jullie

Forms

jullie (unstressed form je, reflexive form je, possessive form jullie, unstressed possessive form je)^[1]

Etymology

It is a fairly recent pronoun that entered the standard language from the spoken Dutch of the northern Netherlands.^[2] It is usually explained as a contraction of jij or je with lui “people”, the Holland form of lieden.^[2][3][4][1] The stress moved to the first syllable, ⟨-lui⟩ was weakened to ⟨-lie⟩ and the spelling was adapted to the pronunciation.^[2][4]

Two developments lie behind it.^[2] In Middle Dutch the singular pronoun ⟨du⟩ disappeared, so that ⟨gi⟩ (gij) and ⟨u⟩ served for both singular and plural, with the Holland variants ⟨ju⟩ and later jou and ⟨jij⟩.^[2] At the same time western Middle Dutch could extend any plural pronoun with ⟨lieden⟩, as in ⟨hem lieden⟩ “them” (1237) and ⟨gi liede⟩ “you (plural)” (1300–1350), and a probable forerunner of the modern word is ⟨ju lieden⟩ in a text of 1440–1460.^[2] Forms such as ⟨jy luy⟩ (1616, in Hooft), ⟨joului⟩ (1752–1777) and ⟨je lui⟩ (1775) appear in the following centuries.^[2]

Scholars differ over the starting point.^[2][5] Kloeke derived the word from ⟨joului⟩, originally an object form;^[2][5] Verdenius and Van Haeringen preferred ⟨jijlui⟩, through forms such as ⟨*jillie⟩, because of the initial stress;^[5][6] and Heeroma started from a South Holland ⟨julie⟩.^[5] The EWN favours ⟨je lui⟩, the commonest form in written records of 18th- and 19th-century speech, and points to colloquial hullie “they”, from ⟨hunlieden⟩, after which ⟨zullie⟩ and ⟨jullie⟩ may have been formed by analogy.^[2] The WNT, too, compared ⟨hullie⟩, ⟨wullie⟩ and ⟨zullie⟩.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Van der Sijs dates the pronoun to the 17th century.^[8] The EWN's earliest clear examples are from the 19th century: as a personal pronoun in Jullie kennen allen mijne arrestanten! “You all know my prisoners!” (1841), and as a possessive in 1844.^[2] Afrikaans jully is already recorded in 1741, which suggests the Dutch form is older.^[2]

Semantic evolution

For a long time the forms with -lieden and -lui belonged to different registers: gijlieden and ulieden remained in the written standard into the 19th century but became more and more elevated, while jij, jou, je and their extensions were for a long time confined to speech.^[2] In 1733 je lui appears in a written record of speech,^[7] and as late as 1915 the WNT described jullie as a form of very familiar everyday talk that some heard as rude.^[7]

Today jullie is the ordinary second-person plural, more familiar than u, and is also used as a possessive.^[9][1] The EWN compares the English plurals you guys and you all, which are filling the same gap in English.^[2] The word lives on in Afrikaans julle, and Negerhollands had jellie beside jen and jini;^[1][10] Indonesian yuli and Petjo joelie and goelie also come from it.^[1][10]

Timeline

• 1237 – Hem lieden “them” shows the Middle Dutch extension with lieden.^[2]
• 1440–1460 – Ju lieden “you people” is recorded.^[2]
• 1601–1700 – Jullie is dated to the 17th century.^[8]
• 1616 – Hooft writes jy luy.^[2]
• 1741 – Afrikaans jully is recorded.^[2]
• 1775 – Je lui appears as a subject.^[2]
• 1841 – Jullie is recorded as a personal pronoun.^[2]
• 1844 – Jullie is recorded as a possessive.^[2]

Meanings

Pronoun

1. you, second person plural, as subject; more familiar than u: Komen jullie morgen ook?^[9][1][11]
2. You, second person plural, as object: Ik zie jullie straks.^[9][1]

Determiner

1. your, belonging to the people addressed: Is dat jullie auto?^[9][1]

Word family

• julliezelf

Related words

• jij
• jou
• je
• gij
• lui
• lieden

Usage notes

In speech the unstressed je can replace jullie as possessive and reflexive.^[1] The saying jullie is jodenvolk, a rebuke for using familiar jullie where u was expected, rests on a fanciful derivation from jodenlui.^[12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 s t u 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. ^ Veen, P. A. F. van; Sijs, Nicoline van der (1997), Etymologisch woordenboek: de herkomst van onze woorden, 2nd ed., Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Lexicografie
4. ^ a b Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 180
5. ^ a b c d Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
6. ^ Haeringen, C. B. van (1936), Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal: Supplement, 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
7. ^ a b c 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
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 c d Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
10. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
11. ^ Algemeen Nederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; anw.ivdnt.org
12. ^ Kamp, Jacob van de; Wijk, Jacob van der (2006), Koosjer Nederlands: Joodse woorden in de Nederlandse taal, Amsterdam: Contact