*hnakkô

Runic: ᚺᚾᚨᚲᛟ Pronunciation: /ˈxnɑk.kɔːː/

noun · masculine · an-stem

Meanings

the back of the neck; nape

Etymology

Traditionally derived from Proto-Indo-European *knog-, *kneg- (‘back of the head, nape, neck’), from *ken- (‘to press, pinch, buckle, kink’).

Kroonen reconstructs an etymon Proto-Indo-European *knékō, which he connects with Tocharian A kñuk (‘neck’). German Hunke (‘hillock’) might retain a trace of the original genitive. Compare Proto-Celtic *knukkos (‘protuberance; hill’), which Kroonen suggests is borrowed from Germanic.

Compare also the suffix *-kô, found in names of several other body parts.

Declension

Case	Singular	Plural
Nom.	hnakkô	hnakkaniz
Acc.	hnakkanų	hnakkanunz
Gen.	hnakkiniz	hnakkanǫ̂
Dat.	hnakkini	hnakkammaz
Inst.	hnakkinē	hnakkammiz
Voc.	hnakkô	hnakkaniz

Find a form

Descendants

*hnakkō (Proto-West Germanic)
- *nakko, nekko (Old Dutch)
  - nak (Limburgish)
*hnakkō (Proto-West Germanic)
- *nakko, nekko (Old Dutch)
  - nacke, nac, necke, nack, neck, nick (Middle Dutch)
    - nek (Dutch)
      - nek (Afrikaans)
*hnakkō (Proto-West Germanic)
- *hnæcca, hnecca (Old English)
  - nekke, nake, nec, necke, nek, neke, nhicke, nykke (Middle English)
    - neck (English)
    - neck (Scots)
*hnakkō (Proto-West Germanic)
- hnekka, nekke (Old Frisian)
  - neek, neeke, Nak (North Frisian)
  - Näcke, Näkke (Saterland Frisian)
  - nekke (West Frisian)
*hnakkō (Proto-West Germanic)
- *hnahho, hnach-, hnacch-, hnac, nach, nac, nak (Old High German)
  - knac, nacke, nac (Middle High German)
    - Nacken (German)
    - naoka (Vilamovian)
    - נאַקן (nakn) (Yiddish)
*hnakkō (Proto-West Germanic)
- *hnakko, *hnekko (Old Saxon)
  - nacke, nëcke (Middle Low German)
    - Nacke, Nack (German Low German)
    - nakke (Low German)
    - Jenekj (Plautdietsch)
*hnekkō (Proto-West Germanic)
- *nakko, nekko (Old Dutch)
  - nak (Limburgish)
*hnekkō (Proto-West Germanic)
- *nakko, nekko (Old Dutch)
  - nacke, nac, necke, nack, neck, nick (Middle Dutch)
    - nek (Dutch)
      - nek (Afrikaans)
*hnekkō (Proto-West Germanic)
- *hnæcca, hnecca (Old English)
  - nekke, nake, nec, necke, nek, neke, nhicke, nykke (Middle English)
    - neck (English)
    - neck (Scots)
*hnekkō (Proto-West Germanic)
- hnekka, nekke (Old Frisian)
  - neek, neeke, Nak (North Frisian)
  - Näcke, Näkke (Saterland Frisian)
  - nekke (West Frisian)
*hnekkō (Proto-West Germanic)
- *hnahho, hnach-, hnacch-, hnac, nach, nac, nak (Old High German)
  - knac, nacke, nac (Middle High German)
    - Nacken (German)
    - naoka (Vilamovian)
    - נאַקן (nakn) (Yiddish)
*hnekkō (Proto-West Germanic)
- *hnakko, *hnekko (Old Saxon)
  - nacke, nëcke (Middle Low German)
    - Nacke, Nack (German Low German)
    - nakke (Low German)
    - Jenekj (Plautdietsch)
hnakki (Old Norse)
- nakki (Faroese)
- hnakki (Icelandic)
- nakke (Norwegian)
hnakki (Old Norse)
- nakkæ (Old Danish)
  - nakke (Danish)
hnakki (Old Norse)
- nakke (Old Swedish)
  - nacke (Swedish)

Explore/search these descendants

View on Wiktionary