Nixie (folklore): Difference between revisions

The names are held to derive from [[Proto-Germanic|Common Germanic]] ''*nikwus'' or ''*nikwis(i)'', derived from [[Proto-Indo-European language|PIE]] ''{{PIE|*neig^w}}'' ("to wash").<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.koeblergerhard.de/germanistischewoerterbuecher/indogermanischeswoerterbuch/idgN.pdf |last=Köbler |first=Gerhard |title=Indogermanisches Wörterbuch |format=PDF |accessdate=26 December 2011 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112220846/http://www.koeblergerhard.de/germanistischewoerterbuecher/indogermanischeswoerterbuch/idgN.pdf |archivedate=12 January 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> They are related to [[Sanskrit]] ''{{lang|sa|nḗnēkti}}'', Greek {{lang|grc|νίζω ''nízō''}} and {{lang|grc|νίπτω ''níptō''}}, and [[Irish language|Irish]] ''{{lang|ga|nigh}}'' (all meaning to wash or be washed).<ref name="hellquist">{{cite web |url=http://runeberg.org/svetym/0620.html |title=Svensk etymologisk ordbok |first1=Elof |last1=Hellquist |year=1922 |location=Lund |publisher=C. W. K. Gleerups förlag Berlingska boktryckeriet |page=532 |accessdate=26 December 2011}}</ref> The form ''neck'' appears in English and Swedish (''{{lang|sv|näck}}'' or ''{{lang|sv|nek}}'', meaning "nude").<ref name="hellquist"/> The Swedish form is derived from Old Swedish ''{{lang|non|neker}}'', which corresponds to Old Icelandic ''{{lang|non|nykr}}'' ({{abbr|gen.|genitive}} ''{{lang|non|nykrs}}''), and ''{{lang|nn|nykk}}'' in [[Nynorsk|Norwegian Nynorsk]].<ref name="hellquist"/> In Finnish, the word is ''{{lang|fi|[[näkki]]}}''. In Old Danish, the form was ''{{lang|non|nikke}}'' and in modern Danish and Norwegian [[Bokmål]] it is ''{{lang|da|nøkk}}''.<ref name="hellquist"/> The Icelandic ''{{lang|is|nykur}}'' is a horselike creature. In [[Middle Low German]], it was called ''{{lang|gml|necker}}'' and in [[Middle Dutch]] ''{{lang|dum|nicker}}'' (compare also ''{{lang|gmh|Nickel}}'' or ''{{lang|gmh|Nikkel}}'' plus ''{{lang|gmh|Kobolt}}'') .<ref name="hellquist"/> The [[Old High German]] form ''{{lang|goh|nihhus}}'' also meant "crocodile",<ref name="nordisknäck"/><ref name="hellquist"/> while the [[Old English]] ''{{lang|ang|nicor}}''<ref name="nordisknäck"/><ref name="hellquist"/> could mean both a "water monster" like those encountered by [[Beowulf]],<ref name="Kemble1837">{{cite book |last=Kemble |first=John Mitchell |title=Beowulf: A Translation of the Anglo-Saxon Poem of Beowulf |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DqIYAAAAYAAJ&pg=PR17 |year=1837 |pages=17– }}</ref> and a "hippopotamus".<ref name="hellquist"/> The Norwegian ''{{lang|no|[[Fossegrim]]}}'' and Swedish ''{{lang|sv|Strömkarlen}}'' are related figures sometimes seen as by-names for the same creature.<ref name="hellquist"/> The Scandinavian version can transform himself into a horse-like ''[[kelpie]]'', and is called a ''{{lang|sv|Bäckahästen}}'' (the "brook horse"), whilst the Welsh version is called the ''{{lang|cy|[[Ceffyl Dŵr]]}}'' (the "water horse").