tocnawan
Old English edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
tōcnāwan
Usage notes edit
Old English used several different words to mean "to know":
- Witan meant "to be aware of," and was used with facts and pieces of information: Iċ wāt þæt iċ nāt nāwiht ("I know that I know nothing"), Hwā wāt hū fela ōðerra manna sind mē ġelīċe? ("Who knows how many other people are like me?"), Hwanon wāst þū mīnne naman? ("How do you know my name?"), Þū wāst hwæt tō dōnne is ("You know what to do").
- Cunnan meant "to be familiar with," and was used with people, places, concepts, and skills: Mæġ iċ hine lufian swīðor þonne iċ hine cann? ("Can I love him more than I know him?"), Ne sorge ġē, iċ cann þis sċræf swā æftewearde mīne hand ("Don't worry, I know this cave like the back of my hand"), Ealdenglisċ cunnan þyncþ mē unnytt ("Knowing Old English seems useless to me"). With verbs, it means "to know how": Þū āna cūðest mē hreddan ("You're the only person who knew how to save me"), Wisson ġit þæt hē singan cann? ("Did you know he can sing?")
- Ġecnāwan and oncnāwan meant to recognize or identify, and could be used almost interchangeably: Þā stefne iċ wolde āhwǣr ġecnāwan ("I'd know that voice anywhere"), Ġecnǣwst þū þisne wer? ("Do you know this man?"), Iċ oncnāwe gōd handweorc þonne iċ hit ġesēo ("I know good craftsmanship when I see it"), Be þon oncnāwaþ ealle menn þæt ġē sind mīne frīend ("That's how everyone will know you're my friends"). Though cnāwan is the ancestor of modern know and was probably a synonym, it was many times less common than these two prefixed forms in the Old English period, being attested only a few times in the surviving corpus.
- Tōcnāwan meant "to distinguish" or "discern": riht and wōh tōcnāwan ("to know right from wrong").
Conjugation edit
Conjugation of tōcnāwan (strong class 7)
| infinitive | tōcnāwan | tōcnāwenne |
|---|---|---|
| indicative mood | present tense | past tense |
| first person singular | tōcnāwe | tōcnēow |
| second person singular | tōcnǣwst | tōcnēowe |
| third person singular | tōcnǣwþ | tōcnēow |
| plural | tōcnāwaþ | tōcnēowon |
| subjunctive | present tense | past tense |
| singular | tōcnāwe | tōcnēowe |
| plural | tōcnāwen | tōcnēowen |
| imperative | ||
| singular | tōcnāw | |
| plural | tōcnāwaþ | |
| participle | present | past |
| tōcnāwende | tōcnāwen | |
Derived terms edit
References edit
- Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller (1898) “tōcnāwan”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary[1], 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.