ik

Forms

ik^[1] The emphatic form ikke goes back to Middle Dutch icke.^[2][3][4] An unstressed form 'k is also written.^[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch ic, inherited from Old Dutch ik, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *ik, inherited from Proto-Germanic *ek.^[6][1] The same word is Old Saxon ik, Old High German ih (modern German ich), Old Frisian ik, Old English ic (modern English ⟨I⟩), Old Norse ek and Gothic 𐌹𐌺 (ik).^[6][7] The Old Norse form led to Danish jeg and Swedish jag.^[2]

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eǵ-, often with extra endings such as ⟨*-oH⟩ and ⟨*-(H)om⟩.^[6] Kroonen reconstructs Proto-Indo-European *h₁eǵ-H-om, which he finds unchanged in Sanskrit अहम् (ahám), Old Church Slavonic азъ (azŭ) and Lithuanian aš; Latin ego and Ancient Greek ἐγώ (egṓ) continue the same pronoun, and Hittite ūk a variant of it.^[7][6][8] The forms of the pronoun vary from language to language in ways that already the older handbooks could not reduce to one starting point.^[3][2] The oblique forms mij and mijn come from another stem, Proto-Indo-European *h₁me.^[6][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The pronoun is recorded in the Utrecht baptismal vow of the late 8th century, in ec gelobo in crist gotes suno “I believe in Christ, God's son”.^[9][10] The Wachtendonck Psalms of the 10th century use ik and ic.^[6] Middle Dutch ic is recorded from 1237.^[11]

Semantic evolution

In Middle Dutch the pronoun was often attached to the verb before it, as in saghicken “I saw it”, and the longer icke was used beside ic, sometimes only for the rhyme.^[4] It could also be used as a noun: a text of 1373 calls a friend een ander ic, “another I”, after Latin alter ego.^[12][13]

In the southern Netherlands and parts of Brabant and Zealand the pronoun is often repeated, giving forms such as kik and ekikke.^[5] As a neuter noun het ik means the self or the ego, as in mijn betere ik and mijn tweede ik, the latter a translation of alter ego.^[14][13][5]

The pronoun lives on in Afrikaans ek, Berbice Dutch eke and Skepi Dutch ek; older Indonesian dictionaries list ik and ikke as well.^[1][15]

Timeline

• 776–800 – Ec “I” is recorded in the Utrecht baptismal vow.^[10][9]
• 10th century – Ik and ic appear in the Wachtendonck Psalms.^[6]
• 1237 – Middle Dutch ic is recorded.^[11]
• 1276 – The longer form icke is used in a Holland charter.^[4]
• 1373 – Een ander ic “another I” renders alter ego.^[12]

Meanings

Pronoun

1. I: the first person singular, used as subject: Ik woon in Gent.^[14][1]

Noun

1. (het ik) The self, the ego: zijn ware ik tonen.^[14][16]

Word family

• ikzelf
• ik-figuur
• ik-vorm

Related words

• mij
• mijn
• wij
• German ich

Usage notes

Ik voor mij means “as for me”.^[14] In the 17th century the subject ik was often left out before a verb, and it still is in a few fixed forms such as verzoeke and zegge.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
3. ^ a b Haeringen, C. B. van (1936), Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal: Supplement, 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
4. ^ a b c 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
5. ^ 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
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
8. ^ Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
9. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org
10. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
11. ^ a b Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 175
12. ^ a b Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
13. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2005), Groot leenwoordenboek, Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale
14. ^ a b c d Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
15. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
16. ^ WikiWoordenboek (Dutch Wiktionary), nl.wiktionary.org