Etymologically
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de

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Pronunciation

Forms

de (neuter het, indefinite een)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch de, inherited from Old Dutch the, the unstressed form of the demonstrative pronoun die.[2][1][3] In unstressed position the demonstrative, which had a long vowel, was reduced, and the definite article developed from this weak form.[2][4] The same article or pronoun is Old Saxon thē, Old High German dēr, Old Frisian thē and Middle English the, from the stem Proto-Germanic *þē-.[2][3]

These forms with an initial dental go back to the pronominal root Proto-Indo-European *to-.[2] The masculine and feminine nominative originally began with an s, from Proto-Indo-European *so, as in Old English se and sēo, Old Norse sá and sú, Gothic 𐍃𐌰 (sa), and the Middle Dutch feminine personal pronoun soe, which was once the feminine demonstrative.[2][4][5] In the younger Germanic languages the dental of the other cases spread to the nominative.[2][4][3] Outside Germanic the same pronouns are Ancient Greek ὁ (ho) and τό (tó), Lithuanian tas (“that”), Old Church Slavonic тъ (tŭ, “that”) and Sanskrit स (sá), and the second part of Latin iste (“this, that”).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old Dutch has the article only once before 1100, in the Wachtendonck Psalms (10th century): in Psalm 2:12 biuet the lera “receive the teaching”, the interlinear translation adds an article that the Latin lacks.[2][6] The demonstrative itself is older: a charm of about 891–900 has thie gihele “who may heal (the horse)”.[2] In Old Dutch the article is still the demonstrative with weakened meaning, used before a noun.[6] The Middle Dutch article de or die appears around 1200 in Limburg, in the Servas legend.[2][7]

Semantic evolution

Already in Middle Dutch de and die were gradually divided by function, de as the article and die as the demonstrative.[2] Middle Dutch could also use the article in a distributive sense, “per”, in prices and dues, as in a Willebroek charter of 1296 that sets the rent at so much rye per quarter.[7] The colloquial zoveel de man “so much per person” continues this.[1]

The old case forms died out in speech, where the genitive is expressed with van.[8] They survive only in phrases and compounds: der in de tocht der tochten and in derhalve, dergelijk and dermate, den in op den duur, and des in des te beter, in het zuiden des lands and destijds.[2] Older writers often used den for de, especially before a vowel or h, and in 1910 the WNT still heard colloquial den in phrases such as den baas and den ouwe, a use it thought was dying out.[8] When stressed, de can single out the best of its kind.[9]

Dutch passed the article on to its colonial languages: Afrikaans die, Negerhollands də, and di in Berbice Dutch and Skepi Dutch.[10][1]

Timeline

  • 891–900 – The Old Dutch pronoun thie is recorded in a charm.[2]
  • 901–1000 – The Wachtendonck Psalms have the only Old Dutch article before 1100, the lera “the teaching”.[2][6]
  • c. 1100 – The appears as an article in the Old Dutch Willeram.[11][2]
  • c. 1200 – Middle Dutch de and die are recorded in Limburg.[2][7]
  • 1296 – A Brabant charter uses de in the sense “per”.[7]
  • 1567 – Early Modern Dutch omtrent den ses uren “about six o'clock” shows the article before a number.[8]

Meanings

Article

  1. the: the definite article before masculine and feminine nouns in the singular and before all nouns in the plural: de fiets, de huizen.[9][1][8]
  2. (stressed) Marks someone or something as the best or the real one of its kind: dat is dé plek voor vakantie.[9]

Preposition

  1. (informal) per, for each, mostly with man: tien euro de man.[1]

Word family

  • degene
  • dewijl
  • dergelijk
  • derhalve
  • dermate
  • desalniettemin
  • desgelijks
  • deskundig
  • desnoods
  • desondanks
  • destijds
  • dewelke
  • dezelfde

Usage notes

In speech the article has the single form de; the case forms der, den and des belong to written and fixed language.[8][2] Neuter singular nouns take het instead.[8][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q 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
  3. ^ a b c Veen, P. A. F. van; Sijs, Nicoline van der (1997), Etymologisch woordenboek: de herkomst van onze woorden, 2nd ed., Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Lexicografie
  4. ^ a b c Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 98
  5. ^ Vercoullie, Jozef (1925), Beknopt etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 3rd ed., 's-Gravenhage / Gent: Nijhoff / Van Rysselberghe & Rombaut
  6. ^ a b c Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org
  7. ^ 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
  8. ^ a b c d e f 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
  9. ^ a b c Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
  10. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
  11. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen