ander

Forms

ander (not comparable)^[1] A contracted form aar was used in older Dutch and survives in dialects, and in the standard language in elkaar from elk ander.^[2][3] Van Haeringen explains it as a strong reduction of a much-used pronoun rather than as a Frisian sound change.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch ander, inherited from Old Dutch andar, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *anþar, inherited from Proto-Germanic *anþeraz (“other, second”).^[5][1][6] The same word is Old Saxon ōthar (also ⟨andar⟩), Old High German andar (modern German ander), Old Frisian ōther (modern West Frisian oar), Old English ōþer (modern English other), Old Norse annarr and Gothic 𐌰𐌽𐌸𐌰𐍂 (anþar).^[5][6][7]

Outside Germanic it matches Sanskrit अन्तर (ántara, “other”), Lithuanian antras (“other, second”), Latvian otrs and Old Prussian anters.^[5][8][2] The source is Proto-Indo-European *h₂énteros, which the EWN writes ⟨*on-tero-⟩ and Kroonen ⟨*h₂en-tero-⟩: probably a pronominal stem with the comparative suffix Proto-Indo-European *-tero-.^[5][6][7][9] Its first meaning was therefore “the other of two”, in contrast with the root of elders and Latin alius, “another of many”.^[5][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is first found in the 8th-century Old Dutch glosses of the Lex Salica, in andrastheo, “a girl belonging to someone else”.^[5][10] Around 1100 the Leiden Willeram uses ander for “other, not the same”, and the Old Dutch texts also have the ordinal sense “second”, as when a second king is named after a first.^[5][11]

Semantic evolution

In Middle Dutch ander meant both “other” and “second”: the oldest record, from Limburg around 1200, refers to another person, a Ghent statute of 1236 to a next or other thing, and a charter of 1254 speaks of dander helft, “the second half”.^[5][12] The ordinal sense was common in Middle Dutch in phrases such as die ander boec, “the second book”.^[13] From the 14th century it took the form anderde, on the model of tweede and derde, which was still frequent in the 17th century before tweede replaced it.^[3] The sense lives on only in fixed phrases such as eenmaal, andermaal and in anderhalf, “one and the second half”.^[5][14]

As an indefinite pronoun, de een … de ander, it is recorded from 1285.^[10][12] The proverb de een zijn dood is de ander zijn brood, one man's loss is another's gain, goes back to the 16th century.^[15] Dutch passed the word to the creoles: Negerhollands ander or andi and Berbice Dutch andre or andri.^[16][1]

Timeline

• 8th century – Old Dutch andrastheo “someone else's girl” in the Lex Salica glosses.^[5][10]
• c. 1100 – Ander “other” in the Leiden Willeram.^[5]
• c. 1200 – First Middle Dutch record, in Limburg.^[12][5]
• 1254 – Dander helft “the second half”.^[5]
• 1285 – First use as an indefinite pronoun.^[10]
• 14th century – The ordinal form anderde “second” appears.^[3]
• 1430 – The contracted form aer is recorded in Holland.^[13]

Meanings

Adjective

1. other, not the same as the one already named: Neem de andere stoel.^[17][18][1]
2. different in kind or character: Na de verhuizing werd hij een ander mens.^[17][1]
3. (dated, in fixed phrases) second, as in om de andere dag, every second day.^[17][1]

Pronoun

1. Another person, someone else: Zij denkt altijd eerst aan een ander.^[1][19]
2. de een … de ander, the one … the other, some … others.^[11][12]

Word family

• anderhalf
• anders
• veranderen
• anderzweer
• andermaal
• anderman
• anderzijds
• elkander
• malkander
• elkaar

Related words

• elders
• English other
• German ander

Usage notes

Een en ander means “this and that, various things”, and de een of ander “someone or other”.^[17][19] Ten andere is an informal “besides, by the way”.^[17]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
3. ^ a b c d Vries, Matthias de; Winkel, L. A. te, et al. (1882–1998), Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal, 29 vols., 's-Gravenhage / Leiden: Nijhoff / Sijthoff / SDU; supplement 2001; gtb.ivdnt.org
4. ^ Haeringen, C. B. van (1936), Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal: Supplement, 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Philippa, Marlies; Debrabandere, Frans; Quak, Arend; Schoonheim, Tanneke; Sijs, Nicoline van der (2003–2009), Etymologisch woordenboek van het Nederlands, 4 vols., Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press; online via etymologiebank.nl
6. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
9. ^ Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 51
10. ^ a b c d Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
11. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org
12. ^ a b c d Pijnenburg, W. J. J., et al. (2001), Vroegmiddelnederlands woordenboek: woordenboek van het Nederlands van de dertiende eeuw in hoofdzaak op basis van het Corpus-Gysseling, Leiden: Instituut voor Nederlandse Lexicologie; gtb.ivdnt.org
13. ^ a b Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
14. ^ Vercoullie, Jozef (1925), Beknopt etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 3rd ed., 's-Gravenhage / Gent: Nijhoff / Van Rysselberghe & Rombaut
15. ^ Stoett, F. A. (1923–1925), Nederlandsche spreekwoorden, spreekwijzen, uitdrukkingen en gezegden, 4th ed., 3 vols., Zutphen: Thieme
16. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
17. ^ a b c d e Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
18. ^ Algemeen Nederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; anw.ivdnt.org
19. ^ a b WikiWoordenboek (Dutch Wiktionary), nl.wiktionary.org