hallo

Forms

hallo (interjection); as a noun de or het hallo, plural hallo's, diminutive hallootje^[1][2]

Etymology

It is probably borrowed from English hallo in its American use, taken over together with the telephone in the late 19th century.^[3][1][4] The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal noted in 1897 that the word was very common at the telephone, and French allô, older ⟨hallo⟩ (1881), came from American English in the same way.^[3][2]

The English word had the variants hello, hullo, earlier hillo, and holla and hollo (1588), all shouts to attract attention or of surprise.^[3] They are usually traced to Middle French holà (“hey there”) (about 1350), but Middle High German holā already existed, whence German hallo (15th century), which some explain as the imperative of a verb meaning “fetch” called to a ferryman, and Barnhart's dictionary sees in these shouts a natural formation that arose in several languages.^[3][4] De Vries instead saw in the Dutch word the stressed imperative of halen “to fetch”, a call of bargemen later used at the telephone.^[5][4] The Philippa dictionary rejects the idea that it is a variant of allo (“come on”), from allons.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Hallo! is first recorded in 1840 in Bomhoff's English–Dutch dictionary, as a translation of English halloo, and hallo roepen in Hooiberg's of 1843, both without saying how the word was used.^[3] In 1884 a poem in the Groene Amsterdammer uses hallo, hallo to call for attention, and in 1897 the word is recorded as a greeting.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal (1897) describes hallo as a shout to catch someone's attention, such as a skipper's call to a bridge keeper, and as a noun for the shout itself.^[2] It also records the retort hallo is opgehangen, “hallo has been hanged”, for someone who calls “hallo!” too impatiently.^[2] Van der Sijs dates the greeting to 1909, and Van Veen and Van der Sijs to 1901–1925.^[6][4]

Today it is an informal greeting, the word for answering the telephone, a call for attention and, often with a different stress, an exclamation of surprise or of “isn't that obvious?”.^[7][1] The diminutive hallootje is a quick, friendly greeting.^[1] Dutch passed the word on to Indonesian and Minangkabau (halo, on the telephone), and Papiamentu haló and Swedish hallå come from Dutch or another language; from Swedish it reached Finnish as haloo.^[8][1]

Timeline

• 1840 – Hallo! translates English halloo in Bomhoff's dictionary.^[3]
• 1843 – Hallo roepen in Hooiberg's dictionary.^[3]
• 1884 – Hallo, hallo calls for attention in a poem.^[3]
• 1897 – Hallo as a greeting, and as the usual word at the telephone.^[3][2]
• 1909 – The interjection is dated here by the Chronologisch woordenboek.^[6]

Meanings

Interjection

1. hello: an informal greeting.^[7][1]
2. A call to attract someone's attention.^[7][1]
3. Said when answering the telefoon or calling over the radio.^[7]
4. An exclamation of surprise, or of irritation that something is obvious.^[7][1]

Noun

1. A greeting or shout of hallo; in the diminutive hallootje, a quick, friendly greeting.^[1][2]

Word family

• halloën
• hallootjes

Related words

• English hello
• German hallo
• French allô

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 c d e f g h i j k 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
4. ^ a b c d Veen, P. A. F. van; Sijs, Nicoline van der (1997), Etymologisch woordenboek: de herkomst van onze woorden, 2nd ed., Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Lexicografie
5. ^ Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum
6. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
7. ^ a b c d e Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
8. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)