Núna is, as J. H. Jónsson (1982) explains, secondary to nú, and is formed with the basic form nú and the suffix na. According to the etymological dictionary of Icelandic (Á. B. Magnússon 1989) the suffix na can be traced back to common Scandinavian nā and Proto-Germanic nē. It is related to the ending –n seen in adverbs like aftan ‘from the back’ and héðan ‘from here’ and may be related to the Indo-European demonstrative stem *eno, *ono. De Vries (1962) traces the na in hérna to Proto-Germanic nō. The na forms in Icelandic can be traced back at least to the 13th century (J. H. Jónsson 1982: 233).
The suffix na was originally used in Icelandic as an independent interjection to express a feeling of surprise or disgust (Á. B. Magnússon 1989). This interjection does not seem to exist any longer in modern Icelandic.21 The feeling of surprise can instead be expressed with particles such as nú and no, which, according to ÍO (2002), are used to express surprise or annoyance: no, svona fór það þá ‘mmm, so that’s how it goes.’
Although na is regarded as archaic in Icelandic, it is still frequently used independently as a dialogue particle, for instance in German22 and various Slavic languages such as Russian.23 The function may vary slightly between languages, but the common denominator seems to be an expressive or demonstrative function. The Icelandic particle na occurs in the modern language only as a suffix, and, as such, na has been characterized as having an emphatic function (ÍO 2002; J. H. Jónsson 1982:
258). As J. H. Jónsson (1982: 236–7) has shown, however, the function of the suffix na has changed through the centuries.
In order to find out how the suffix na was used in old Icelandic, S. Jónsson (1976) excerpted instances of na in Icelandic medieval literature. His study accounts for a total of 56 instances of na. More than half of these instances, or 35, occur as a suffix in the adverb hérna. In 28 instances, na co-occurs with the imperative of sjá ‘see’ (S.
Jónsson 1976: 15). The other adverbs mentioned in Table 2.2 only occur a few times each: there are five instances of þarna and svona respectively, and only three instances of núna. Nú, however, is a highly frequent word in the Icelandic family sagas. In fact, it is higher on the frequency list in the saga literature than in modern Icelandic (cf. E. Rögnvaldsson, B. Kristjánsdóttir and Ö. Thorsson 1996; Pind 1991).24
Based on the empirical data presented in S. Jónsson’s (1976) study, J. H. Jónsson (1982: 236) makes some interesting observations regarding the use of na in medieval literature:
21 Also related to na is the Icelandic interjection ná. The etymological dictionary of Icelandic (Á. B.
Magnússon 1989) describes the latter interjection as an exclamation expressing surprise or interest.
22 Grimms’ German dictionary suggests that na is a weakened form of nu and nun (Grimms Deutsches Woerterbuch 1889).
23According to a Russian-Icelandic dictionary (H. Haraldsson 1996), na in Russian may be translated by hana! or hérna!
24 Frequent use of nú is regarded as a certain stylistic effect in the storytelling of the sagas, which is often referred to as narrative style (cf. S. Blöndal 1920-1924): nú víkur sögunni til … ‘Now the story goes to …’
a) Na only occurs in direct speech
b) Na is often uttered when someone is pointing at something, showing something or trying to get someone’s attention towards something
c) Most instances of hérna occur after the imperative sjáðu ‘see’
In addition to these observations, J. H. Jónsson points out that all instances of na occur close to deictic words, although they are not always cliticized or placed directly after the deictic. The suffix na occurs in the saga literature also after pronouns (þatna ‘it’), prepositions (vitna ‘with/by’), verbs (varna ‘was’), other adverbs,25 or even as an autonomous word.26 Furthermore, J. H. Jónsson (1982: 237) points out that, in Old Icelandic, the adverbs þar and þarna did not have different grammatical functions:
they could both function deictically or anaphorically. Thus, he concludes that “the suffix na” only served as a general emphasis (cf. also B. K. Þórólfsson 1925: 121). It is only later in history that the two forms þar and þarna develop in two different directions: þar as anaphora and þarna as deixis (see section 2.3 above).
In his study of Old Icelandic, J. H. Jónsson seems to assume that na is essentially used to emphasize one particular word, e.g., a deictic or a pronoun. However, I will argue that instead of emphasizing one particular word, it modifies the utterance as a whole. Therefore, rather than being interpreted as a suffix, na could be seen as an emphatic particle (cf. Chapter 3 for a discussion on particles). There are several arguments in the literature that support this, including S. Jónsson’s (1976) and J. H.
Jónsson’s (1982) arguments mentioned above. In addition, I have made the observation that na is typically used in responsive utterances, for instance in emphatic replies, refusals, and denials. Consider the following extract from Heiðarvígs saga, which some scholars consider the oldest extant saga and which is dated back to the early 13th century (G. Nordal, S. Tómasson and V. Ólason 1992: 316–7):
25 B. K. Þórólfsson (1925: 121) and S. Jónsson (1976: 18) point out that, in the 16th century, this suffix was particularly common with adverbs ending with liga/lega (related to the English adverbial ending –ly). Written sources, primarily religious texts, show that this was used at least until the 17th century.
26 It should also be pointed out that the saga literature is from a time span that stretches over 300 years and is written by different people from different parts of Iceland. In addition, there was no standardized writing at this point and writing -na as an isolated word or as a suffix could represent two different ways to write the same thing.
(2.4) Heiðarvígs saga (The saga of the slayings on the heath)27
Þá tekr Barði til orða: „Hvat er tíðenda at segja ór heraðinu?“ „Þau tíðendi eru, er þér munu góð þykkja, víg Gísla, bróður míns.“ Hann segir: „Ekki löstu vér þat, ok eigi þóttumk ek allgrunsamliga unnit hafa, eða hversu er, þykkisk þú, Ketill, eða þit feðgar einskis eiga at hefna oss? Mik minnir, at þat var fyrir skömmu, er þú komt heim, Ketill, færandi hendi feðr þínum með bakbyrði. Nú ef þú mant eigi, þá mun hér vera váttrinn, þetta sama sverð; er enn eigi heilinn þorrnaðr á,“
ok skekr at honum sverðit, — „þykkisk þú, Ketill, einskis eiga at hefna, ok sé hérna, at eigi er heilinn þorrnaðr á,“ ok skekr þá enn at honum sverðit. (Cited from Íslensk fornrit III 1938: 302)
Barði then spoke: “What news do you have to say of your district?” “News that will sound good to you, the slaying of my brother Gisli.” “I can’t find fault with that,” Barði said, “nor say that I didn’t make a good job of it. How is it then, Ketil, that neither you nor your father and brother feel reason to avenge yourselves on us? I seem to remember you heading home only a short while ago, with a load on your back to deliver your father. And if you shouldn’t remember, here is the witness, the very sword; the brains have not yet quite dried upon it.”
He thrust the sword in his direction. “And you, Ketil, seem to have no cause for revenge, yet see here, the brains have not yet dried,” again thrusting the sword out in his direction. (trans. Kunz 1997: 116)
In this extract, the adverb hér ‘here’ occurs two times in a direct quote. The first instance is used without the suffix na, and it occurs right after the finite verb. The speaker, Barði, is trying to draw Ketil’s attention to the bloody sword in an attempt to provoke a desire for revenge. When Barði does not get an adequate response, he repeats his message even more emphatically than before and asks again if Ketil thinks he has nothing to avenge. In this instance, Barði adds the suffix na to the deictic hér
‘here,’ and, at the same time, he shakes the sword in front of Ketil. Notice also that hérna occurs right after the imperative of sjá ‘see.’
In the following extract, the suffix na occurs after the pronoun þess ‘that.GEN.’
This story is from around the beginning of the 14th century (Medieval Scandinavia 1993: 243):
27 This excerpt is based on a printed version, written with standardized orthography, and, thus, it is not identical with an original manuscript. Nonetheless, this version demonstrates the kind of environment in which the suffix na occurs.
(2.5) Gríms saga loðinkinna (The Saga of Grimr with the Shaggy Chin) 28 En er Feima kom inn í hellinn, heilsuðu þau henni, ok spurðu, hvar Kleima, systir hennar, væri; hún svarar: gettu þessna!, hún liggr dauð út með fjörum, en ek særð banasári; en þið liggið inni ok fletizt hér við eld. (cited from Fornaldarsögur Nordrlanda, annat bindi, 1829:147)
But when Feima came in to the cave, they greeted her and asked where Kleima, her sister, was. She answers: “Guess that(na), she lies dead on the shore, but I have a lethal wound. But you are lying in here by the fire.” (My translation.)
In (2.5), the suffix na occurs final in an imperative clause. The imperative clause is used here rhetorically to show a very strong response to a question, similar to “Guess what!” in English.
The two instances of núna found in medieval literature also occur in similar environments. The oldest instance occurs in the Flateyjarbók version of Ólafs saga hins helga from the 14th century:
(2.6) Ólafs saga hins helga (Saga of saint Olaf)29
þa mællti Kalli vid Asmund. oft talar þu at þer se mikil foruitnne a at sia hann Asbiorn Selsbana. ek kann æigi skip at kenna ef han siglir æigi her nu. Asmundr suarar. gerdu suo vel felagi ef þu kennir hann at þu segir mer til hans. þa renduzst hia skipin. þa mællti Kalli. þar er hann selsbani nuna uit styrit j blam kyrtli.
(Cited from Flateyjarbók II 1860–8: 238)
‘Then Karli said to Asmundr: “You often say that you are curious to see Asbjorn the Seal-slayer. I have no idea how to recognize ships if he is not sailing over there.” Asmundr answers: “Be so kind, my companion, tell me if you recognize him.” Then the ships passed each other and Karli said: “There he is the Seal-slayer now by the rudder wearing a blue cloak.”’ (My translation.)
This instance of núna occurs in direct speech, precisely as the other instances I showed in excerpts (2.4) and (2.5). Karli is telling Asmundr that he thinks he sees Asbjorn the Seal-slayer, and Asmundr asks Karli to confirm when he knows for sure.
When the two ships meet, Karli exclaims that it is indeed Asbjorn who sits behind the steer: þar er hann selsbani nuna uit styrit j blam kyrtli “There he is the Seal-slayer now by the rudder wearing a blue cloak.”
28 This excerpt is based on a printed version, written with standardized orthography.
29 This extract is a diplomatic version which attempts, as far as is possible, to present the manuscript as it actually appears.
These observations on the usage of na in medieval literary dialogues suggest that, at the time of the writing, na was used in speech as an emphatic particle. The grammaticalization process might already have begun in the 12th century, which explains why the most common context for na is as a clitic after the adverb hér, especially with the imperative sjá. This indicates, already in the 12th century, that na in this particular environment had already begun to become routinized by frequent use (cf. Hopper and Traugott 1993: 64–5). This seems to have resulted in the emergence of the side forms mentioned above hér(na), þar(na), nú(na), and svo(na); hérna is most likely the oldest one (cf. J. H. Jónsson 1982).
Once side forms have emerged, the pairs can potentially start to develop in different directions. In the cases of þar-þarna and svo-svona, the result of the grammaticalization process is rather clear (J. H. Jónsson 1982). In modern Icelandic, these two words have different grammatical functions. The pair hér-hérna has, according to J. H. Jónsson (1982), not developed in different directions, although he points out that an in-depth analysis could show some differences.
The potential difference between nú and núna is the subject of this study, and, in Chapter 6, I will show that these two words have indeed developed in two different directions.
2.5 Summary
In Chapter 2, I have summarized how nú and núna are described in the literature. The overview was divided into two main parts. In the first part, I discussed how nú and núna have been defined in two editions of the Icelandic dictionary ÍO (1983; 2002). I then compared the dictionary definitions to the findings of three different studies (S.
Jónsson 1976; J. H. Jónsson 1982; Wide 1998). The discussion shows that although these studies offer many valuable insights, there is a need for a more detailed study to acquire a better understanding of the difference between temporal nú and núna, as well as the systematics of the uses of non-temporal nú.
In the second part, I explored the historical roots of the suffix na. This section was mainly based on S. Jónsson’s (1976) and J. H. Jónsson’s (1982) study of na in medieval Icelandic literature. In his study, J. H. Jónsson showed that in medieval Icelandic the suffix na was mainly used as a general marker of emphasis, following not only deictic adverbs, as it does today, but also pronouns and adverbs. As well, na occurred in some cases as an independent token. Based on J. H. Jónsson’s study and
my own findings in medieval texts, I conclude that na can be described as a particle which adds emphasis to the utterance as a whole.
In the next chapter, I will discuss the theoretical framework for this study.
3 Time, indexicality, and particles
In this chapter, I will discuss the theoretical framework for the empirical part of this study. I will begin with a brief discussion of time, temporality, and the perception of time in Western culture (3.1). This opening discussion is then followed by a section on the nature of indexicality. A special focus will be placed on temporal deictics, especially Icelandic nú(na) and English now (3.2). In the section which follows (3.3), I will turn to non-referential indexes, or indexes which do not have a referential meaning. After a general discussion of these entities, I will give an overview of the theoretical framework for particles (3.4). I start with a general discussion of the concept of particles, followed by a brief summary of the ways particles have been categorized. In the remainder of the chapter, I will focus on the three categories which are most relevant for the study of nú: tone particles (3.4.1), utterance particles (3.4.2), and dialogue particles (3.4.3).