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land

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Pronunciation

Forms

land n (plural landen, diminutive landje n)[1] Older spellings are landt and lant.[1][2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch lant, inherited from Old Dutch lant, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *land, inherited from Proto-Germanic *landą (“land”), which Kroonen gives as the neuter stem *landa-.[3][1][4] The same word is Old Saxon land, Old High German lant (modern German Land), Old Frisian land (also ⟨lond⟩), Old English land (modern English land), Old Norse land and Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌽𐌳 (land).[3][5][4] Beside it stood a form with umlaut, Proto-Germanic *landjō-, which survives in the Swedish dialect word linda (“fallow land”); the verb belenden and the noun ellende are derived from the same base.[3]

Outside Germanic the word has relatives only in Europe: Old Prussian lindan (“valley”), Proto-Slavic *lędo (with Russian ляда (ljáda, “overgrown low ground”), Polish ląd (“land”) and Czech lada (“untilled land”)) and Proto-Celtic *landā (“open land”) (with Old Irish lann (“plot, open place”) and Welsh llan (“area”)).[3][5] From these Pokorny's dictionary sets up a root Proto-Indo-European *londʰ-, and Kroonen takes the Germanic noun as an o-grade formation of a European root *lendʰ- (“unused land”), with the zero grade in *lunda- (“grove”).[3][4] The EWN calls the further etymology uncertain: Cowan and Polomé think the word was rather taken from a pre-Indo-European substrate, pointing to Basque landa (“field”) and Catalan llanda (“plain”), which seem to be native there, whereas French lande (“heath”) came from Celtic.[3][6] A link with lende is unlikely for reasons of meaning.[3]

De Vries starts from the sense “enclosed piece of ground”, following Jost Trier, who saw a fence or wattle as the starting point, as in tuin.[5] The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal takes the oldest sense to be “uncultivated ground”.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is first recorded in Old Dutch place names: Engilandi (a dative), modern Engeland in Gelderland, literally “enk-land”, is found in a document of 801 known from a 10th-century copy.[3][7][8] The Old Dutch fragments from Werden of about 1151 use it in a running text, of Noah sending out a raven to see whether it would find land anywhere.[9]

Semantic evolution

Old Dutch already had the main senses: land as opposed to water, ground or soil, and the territory where a people lives or that a ruler controls.[9] Middle Dutch lant adds land as property, especially farmland, the open country, and one's homeland; the Bernardus glossary of 1240 has “region; fatherland; farmland”.[10][3] The phrase te watre ende te lande “by water and by land” occurs in charters from Holland and Brussels in 1290.[10] The sense “realm, state” is dated from about 1200 in the Servaas legend.[7]

In the 16th century land came to mean the countryside as opposed to the towns, as in tplatte lant (1571), now platteland.[2] In Belgium the phrase op het land in this sense was criticised as a Germanism, since it properly means “in the fields”.[11] Sailors called out land! when the coast came in sight, and Winschoten (1681) records that ship's boys used the cry when the food bowl was nearly empty.[2][12]

Several phrases come from the Bible: het land van belofte from the Epistle to the Hebrews,[13] and een stille in den lande, a quiet, withdrawn person who is often thought not to be trustworthy, from Psalm 35.[14] The proverb in het land der blinden is eenoog koning has Greek and Latin forerunners.[14] Among Dutch Jews het land meant the land of Israel, a translation of Hebrew erets.[15] In Suriname ’s Lands is used for what belongs to the government, as in ’s Lands Hospitaal, a use now dated in the Netherlands.[16]

The word went into Negerhollands (land, lant), Berbice Dutch (landi, alanda) and Sranan Tongo (Sranan Tongo lanti), and Afrikaans has land.[1]

Timeline

  • 801 – Old Dutch Engilandi (Engeland, Gelderland) is recorded, in a 10th-century copy.[3][7]
  • c. 1151 – The Werden fragments use lant for dry land in the story of Noah.[9]
  • c. 1200 – Middle Dutch lant “realm, state” appears in the Servaas legend.[7]
  • 1240 – The Bernardus glossary has lant “region; fatherland; farmland”.[3]
  • 1290 – Charters use te watre ende te lande “by water and by land”.[10]
  • c. 1450 – The verb landen “to come ashore” is recorded.[3]
  • 1571 – Tplatte lant “the open country” is used of the countryside.[2]
  • 1681 – Winschoten records the sailors' phrase daar is geen land mee te bezeilen.[12]

Meanings

Noun

  1. land, the part of the earth's surface not covered by water: Na drie weken op zee zagen ze eindelijk land.[17][18][1]
  2. Ground used for farming, farmland: Hij pacht twee hectare land.[17][19]
  3. The countryside, as opposed to the town.[17][19]
  4. A country, state or nation: Ze heeft in vijf landen gewerkt.[17][1]
  5. A region or area.[17]
  6. (Netherlands, Caribbean) A constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, or the government of one of the overseas countries.[1]

Word family

  • eiland
  • landbouw
  • landen
  • landschap
  • landsknecht
  • landstorm
  • vaderland
  • voorland
  • landerig
  • landjuweel
  • landouw
  • landzaat
  • Morgenland
  • weiland
  • aanlandig
  • belenden
  • ellende

Usage notes

Er is geen land met hem te bezeilen means that nothing can be done with him;[17] Winschoten already explains the phrase in 1681 as said of a boy who is good for nothing.[12] Het land hebben is to be in a bad mood:[17] Van Veen and Van der Sijs explain it as feeling like a sailor ashore,[13] Vercoullie as having the land in one's body like an illness, longing for the sea.[20]

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 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 Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
  6. ^ Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
  7. ^ a b c d Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
  8. ^ Berkel, Gerald van; Samplonius, Kees (2018), Nederlandse plaatsnamen verklaard, Utrecht: Spectrum
  9. ^ a b c Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org
  10. ^ 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
  11. ^ Moortgat, A. (1925), Germanismen in het Nederlandsch, Gent
  12. ^ a b c Winschoten, Wigardus à (1681), Seeman: behelsende een grondige uitlegging van de Neederlandse konst- en spreekwoorden, voor soo veel die uit de seevaart sijn ontleend, Leiden
  13. ^ a b Veen, P. A. F. van; Sijs, Nicoline van der (1997), Etymologisch woordenboek: de herkomst van onze woorden, 2nd ed., Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Lexicografie
  14. ^ a b Stoett, F. A. (1923–1925), Nederlandsche spreekwoorden, spreekwijzen, uitdrukkingen en gezegden, 4th ed., 3 vols., Zutphen: Thieme
  15. ^ Kamp, Jacob van de; Wijk, Jacob van der (2006), Koosjer Nederlands: Joodse woorden in de Nederlandse taal, Amsterdam: Contact
  16. ^ Donselaar, J. van (1989), Woordenboek van het Surinaams-Nederlands, Muiderberg: Coutinho
  17. ^ a b c d e f g Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
  18. ^ Algemeen Nederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; anw.ivdnt.org
  19. ^ a b WikiWoordenboek (Dutch Wiktionary), nl.wiktionary.org
  20. ^ Vercoullie, Jozef (1925), Beknopt etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 3rd ed., 's-Gravenhage / Gent: Nijhoff / Van Rysselberghe & Rombaut