Etymologically
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dragen

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈdraːɣə(n)/[1]

Forms

dragen[1] It is a strong verb;[2] Middle Dutch had the past tense droech and the participle gedragen beside gedregen.[2] Middle Dutch also had dreghen, with a secondary vowel, as Old Norwegian had drega.[3][2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch drāghen, inherited from Old Dutch dragan, inherited from Proto-Germanic *draganą (“to draw, pull, carry”).[4][1][5] The same verb is Old Saxon dragan (“to carry”), Old High German tragan (“to carry, bring”) (modern German tragen), Old Frisian draga and Gothic 𐌳𐍂𐌰𐌲𐌰𐌽 (dragan, “to carry, load”), while Old English dragan (whence English draw and drag) and Old Norse draga mean “to pull, drag”.[4][6][7] Franck and Van Wijk see no reason to separate the English and Norse verbs, and the dictionaries agree that “to pull” is the older sense: loads were first dragged, then loaded and carried.[7][6][8]

Further back the origin is unclear.[4][5] The EWN thinks the verb is probably related to Latvian dragāt (“to crush”) and to a Russian verb for “to jerk, pull”, and perhaps to Latin trahō (“to pull, drag”), so that the first meaning may have been “to drag along the ground”, but it calls an Indo-European reconstruction very difficult.[4] Van Veen and Van der Sijs accept the link with the Latin verb although the sounds do not match exactly, and De Vries sets up a root Proto-Indo-European *dʰerāgʰ- beside a form in ⟨t⟩ for it.[8][6] Kroonen takes the Germanic verb as an o-grade intensive *dʰrógʰ-e- without a clear etymology, and rejects the Latin verb because of its initial /t/, as well as the Greek and Slavic words for “to run” and “road” that have been compared.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb is first recorded in the Old Dutch paraphrase of the Song of Songs by Willeram, copied at Egmond around 1100: thie thornina coronan thie druog her gerno, “the crown of thorns he wore gladly”, said of Christ.[9][4][10] The fragments from Werden of the mid-12th century already use it for “to hold up”, “to wear (clothes)”, “to bring”, “to be pregnant with” and “to cherish (a feeling)”.[9]

Semantic evolution

Middle Dutch used the verb for carrying a load, bringing something somewhere and having something on oneself: a Ghent rule of 1236 speaks of wearing the habit of the order, and a Dordrecht account of 1285 pays for carrying lime.[11][4] The infinitive was also a noun, “the carrying” or “the wearing” of something (Bruges, 1282), and in Middle Dutch also “burden, sorrow”: God gives no one more to bear than he can bear (1399).[11][2] The sense “to endure (pain, grief)” is dated to 1636.[4]

The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal gathers many phrases from the 17th and 18th centuries, such as carrying a child under one's heart (1734).[12] The proverb water in zee dragen, to bring something where there is plenty already, translates the Latin saying about pouring water into the sea.[13] In singing, dragen of the voice follows Italian portamento.[14] Purists condemned the Southern Dutch voor titel dragen, modelled on French, and zwaar aan iets dragen, modelled on German.[15][16] In Surinamese Dutch the verb also means “to put on (clothes)”, as Sranan weri and English wear do.[17]

The verb passed into Negerhollands (draag, dra, drag), Berbice Dutch (draki) and Skepi Dutch (drag), and into a French dialect as draglé “to flee”.[18][1] Afrikaans has the shortened dra.[1]

Timeline

  • 10th century – Old Dutch uuitutdragere “lawgiver”, literally “law bearer”, appears in the Wachtendonck Psalms.[4]
  • c. 1100 – Willeram's paraphrase says of Christ that he wore the crown of thorns.[9][4]
  • 1201 – Middle Dutch trugen “carried” appears in a text from the Lower Rhine.[11]
  • 1236 – A Ghent rule speaks of wearing the clothes of the order.[4][11]
  • 1332 – Ondragelike bordinen “unbearable burdens” is the first record of the adjective in -lijk.[4]
  • 1636 – Draaghen is recorded for enduring pain or grief.[4]
  • 1734 – A child is carried onder het hart “under the heart”.[12]
  • 1875 – Drager is first used for a carrier of a disease.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (transitive) to support, to hold up from below so that it does not fall: Vier zuilen dragen het dak.[19][12]
  2. (transitive) to carry from one place to another: Hij droeg de koffer naar boven.[19][1]
  3. (transitive) to be pregnant with (a child).[19][9]
  4. (transitive) to wear (clothes, jewellery, glasses) on the body: Zij draagt altijd een hoed.[19][1]
  5. (transitive) to bear, to have (a name, title, mark): Het schip draagt de naam van zijn bouwer.[19]
  6. (transitive) to take upon oneself, to bear (blame, responsibility, costs).[19]
  7. (transitive) to endure, to put up with.[19][4]
  8. (intransitive) to carry, to reach far (of a voice or a sound).[19][12]

Word family

  • gedragen
  • hoorndrager
  • draagbaar
  • dragelijk
  • draagbalk
  • draagdoek
  • draaggolf
  • draagkracht
  • draagster
  • draagstoel
  • draagvlak
  • draagwijdte
  • drager
  • draaglijk
  • verdragen
  • bijdragen
  • gedrag

Usage notes

Iemand op handen dragen is to adore someone.[19] Zo snel als zijn benen hem konden dragen means as fast as possible.[19]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
  3. ^ Haeringen, C. B. van (1936), Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal: Supplement, 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b c Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
  7. ^ a b Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
  8. ^ 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
  9. ^ a b c d Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org
  10. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
  11. ^ 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
  12. ^ 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
  13. ^ Stoett, F. A. (1923–1925), Nederlandsche spreekwoorden, spreekwijzen, uitdrukkingen en gezegden, 4th ed., 3 vols., Zutphen: Thieme
  14. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2005), Groot leenwoordenboek, Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale
  15. ^ Vreese, Willem de (1899), Gallicismen in het Zuidnederlandsch, Gent: Siffer
  16. ^ Moortgat, A. (1925), Germanismen in het Nederlandsch, Gent
  17. ^ Donselaar, J. van (1989), Woordenboek van het Surinaams-Nederlands, Muiderberg: Coutinho
  18. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers