brengen

Forms

brengen (past tense bracht, past participle gebracht)^[2][1] Older and dialect past forms are brocht and gebrocht, and West Flemish has strong brong and gebrongen.^[2] The southern form bringen was the usual one in Middle Dutch.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch brengen (usually ⟨bringen⟩ in Middle Dutch), inherited from Old Dutch bringan, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *bringan, inherited from Proto-Germanic *bringaną (“to bring”).^[4][1][5] Proto-Germanic had a strong verb and a weak verb side by side: the strong one is Old Saxon bringan, Old High German bringan (modern German bringen), Old English bringan (modern English bring) and Gothic 𐌱𐍂𐌹𐌲𐌲𐌰𐌽 (briggan), the weak one brengian, Old Frisian brenga and brengan, from Proto-West Germanic *brangian.^[4][6][7] The forms with ⟨e⟩ belong to the weak verb and spread into the standard language from the northern and eastern dialects, while southern Dutch kept ⟨bringen⟩.^[2][7] The past tense ⟨bracht⟩ goes back to Proto-Germanic *branhta-, with the loss of ⟨n⟩ before ⟨h⟩.^[4] The word is missing in North Germanic: Danish and Swedish took theirs from Dutch or Low German.^[6][8][9]

The only cognates outside Germanic seem to be Celtic and Tocharian, such as Welsh hebrwng (“to bring, lead”), which point to Proto-Indo-European *bʰrenk-; its further origin is obscure.^[4][6] De Vries thought it might be a substrate word.^[6] Others take it as an extension of Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to carry”), the root of baren, or as a blend of that root with one meaning “to reach”, which Kroonen thinks possible and De Vries called too contrived.^{[7][10][6][11]}

Earliest recorded meaning

The Wachtendonck Psalms of the 10th century use the verb for kings bringing gifts, and brahtos, “you brought”, for being led out of the depths.^[5][4] Around 1100 it also meant to make an offering and to lead someone into a state.^[5] In the 13th century it meant to carry something to a place, as in a Ghent statute of 1236 on bringing food into the leper house.^[12][4]

Semantic evolution

Only weak forms are recorded in Old and Middle Dutch, and the Middle Dutch past participle usually lacked ge-.^[4][2] Already in Middle Dutch the verb was used with many adverbs and prepositions, ombrengen “to kill” among them, and it has formed a large family of separable verbs.^[3][1] The WNT describes it as the opposite of halen: brengen looks at the place one goes to, halen at the place one fetches from.^[2]

In the 20th century brengen came to mean “to publish, broadcast, perform” (a paper brengt a report, the radio brengt a concert), long criticised as a germanism after German bringen until Van Dale accepted it.^[13] The ironic morgen brengen!, “that won't happen!”, is known in north and south.^[14][15] The verb passed into the Dutch creoles: Negerhollands breng, Berbice Dutch bringgi and Sranan bringi.^[8]

Timeline

• 901–1000 – Old Dutch bringon in the Wachtendonck Psalms.^[4][16][5]
• 1201 – First Middle Dutch record, from the Lower Rhine.^[12]
• 1236 – Bringen in a Ghent statute.^[4]
• 1254 – The form brengen appears.^[4]
• 1573 – Te water, te peerde, oft te wagen bringhen, carrying goods by water, horse or cart.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To take or carry something to a person or place, to bring: Ik breng je de boeken morgen.^[15][1]
2. To accompany someone somewhere: Zij brengt de kinderen naar school.^[15]
3. To deliver, to let something reach someone.^[15][1]
4. To put into a position or state: iets in orde brengen, to set something right.^[15]
5. (sports) To introduce young players gradually to the top level.^[15]
6. To present or put something in a certain way: Hij bracht het nieuws voorzichtig.^[15]
7. To publish, broadcast or perform.^[13][15]

Word family

• brenger
• aanbrengen
• afbrengen
• bijbrengen
• doorbrengen
• inbrengen
• medebrengen
• meebrengen
• ombrengen
• onderbrengen
• opbrengen
• overbrengen
• samenbrengen
• teweegbrengen
• voortbrengen

Related words

• English bring
• German bringen

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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
3. ^ a b Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org
6. ^ a b c d e Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ a b c Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
8. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
9. ^ Vercoullie, Jozef (1925), Beknopt etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 3rd ed., 's-Gravenhage / Gent: Nijhoff / Van Rysselberghe & Rombaut
10. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
11. ^ Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 86
12. ^ a b 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 Theissen, Siegfried (1978), Germanismen in het Nederlands, Hasselt
14. ^ Stoett, F. A. (1923–1925), Nederlandsche spreekwoorden, spreekwijzen, uitdrukkingen en gezegden, 4th ed., 3 vols., Zutphen: Thieme
15. ^ a b c d e f g h Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
16. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen