Etymologically
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horen

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈɦoːrə(n)/[1]
  • Netherlands: [ˈɦʊə̯rən̥], [ˈɦʊə̯rø̜][1]
  • East, North: [ˈɦʊəɐ̯n][1]
  • Belgium: [ˈɦoːrən̥], [ˈɦoːrø̜][1]

Forms

horen[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch horen, inherited from Old Dutch hōren, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *hauʀijan, inherited from Proto-Germanic *hauzijaną (“to hear”).[2][1][3] The same word is Old Saxon hōrian, Old High German hōren (modern German hören), Old Frisian hēra, Old English hīeran (modern English hear), Old Norse heyra and Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌿𐍃𐌾𐌰𐌽 (hausjan), all meaning “to perceive with the ears”; in the West Germanic languages it also meant “to belong”.[2][3][4] Gothic keeps an ⟨s⟩ where the others have ⟨r⟩.[4][5] Beside it stood a form with ⟨k⟩, Middle Dutch horken (“to listen”) (now dialectal), Old High German hōrehhen (modern German horchen), West Frisian harkje and English hark, probably an intensive derivative.[2][4]

According to the EWN the only related word outside Germanic is Ancient Greek ἀκούω (akoúō, “to hear”), from a root Proto-Indo-European *h₂kous-.[2][5] The EWN calls older explanations outdated: a link with oor and Latin audiō (“to hear”), or an analysis of the Greek verb as “sharp” plus “ear”, so that hearing would be “pricking up the ears”.[2] Wiktionary still follows that analysis, with Proto-Indo-European *h₂ḱh₂owsyéti (“to be sharp-eared”).[1] De Vries compares further Latin caveō (“to beware”), while the WNT (1906) found no certain relatives at all.[4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old Dutch has the verb only in inflected forms, gihōron “to listen, to give ear”, in the 10th-century Wachtendonck Psalms.[2][7] Around 1100 the Leiden Willeram uses it for “to belong to”, and the Rhineland Rhyming Bible of 1151–1200 for “to obey”.[7]

Semantic evolution

Middle Dutch horen meant “to listen” in the Limburg life of Saint Servatius (1200), and “to hear” in 1240, when a Limburg glossary renders Latin audire with it.[2][8] From “to listen to” came “to be subject to”: in 1254 all the burghers of Middelburg horen tenen rechte “come under one law”; then “to belong to”, as in dat hort te hare “that is hers” (1265–1270).[2] The same path led to “to be fitting”, the sense of behoren and of the modern dat hoort zo.[2][9] To messe horen was to attend mass.[10]

Hoor at the end of a spoken sentence, as a softening tag, is recorded from 1671 and began as hoor je? “do you hear?”.[2][6] Stoett traces proverbs such as die niet horen wil, moet voelen “who will not listen must feel”, said to a child about to be punished, and horen en zien vergaan, said of a deafening noise.[11] In Jewish Dutch horen naar meant “to obey”, after Yiddish or German.[12]

The verb passed into Negerhollands (hō, hoor), Berbice Dutch (horo) and Skepi Dutch (horə); Afrikaans has hoor.[13][1]

Timeline

  • 901–1000 – Old Dutch gihōron “to listen” in the Wachtendonck Psalms.[2][7]
  • c. 1100 – “To belong to” in the Leiden Willeram.[7]
  • 1200 – Middle Dutch horen “to listen”, in the life of Saint Servatius.[2]
  • 1240 – “To hear”, glossing Latin audire in Limburg.[2][8]
  • 1254 – “To be subject to”, in Middelburg.[2]
  • 1265–1270 – “To belong to” in a Brabant life of Saint Lutgard.[2]
  • 1671 – The tag hoor at the end of a sentence.[2][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (transitive) To hear, to perceive with the ears: Ik hoorde de trein in de verte.[9][14][1]
  2. (transitive) To learn, to be told: We hoorden pas gisteren dat ze verhuisd was.[9]
  3. (transitive) To listen to; to hear someone out, to question a witness or ask for advice: De rechter wil eerst beide partijen horen.[9]
  4. (intransitive) To belong, to have one's place: Die schoenen horen in de kast.[9][1]
  5. (intransitive) To be fitting, to be proper: Zo hoort het niet.[9][2]

Word family

  • gehorig
  • gehoor
  • behoren
  • horken
  • horig
  • hoorbaar
  • ongehoord
  • hoorapparaat
  • hoorcollege
  • hoorspel
  • hoorzitting
  • verhoor
  • gehoorzaam
  • verhoren

Usage notes

Horen is also a spelling of hoorn “horn”, with the plural horens, from a separate Germanic noun; the WNT notes that this noun is often written horen.[1][6][3] The tag hoor (Dat is goed, hoor) softens or stresses a statement.[2][9] Horen en wederhoren is to hear both sides.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 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
  3. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
  5. ^ a b Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 169
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ a b c d Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org
  8. ^ a b 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
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
  10. ^ Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
  11. ^ Stoett, F. A. (1923–1925), Nederlandsche spreekwoorden, spreekwijzen, uitdrukkingen en gezegden, 4th ed., 3 vols., Zutphen: Thieme
  12. ^ Kamp, Jacob van de; Wijk, Jacob van der (2006), Koosjer Nederlands: Joodse woorden in de Nederlandse taal, Amsterdam: Contact
  13. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
  14. ^ Algemeen Nederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; anw.ivdnt.org