beginnen

Forms

beginnen^[1] Middle Dutch had, beside the strong past began, the forms begonde and begonste, modelled on the past tenses of gunnen and kunnen.^[2][3][4] In 17th-century Dutch began was still used beside begon.^[5] Flemish dialects kept begost and a present begunnen.^[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch beginnen, inherited from Old Dutch biginnan, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *biginnan, inherited from Proto-Germanic *biginnaną (“to begin”), made with the prefix be- from a verb *ginnaną that is found only with prefixes.^[6][1][7][2] The same word is Old Saxon biginnan, Old High German biginnan (modern German beginnen), Old Frisian biginna (modern West Frisian begjinne) and Old English beginnan (modern English begin).^[6][2] With other prefixes the base appears in ontginnen, which in Middle Dutch meant “to begin” and “to cut into”, in Old High German inginnan, Old English onginnan and in Gothic 𐌳𐌿𐌲𐌹𐌽𐌽𐌰𐌽 (duginnan, “to begin”).^[6][2][3] North Germanic does not have the word.^[8]

The origin of the base is uncertain.^[6][7] Franck–Van Wijk thought the only plausible comparison Albanian zë (“to touch, catch, begin”), which would point to a root Proto-Indo-European *gʰen-;^[3][2] De Vries objected that a root known only from Germanic and Albanian is weak evidence.^[3][2] Others start from a sense “to take hold of”, as in aanvangen and Latin incipiō (“to begin”) beside capiō (“to seize”), and connect it with *gʰed-, the root of vergeten and English get, seen in prehendō (“to grasp”) and Ancient Greek χανδάνω (khandánō, “to hold, contain”);^[6][2][9] Van Haeringen did not find this more convincing.^[6][2][9] De Vries wondered whether the word, so richly developed in Germanic, came from a substrate.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb is first recorded as the Old Dutch past tense begunsta glossing Latin coepi “I began” in the Wachtendonck Psalms of the 10th century.^[6][10][11] Around 1100 the Egmond Williram says that when the king sat on his throne begunda min salfwerz meer ande meer ze stinchene “my ointment began to give off more and more scent”.^[10][6] Middle Dutch beghinnen is found in Ghent in 1236.^[4][8]

Semantic evolution

Old and Middle Dutch used the verb with an infinitive, with or without te, with an object in the accusative or genitive, and intransitively for “to arise, come about”.^[10][4][12] Middle Dutch also used it for broaching a subject, and in tvelt beginnen for opening a battle.^[12] The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal, writing in 1897, notes that the perfect, now formed with zijn, was formerly almost always formed with hebben.^[5] Bezint eer ge begint “think before you begin” is a familiar saying.^[13]

The verb passed into Danish (begynde), Norwegian (begynne) and Swedish (begynna) from Dutch or Low German, and into Negerhollands, Berbice Dutch and Sranan Tongo as bigin.^[14][1]

Timeline

• 901–1000 – Old Dutch begunsta “began” in the Wachtendonck Psalms.^[6][11]
• c. 1100 – Beginnen in the Egmond Williram.^[6][10]
• 1236 – Middle Dutch beghinnen in Ghent.^[4][8]
• 1240 – Beginnen glosses Latin incipere in a Limburg word list.^[4]
• 1564 – Wells begoesten “began” to freeze over, with the weak past.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) To begin, to start doing something: Wanneer begin je aan je nieuwe baan?^[13][1]
2. (intransitive) To extend from a certain point: Het bos begint achter de kerk.^[13]
3. (intransitive) To begin to happen, to commence: De film begint om acht uur.^[13][15]
4. (transitive) To start, set going: een winkel beginnen.^[13][15] Niets kunnen beginnen met iets is to be at a loss what to do with it.^[13][15]

Word family

• begin
• beginneling
• beginner
• beginsel
• beginpunt
• beginstadium
• herbeginnen

Related words

• ontginnen
• German beginnen

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
3. ^ a b c d Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
4. ^ a b c d e 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
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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
7. ^ a b Veen, P. A. F. van; Sijs, Nicoline van der (1997), Etymologisch woordenboek: de herkomst van onze woorden, 2nd ed., Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Lexicografie
8. ^ a b c Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 63
9. ^ a b Haeringen, C. B. van (1936), Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal: Supplement, 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
10. ^ a b c d Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org
11. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
12. ^ a b Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
13. ^ a b c d e f Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
14. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
15. ^ a b c WikiWoordenboek (Dutch Wiktionary), nl.wiktionary.org