Etymologically
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herinneren

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Pronunciation

  • /ɦɛrˈɪ.nə.rə(n)/[1]
  • Informal: /ɦɛˈrɪ.nə.rə(n)/[1]
  • Dialectal, informal, nonstandard: /ɦɛˈrɪn.də.rə(n)/[1]

Forms

herinneren[1] The older form is erinneren, which around 1900 was still heard in speech and often used by poets.[2] Informal and dialect speech also has herinderen.[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from German erinnern (“to remind”), borrowed in the second half of the 16th century, with the German prefix replaced by her-.[3][4][2] The German verb is first known from Luther's Bible translation.[3][2] It was formed with er-, here in the sense of Latin ⟨re-⟩ “again”, on Middle High German innern (“to make mindful, inform”), a verb derived from the comparative ⟨inner⟩ “more inward” of in (compare innerlijk).[3][2][5] De Vries derives it from Old High German innaro (“the inmost part”) and notes that the verb first meant making someone aware of something, and took the sense of Latin moneō (“to remind”) only from Luther's time.[6]

According to the WNT the verb came in through the eastern provinces: Kiliaan marks ⟨erinneren⟩ as Germanic, Saxon and Sicambrian.[2] The change of ⟨er-⟩ to ⟨her-⟩ followed existing Dutch verbs with that prefix, as in herkennen.[2][6][5] Middle Dutch had already had inneren (“to remind someone of something”), in a Holland text of 1401 and in the Middle Dutch Sassenspieghel, taken from Middle Low German inneren.[3][7][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Kiliaan's dictionary of 1599 has erinneren, “to call back to memory”, the first Dutch record of the verb.[3][8][2] Van Veen and Van der Sijs date the form herinneren to 1644; the EWN's first record of it is from 1784.[4][3] The noun erinneringe is recorded as early as 1477.[4]

Semantic evolution

For a long time the verb stayed rather unusual: it does not appear in the States Bible, and as late as 1712 Sewel wrote that some people disliked erinneren, though Vondel had used it fittingly.[2] The older construction put the person reminded in the dative: hunn' ongerijmtheit erinnert my een … puntdicht (1644).[2]

The constructions iemand aan iets herinneren and zich iets herinneren beside zich aan iets herinneren were long debated.[2][9] The WNT calls the construction with aan an imitation of German, first discussed by Weiland in 1802 and at first sharply condemned.[2] Siegenbeek, Alberdingk Thijm and Bogaers rejected zich aan iets herinneren as a germanism, while De Jager defended it.[9] Belgian writers also used the verb in the French manner, with a thing as subject that resembles another thing, a use De Vreese condemns.[10]

The verb was taken into Frisian as herinnerje.[11] De Vries takes Swedish erinra from German.[6] Van der Sijs derives it from Dutch or Low German.[11] Afrikaans has herinner.[1]

Timeline

  • 1401 – Middle Dutch inneren “to remind, prove to someone” in a Holland text.[7]
  • 1477 – The noun erinneringe is recorded.[4]
  • 1599 – Kiliaan gives erinneren.[3][8]
  • 1626 – Erinnert my “reminds me”.[2]
  • 1644 – The form herinneren.[4]
  • 1712 – Sewel notes that some dislike erinneren.[2]
  • 1802 – Weiland first discusses the construction with aan.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (transitive, with aan) To remind someone of something: herinner me er morgen even aan.[1][12][2]
  2. (reflexive) To remember, to recall: ik herinner me die avond nog goed.[1][12]
  3. (transitive, with aan) Of things, to make someone think of something by resemblance: die geur herinnert haar aan de zomer.[2]

Word family

  • herinnering

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 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 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 e 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. ^ a b c Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
  6. ^ a b c Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
  7. ^ a b Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
  8. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
  9. ^ a b Moortgat, A. (1925), Germanismen in het Nederlandsch, Gent
  10. ^ Vreese, Willem de (1899), Gallicismen in het Zuidnederlandsch, Gent: Siffer
  11. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
  12. ^ a b WikiWoordenboek (Dutch Wiktionary), nl.wiktionary.org