Etymologically
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het

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Pronunciation

  • Belgium: /(ɦ)ət/, /t/[1]
  • Netherlands, unstressed: /(ɦ)ət/[1]
  • Netherlands: /t/, /ɦɛt/[1]

Forms

het (neuter; unstressed also ’t, spoken /ət/ or /t/)[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch het, inherited from Old Dutch it, inherited from Proto-Germanic *it, a pronoun found in all the Germanic languages.[3][1] The same pronoun is Old Saxon it, Old High German iz (modern German es), Old Frisian hit, Old English hit (modern English it), Old Norse hit and Gothic 𐌹𐍄𐌰 (ita).[3][4] The initial /h/ is a later addition of the North Sea Germanic area, probably an old demonstrative particle, which was also put before the stem in hij, hem, haar and hun.[3][5] The Wachtendonck Psalms mostly write the form without it, because the inland dialect of their reviser did not use the /h/ here.[3]

Indo-European had no separate third-person pronoun, and this one goes back to a demonstrative: Proto-Indo-European *h₁id is the neuter nominative of Proto-Indo-European *h₁e-, and the same form is Latin id (“that”), Sanskrit इदम् (idám, “this”) and Old Irish ed (“it”).[3][6][4]

As an article, the word has another source: the old neuter article was dat, which weakened to /t/ or /ət/ when unstressed.[3] Since this short form sounded like the clitic form of the pronoun, writers took it for the pronoun and began to write the article in the same way.[3][2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The pronoun is first recorded in the Wachtendonck Psalms of the 10th century,[3][7] where a speaker says Ik uuanda that ik it kende, “I thought that I knew it”.[8] The article het appears in Middle Dutch texts of the late 14th century: in het ghemeen convente, “in the whole community of the monastery” (1370), and het ghestant, “the state, condition” (1380).[3][9]

Semantic evolution

In Middle Dutch the full article dat slowly went out of use, and the short form, written het or ’t, took its place.[3][2] Frings argued that the article already existed in the 12th century, because the Fläming area in Germany, settled by Dutch colonists at that time, has an article het.[3] The use of het as an article is typically Dutch: German es and English it are still only pronouns, and the Frisian spelling it for both may be a parallel development or the result of Dutch influence.[3]

In speech the unstressed forms /ət/ and /t/ have remained the norm.[3][10] Early modern writers still used ’t in elevated writing, while in the second half of the 20th century ’t came to be kept for rendering the spoken language.[3] The pronoun is also used without a clear referent in many verbal phrases, such as het druk hebben, “to be busy”, and het uithouden, “to hold out”.[9][11]

The pronoun lives on in Jersey Dutch.[1]

Timeline

  • 901–1000 – The pronoun it is recorded in the Wachtendonck Psalms.[3][7]
  • 1237 – Middle Dutch het appears in a charter from Ghent.[12]
  • 1370 – Het is first recorded as an article.[3][7]
  • 1573 – Plantijn lists both forms, het and idt.[2]

Meanings

Pronoun

  1. it: the third-person singular neuter personal pronoun, as subject.[11][1]
  2. It, as object.[11][1]
  3. An impersonal subject or object: het regent, “it is raining”.[1][9]

Article

  1. the: the definite article before neuter singular nouns: het huis, “the house”.[11][13]
  2. (stressed) The best or most important of its kind.[11][2]
  3. With an adjective or adverb, forming the superlative: het hardst, “the hardest”.[11]

Word family

Usage notes

In Belgium the spelling pronunciation /hət/ is common.[3] In curses the pronoun stands for something unpleasant left unnamed, as in krijg het! and bekijk het maar!.[14]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e 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 l m n o p q r 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 Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
  5. ^ Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
  6. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  7. ^ a b c Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
  8. ^ Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org
  9. ^ a b c Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
  10. ^ Haeringen, C. B. van (1936), Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal: Supplement, 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
  11. ^ a b c d e f Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
  12. ^ 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. ^ Algemeen Nederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; anw.ivdnt.org
  14. ^ Sterkenburg, P. G. J. van (2001), Vloeken: een cultuurbepaalde reactie op woede, irritatie en frustratie, 2nd ed., Den Haag: Sdu