Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/mainijaną

This Proto-Germanic entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Germanic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɑi̯.ni.jɑ.nɑ̃/

Etymology 1

From Proto-Indo-European *meyno- (“intent, mindset, opinion”), from Proto-Indo-European *mey- (“to change, exchange, swap, switch, share in common”). Cognate with Old Irish mían (“wish; desire”).

Verb

*mainijaną

1. to mean, think

Inflection

Conjugation of *mainijaną (weak class 1)

	active voice			passive voice
present tense	indicative	subjunctive	imperative	indicative	subjunctive
1st singular	*mainijō	*mainijaų	—	*mainijai	?
2nd singular	*mainīsi	*mainijais	*mainī	*mainijasai	*mainijaisau
3rd singular	*mainīþi	*mainijai	*mainijaþau	*mainijaþai	*mainijaiþau
1st dual	*mainijōs	*mainijaiw	—	—	—
2nd dual	*mainijaþiz	*mainijaiþiz	*mainijaþiz	—	—
1st plural	*mainijamaz	*mainijaim	—	*mainijanþai	*mainijainþau
2nd plural	*mainīþ	*mainijaiþ	*mainīþ	*mainijanþai	*mainijainþau
3rd plural	*mainijanþi	*mainijain	*mainijanþau	*mainijanþai	*mainijainþau
past tense	indicative	subjunctive
1st singular	*mainidǭ	*mainidēdį̄
2nd singular	*mainidēz	*mainidēdīz
3rd singular	*mainidē	*mainidēdī
1st dual	*mainidēdū	*mainidēdīw
2nd dual	*mainidēdudiz	*mainidēdīdiz
1st plural	*mainidēdum	*mainidēdīm
2nd plural	*mainidēdud	*mainidēdīd
3rd plural	*mainidēdun	*mainidēdīn
	present	past
participles	*mainijandz	*mainidaz

Related terms

• *mainō
• *mainiz

Descendants

• Proto-West Germanic: *mainijan
  • Old English: mǣnan
    • Middle English: menen
      • Scots: mene, mein
      • English: mean
  • Old Frisian: mēna
    • Saterland Frisian: meene
    • West Frisian: miene
  • Old Saxon: mēnian
    • Middle Low German: mênen, meinen
      • German Low German: menen
      • → Old Norse: meina
        • Icelandic: meina
        • Faroese: meina
        • Norwegian Nynorsk: meina
          • → Norwegian Bokmål: meine
        • Danish: mene
          • Norwegian Bokmål: mene
        • Swedish: mena
        • Gutnish: maine
  • Old Dutch: mēnen
    • Middle Dutch: mênen
      • Dutch: menen
        • Afrikaans: meen
      • Limburgish: meine
  • Old High German: meinen
    • Middle High German: meinen
      • German: meinen
      • Hunsrik: menne
      • Yiddish: מיינען (meynen)
• → Proto-Finnic: *mainit'ak (see there for further descendants)

Etymology 2

Likely from *mainaz (“damaging, untrue, deceiving”) +‎ *-janą or *mainą (“damage, unjustice”) +‎ *-janą.

Verb

*mainijaną

1. to demean
2. to defile

Inflection

Conjugation of *mainijaną (weak class 1)

	active voice			passive voice
present tense	indicative	subjunctive	imperative	indicative	subjunctive
1st singular	*mainijō	*mainijaų	—	*mainijai	?
2nd singular	*mainīsi	*mainijais	*mainī	*mainijasai	*mainijaisau
3rd singular	*mainīþi	*mainijai	*mainijaþau	*mainijaþai	*mainijaiþau
1st dual	*mainijōs	*mainijaiw	—	—	—
2nd dual	*mainijaþiz	*mainijaiþiz	*mainijaþiz	—	—
1st plural	*mainijamaz	*mainijaim	—	*mainijanþai	*mainijainþau
2nd plural	*mainīþ	*mainijaiþ	*mainīþ	*mainijanþai	*mainijainþau
3rd plural	*mainijanþi	*mainijain	*mainijanþau	*mainijanþai	*mainijainþau
past tense	indicative	subjunctive
1st singular	*mainidǭ	*mainidēdį̄
2nd singular	*mainidēz	*mainidēdīz
3rd singular	*mainidē	*mainidēdī
1st dual	*mainidēdū	*mainidēdīw
2nd dual	*mainidēdudiz	*mainidēdīdiz
1st plural	*mainidēdum	*mainidēdīm
2nd plural	*mainidēdud	*mainidēdīd
3rd plural	*mainidēdun	*mainidēdīn
	present	past
participles	*mainijandz	*mainidaz

Descendants

• ⇒ Proto-West Germanic: *framainijan
  • Old Dutch: *farmēnen
    • Middle Dutch: vermênen
  • Old High German: firmeinen
    • Middle High German: vermeinen
      • German: vermeinen (“schlecht machen”) (obsolete)
• Old Norse: meina
  • Icelandic: meina
  • Faroese: meina
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: meina, meine
  • Old Swedish: mēna
    • Swedish: mena, förmena
• ⇒ Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐌼𐌰𐌹𐌽𐌾𐌰𐌽 (gamainjan)