Etymologically
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krijgen

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈkrɛi̯ɣə(n)/[1]

Forms

krijgen (past kreeg, plural kregen; past participle gekregen)[1][2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch crîghen, inherited from Old Dutch *crīgan, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *krīgan (“to strive, struggle”), inherited from Proto-Germanic *krīganą.[1][3] In Middle Dutch this strong verb meant “to exert oneself, strive”, “to make one's way”, “to quarrel, fight” and “to obtain by effort”.[4][5] The same verb is Middle Low German krīgen (“to quarrel, wage war; to get”), Middle High German krīgen (“to strive, fight”) (modern German kriegen) and Old Frisian krīgia (“to get, receive”) (modern West Frisian krije).[4][6] Kroonen thinks its oldest sense was “to be stiff, stubborn”, as in halskrīga (“stiff neck”), whence “to strive” and then “to fight”.[3]

The sense “to get, receive” is found only in a limited area (Dutch, Low German, Frisian and central German) where verbs often lose a prefix.[4][7] The EWN therefore derives it from an older Middle Low German erkrīgen (“to win by fighting”), itself formed from the noun Middle Dutch crijg (“effort, struggle, strife”) (modern krijg).[4][7] Franck–Van Wijk and De Vries & De Tollenaere instead see one and the same strong verb, with “to get” as an originally perfective use of “to strive for”.[6][8] Outside Germanic no etymology is certain: the EWN mentions Latvian and Old Irish words for hardness and strength and a root Proto-Indo-European *gʷer-, but calls the relationship very uncertain.[4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb is first recorded in Brabant in 1265–1270, in the sense “to acquire”.[9][10] An early quotation uses it as a verb of motion: Warwerts hi henen was gekregen, “where he had gone off to”.[4] In a Rhineland text of about 1270, man krige sine vrinscap dar mede means “by that one will win his friendship”.[4][10]

Semantic evolution

The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal explains the senses from a basic “to exert oneself”: exertion against someone became “to fight, wage war”, and exertion towards something became the transitive “to try to own, acquire”.[2] The idea of effort then faded, so that krijgen came to be used also when the subject comes to have something without any doing of its own.[2] The 13th-century texts already show both uses: one speaks of the hydra that krigt dar weder twe, “gets two (heads) in its place”, when it loses one.[10]

In early modern Dutch krijgen also meant “to seize, catch” (two fishing boats taken in 1598), and it was used of illnesses (a new fever caught in 1626), of a wife or husband (1646), and of children.[2] In modern Dutch it also serves as an auxiliary for a passive in which the receiver is the subject.[1] The proverb hebben is hebben, maar krijgen is de kunst (“having is having, but getting is the art”) is known since the 17th century.[11] Because it can mean “to be struck by”, the verb begins very many curses, of the type krijg de pest.[12]

The verb passed into Negerhollands (krieg, kri), Berbice Dutch (kriki) and Petjo, and it lives on in Afrikaans kry.[13][1]

Timeline

  • 1265–1270 – Middle Dutch crigen is first recorded, in Brabant, in the sense “to acquire”.[9][10]
  • c. 1270 – A Rhineland text uses the verb for getting something without effort.[10]
  • 1525 – The earliest quotation in the Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal speaks of victory gained.[2]
  • 1598 – Krijgen is recorded in the sense “to seize, capture”.[2]
  • 1626 – A writer reports a fever he has gekregen “caught”.[2]
  • 17th century – Hebben is hebben, maar krijgen is de kunst is first recorded.[11]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To receive, get, be given, with or without one's own effort: Ze kreeg een fiets voor haar verjaardag.[14][1][2]
  2. To come into a situation: iets in het oog krijgen, to notice something.[14]
  3. To come to feel or suffer; to catch an illness: Hij kreeg griep.[14][1][2]
  4. To bring into a state, manage to do: Ik krijg de deur niet open.[14][1]
  5. To catch, get hold of a person: Je kunt me toch niet krijgen![2]
  6. (auxiliary) Forms a passive with the receiver as subject: Zij krijgt het pakket toegestuurd.[1]

Word family

  • verkrijgen
  • herkrijgen
  • aankrijgen
  • afkrijgen
  • binnenkrijgen
  • doorkrijgen
  • meekrijgen
  • opkrijgen
  • terugkrijgen
  • gekrijgen
  • krijg
  • krijger
  • kregel
  • German kriegen

Usage notes

An intransitive weak verb krijgen “to wage war” is now used only in elevated style.[2] The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal holds that it is at bottom the same verb, though speakers feel it as a derivative of krijg “war”, and the Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek calls the weak verb a new formation from the noun.[2][5] The EWN considers the sense “war” of the noun probably secondary.[4] The fixed phrase het aan de stok krijgen met iemand means to fall out with someone.[14]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h 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
  5. ^ a b Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
  6. ^ a b Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
  7. ^ a b Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 211
  9. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
  10. ^ a b c d e 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
  11. ^ a b Stoett, F. A. (1923–1925), Nederlandsche spreekwoorden, spreekwijzen, uitdrukkingen en gezegden, 4th ed., 3 vols., Zutphen: Thieme
  12. ^ Sterkenburg, P. G. J. van (2001), Vloeken: een cultuurbepaalde reactie op woede, irritatie en frustratie, 2nd ed., Den Haag: Sdu
  13. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
  14. ^ a b c d e Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers