm tempted to make an argument in favour of words of Celtic origin but I don't honestly think you can define native English
– Chris H
43 mins ago
 |Â
show 3 more comments
3
Define "natively". The vast majority of "English" words in use today were originally imported from other languages.
– FumbleFingers
1 hour ago
Agnostic is from Greek - it's an a- prefix but you don't explicitly rule that out. Pugnacious is apparently directly from Latin
– Chris H
59 mins ago
@FumbleFingers I'm not an expert in that subject, but I wouldn't consider "different" as a "native" word, but I would agree if one says "word" is native.
– iBug
59 mins ago
1
You appear to use a rather idiosyncratic definition of native = Germanic. If this is actually what you mean, could you be clear about that in the question?
– Chris H
50 mins ago
3
I'm tempted to make an argument in favour of words of Celtic origin but I don't honestly think you can define native English
– Chris H
43 mins ago
3
3
Define "natively". The vast majority of "English" words in use today were originally imported from other languages.
– FumbleFingers
1 hour ago
Define "natively". The vast majority of "English" words in use today were originally imported from other languages.
– FumbleFingers
1 hour ago
Agnostic is from Greek - it's an a- prefix but you don't explicitly rule that out. Pugnacious is apparently directly from Latin
– Chris H
59 mins ago
Agnostic is from Greek - it's an a- prefix but you don't explicitly rule that out. Pugnacious is apparently directly from Latin
– Chris H
59 mins ago
@FumbleFingers I'm not an expert in that subject, but I wouldn't consider "different" as a "native" word, but I would agree if one says "word" is native.
– iBug
59 mins ago
@FumbleFingers I'm not an expert in that subject, but I wouldn't consider "different" as a "native" word, but I would agree if one says "word" is native.
– iBug
59 mins ago
1
1
You appear to use a rather idiosyncratic definition of native = Germanic. If this is actually what you mean, could you be clear about that in the question?
– Chris H
50 mins ago
You appear to use a rather idiosyncratic definition of native = Germanic. If this is actually what you mean, could you be clear about that in the question?
– Chris H
50 mins ago
3
3
I'm tempted to make an argument in favour of words of Celtic origin but I don't honestly think you can define native English
– Chris H
43 mins ago
I'm tempted to make an argument in favour of words of Celtic origin but I don't honestly think you can define native English
– Chris H
43 mins ago
 |Â
show 3 more comments
3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
up vote
3
down vote
Yes, at the start of some words like gnaw. There are also some compound words made from native elements that are spelled with -gn-, such as hangnail.
The /g/ sound is a bit rare outside of word-initial position in native English vocabulary because it was historically vocalized in many contexts to /j/ or /w/.
answered 59 mins ago
sumelic
43k6102203
I don't like "hangnail" because it's more a compound of two words that happens to have GN in between. The gnaw one seems valid.
– iBug
55 mins ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
Other words of English etymology using "gn" are gnarl, gnash, and gnat. As sumelic has pointed out, they are found at the beginning of these words.
answered 30 mins ago
Liz
673
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
Old English had a lot of words spelled with "gn" somewhere in the word. With some patience you can get a pretty complete list here by doing a regular expression search for gn (the first 500ish hits are valid, the rest match words found in the body of the definition).
Cross checking with the OED, I see that very few current words have an etymology of "germanic" and are spelled still with a "gn" (most of them I've never heard of and were added to the language from German itself much later). The two I have heard of are "gnat" and "gnaw", which both date back to Old English.
I do see there are plenty of words that are still used that lost the "gn". For example, "again" was once spelled ongeagn. In addition "rain" was spelled regn.
answered 26 mins ago
Laurel
25.3k64891
gnarl, gnash, gnat, gnaw are all OE. 'gnu' is from dutch from german from khoisan 18th c.. 'gneiss' is from German 18th c.. gnome' from French 18th c
– Mitch
6 mins ago
add a comment |Â
3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
3
down vote
Yes, at the start of some words like gnaw. There are also some compound words made from native elements that are spelled with -gn-, such as hangnail.
The /g/ sound is a bit rare outside of word-initial position in native English vocabulary because it was historically vocalized in many contexts to /j/ or /w/.
answered 59 mins ago
sumelic
43k6102203
I don't like "hangnail" because it's more a compound of two words that happens to have GN in between. The gnaw one seems valid.
– iBug
55 mins ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
3
down vote
Yes, at the start of some words like gnaw. There are also some compound words made from native elements that are spelled with -gn-, such as hangnail.
The /g/ sound is a bit rare outside of word-initial position in native English vocabulary because it was historically vocalized in many contexts to /j/ or /w/.
answered 59 mins ago
sumelic
43k6102203
I don't like "hangnail" because it's more a compound of two words that happens to have GN in between. The gnaw one seems valid.
– iBug
55 mins ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
3
down vote
up vote
3
down vote
Yes, at the start of some words like gnaw. There are also some compound words made from native elements that are spelled with -gn-, such as hangnail.
The /g/ sound is a bit rare outside of word-initial position in native English vocabulary because it was historically vocalized in many contexts to /j/ or /w/.
answered 59 mins ago
sumelic
43k6102203
Yes, at the start of some words like gnaw. There are also some compound words made from native elements that are spelled with -gn-, such as hangnail.
The /g/ sound is a bit rare outside of word-initial position in native English vocabulary because it was historically vocalized in many contexts to /j/ or /w/.
answered 59 mins ago
sumelic
43k6102203
answered 59 mins ago
sumelic
43k6102203
answered 59 mins ago
sumelic
43k6102203
answered 59 mins ago
sumelic
43k6102203
43k6102203
I don't like "hangnail" because it's more a compound of two words that happens to have GN in between. The gnaw one seems valid.
– iBug
55 mins ago
add a comment |Â
I don't like "hangnail" because it's more a compound of two words that happens to have GN in between. The gnaw one seems valid.
– iBug
55 mins ago
I don't like "hangnail" because it's more a compound of two words that happens to have GN in between. The gnaw one seems valid.
– iBug
55 mins ago
I don't like "hangnail" because it's more a compound of two words that happens to have GN in between. The gnaw one seems valid.
– iBug
55 mins ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
Other words of English etymology using "gn" are gnarl, gnash, and gnat. As sumelic has pointed out, they are found at the beginning of these words.
answered 30 mins ago
Liz
673
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
Other words of English etymology using "gn" are gnarl, gnash, and gnat. As sumelic has pointed out, they are found at the beginning of these words.
answered 30 mins ago
Liz
673
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
up vote
1
down vote
Other words of English etymology using "gn" are gnarl, gnash, and gnat. As sumelic has pointed out, they are found at the beginning of these words.
answered 30 mins ago
Liz
673
Other words of English etymology using "gn" are gnarl, gnash, and gnat. As sumelic has pointed out, they are found at the beginning of these words.
answered 30 mins ago
Liz
673
answered 30 mins ago
Liz
673
answered 30 mins ago
Liz
673
answered 30 mins ago
Liz
673
673
add a comment |Â
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
Old English had a lot of words spelled with "gn" somewhere in the word. With some patience you can get a pretty complete list here by doing a regular expression search for gn (the first 500ish hits are valid, the rest match words found in the body of the definition).
Cross checking with the OED, I see that very few current words have an etymology of "germanic" and are spelled still with a "gn" (most of them I've never heard of and were added to the language from German itself much later). The two I have heard of are "gnat" and "gnaw", which both date back to Old English.
I do see there are plenty of words that are still used that lost the "gn". For example, "again" was once spelled ongeagn. In addition "rain" was spelled regn.
answered 26 mins ago
Laurel
25.3k64891
gnarl, gnash, gnat, gnaw are all OE. 'gnu' is from dutch from german from khoisan 18th c.. 'gneiss' is from German 18th c.. gnome' from French 18th c
– Mitch
6 mins ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
Old English had a lot of words spelled with "gn" somewhere in the word. With some patience you can get a pretty complete list here by doing a regular expression search for gn (the first 500ish hits are valid, the rest match words found in the body of the definition).
Cross checking with the OED, I see that very few current words have an etymology of "germanic" and are spelled still with a "gn" (most of them I've never heard of and were added to the language from German itself much later). The two I have heard of are "gnat" and "gnaw", which both date back to Old English.
I do see there are plenty of words that are still used that lost the "gn". For example, "again" was once spelled ongeagn. In addition "rain" was spelled regn.
answered 26 mins ago
Laurel
25.3k64891
gnarl, gnash, gnat, gnaw are all OE. 'gnu' is from dutch from german from khoisan 18th c.. 'gneiss' is from German 18th c.. gnome' from French 18th c
– Mitch
6 mins ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
up vote
1
down vote
Old English had a lot of words spelled with "gn" somewhere in the word. With some patience you can get a pretty complete list here by doing a regular expression search for gn (the first 500ish hits are valid, the rest match words found in the body of the definition).
Cross checking with the OED, I see that very few current words have an etymology of "germanic" and are spelled still with a "gn" (most of them I've never heard of and were added to the language from German itself much later). The two I have heard of are "gnat" and "gnaw", which both date back to Old English.
I do see there are plenty of words that are still used that lost the "gn". For example, "again" was once spelled ongeagn. In addition "rain" was spelled regn.
answered 26 mins ago
Laurel
25.3k64891
Old English had a lot of words spelled with "gn" somewhere in the word. With some patience you can get a pretty complete list here by doing a regular expression search for gn (the first 500ish hits are valid, the rest match words found in the body of the definition).
Cross checking with the OED, I see that very few current words have an etymology of "germanic" and are spelled still with a "gn" (most of them I've never heard of and were added to the language from German itself much later). The two I have heard of are "gnat" and "gnaw", which both date back to Old English.
I do see there are plenty of words that are still used that lost the "gn". For example, "again" was once spelled ongeagn. In addition "rain" was spelled regn.
answered 26 mins ago
Laurel
25.3k64891
answered 26 mins ago
Laurel
25.3k64891
answered 26 mins ago
Laurel
25.3k64891
answered 26 mins ago
Laurel
25.3k64891
25.3k64891
gnarl, gnash, gnat, gnaw are all OE. 'gnu' is from dutch from german from khoisan 18th c.. 'gneiss' is from German 18th c.. gnome' from French 18th c
– Mitch
6 mins ago
add a comment |Â
gnarl, gnash, gnat, gnaw are all OE. 'gnu' is from dutch from german from khoisan 18th c.. 'gneiss' is from German 18th c.. gnome' from French 18th c
– Mitch
6 mins ago
gnarl, gnash, gnat, gnaw are all OE. 'gnu' is from dutch from german from khoisan 18th c.. 'gneiss' is from German 18th c.. gnome' from French 18th c
– Mitch
6 mins ago
gnarl, gnash, gnat, gnaw are all OE. 'gnu' is from dutch from german from khoisan 18th c.. 'gneiss' is from German 18th c.. gnome' from French 18th c
– Mitch
6 mins ago
add a comment |Â
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3
Define "natively". The vast majority of "English" words in use today were originally imported from other languages.
– FumbleFingers
1 hour ago
Agnostic is from Greek - it's an a- prefix but you don't explicitly rule that out. Pugnacious is apparently directly from Latin
– Chris H
59 mins ago
@FumbleFingers I'm not an expert in that subject, but I wouldn't consider "different" as a "native" word, but I would agree if one says "word" is native.
– iBug
59 mins ago
1
You appear to use a rather idiosyncratic definition of native = Germanic. If this is actually what you mean, could you be clear about that in the question?
– Chris H
50 mins ago
3
I'm tempted to make an argument in favour of words of Celtic origin but I don't honestly think you can define native English
– Chris H
43 mins ago