History of the English Language at the U of S

Emily Huel

https://giphy.com/gifs/the-to-do-list-eszoVAyBO2X8Q

GIF: GIPHY.

Introduction:

From the Old English form nan þinc, the word nothing, as defined by the Oxford English Dictionary, is “no part, share, or quantity of a thing; no aspect, evidence, or quality of a thing or person” (OED s.v. nothing, n. sense 2a). The first written evidence of the word was in the Vitas Patrum, which was written in Old English: “þa ne gefredde he ne naþinc þæs brynes for þam miclan luste” (OED s.v. nothing, n sense 2a). Since first written records in English were composed during this time (Liu A.45), it is safe to assume that nothing pre-existed the Vitas Patrum. While the terms zero and nothing are used within similar contexts by native English speakers, the two terms originally had different meanings and origins.  However, the mathematical function of a third word – cipher, or <0> – has subtly changed the definitions of both words in such a way that transforms the absence of existence into an object in its own right.