mynne

v. (wk.)

Gaw infin. mynn, pres. 3 sg. mynez; Cl pres. sg. myneʒ; Erk past 3 sg. mynnyd; WA infin. myn, mene, meyn, pres. 1 sg. myn, pres. 2 sg. mynnys, menys, pres. 3 sg. mynes, menys, pres. pl. mynes., imp. pl. mynes, pp. mynned

‘to declare; exhort; remember, think of; record, mention; go’ (Modern English min)

Etymology

A likely case of ON loan: (1) Most authorities derived from ON (thus OED, MED, TGD, GDS, McGee 341-2), which is the closest analogue in form and sense, cp. OIcel minna ‘to remind’ (minna-sk ‘to remember’), a wk. 1 v. formed on the n. represented by OIcel minni (neut.) ‘memory, mind, memorial’, < PGmc *menþjan with /nθ/ > /nn/ assimilation (cp. Go gaminþi ‘memory’). (2) The situation may, however, be more complex, as there is some evidence for OE wk. verbs mynian, -mynnan 'to intend, be impelled, direct oneself towards', perhaps formed on the n. myne 'memory, love, purpose, memorial' (< PGmc *muniz; see further Dance). These have sometimes been used to account for early ME forms munien, munnen 'to recall, recount' in the AB language. OED2 assigns Gaw 982 and WA 4787 to such a v. (s.v. min v. 1) (and OED3 cites WA as the only post-OE instance). While late ME minnen may therefore represent a conflation of two (or more) historically distinict words, it is most sensible to assume that contemporary speakers would have identified only a single lexeme. At any rate, the possibility of input from OE mynian, -mynnan is sufficient to rule out the assimilatory change in ON minna as a test of loan.

PGmc Ancestor

(1) *menþ-; (2) *mun-

Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)

minna ‘to remind’ 
(ONP (1) minna (1) (vb.))

Other Scandinavian Reflexes

Far minna, minnast, Icel minna, minnast, Norw minna, minnast, Dan minde, mides, Sw minna, minnas

OE Cognate

(2) mynian, -mynnan 'to intend, be impelled, direct oneself towards 

Phonological and morphological markers

[ON consonant cluster assimilation] (possibly diagnostic)

Summary category

D1c

Attestation

MED’s citations of min- forms are preponderantly N and E (as early as Orrm) and alliterative (inc. Harley 2253, PP), but there are a number of exceptions (inc. Chaucer), and the word occurs in the SE as early as the Trin.Hom.

Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus

Gaw 141, 982, 995 etc.; Pe 583; Cl 25, 436, 771; Erk 104; WA 245, 565, 583 etc.

For comparison in phrase with mene (< OE mǣnan), see Savage 151n. and McGee 439. TPD emend the A MS reading <mynned> at WA 1094 to nomyn, which gives better sense in context and restores the alliteration of the line.

Bibliography

MED minnen (v.1) , OED3 min (v.2) , HTOED , HTOED , Dance mynne, Bj. 171; (1) de Vries minna, Mag. minna, Seebold man, Orel *menþjanan; (2) OED3 min v.1 , AEW mynian, mynnan