Etymologically
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mij

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Pronunciation

Forms

mij[1] Unstressed me.[2][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch mi, inherited from Old Dutch mī, inherited from Proto-Germanic *miz, in form a dative.[2][1][3] Old Dutch already used it for the accusative too, since the North Sea Germanic languages made little or no distinction between the cases here.[2][4] Old High German, Old Norse and Gothic kept them apart, with the datives Old High German mir (modern German mir), Old Norse mér and Gothic 𐌼𐌹𐍃 (mis) beside the accusatives mih (modern mich), mik and 𐌼𐌹𐌺 (mik), while Old Saxon mī, Old Frisian mi (modern West Frisian my) and Old English mē (modern English me) resemble Dutch.[2][3][4] The Germanic accusative is reconstructed as Proto-Germanic *me-k, whose ⟨-k⟩ was probably taken from the nominative ik.[2]

The dative is related to Latin mihi, Ancient Greek ἐμοί (emoí), Sanskrit मह्यम् (máhyam), Lithuanian mán and Old Church Slavonic мьнѣ (mĭně), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁meǵʰio and *h₁mei, although the exact relations between the forms are not always clear and the origin of the Germanic ending ⟨*-z⟩ is unknown.[2] The accusative is related to ἐμέ (emé), माम् (mām), manè and мѧ (mę), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁me-.[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old Dutch mi appears in the 10th-century Wachtendonck Psalms as both dative and accusative: uue sal leidon mi “who will lead me?”, angegin mi “against me”, Ginathi mi “have mercy on me”.[2][5][6] The Leiden Willeram of about 1100 has separate dative mir and accusative mich.[6]

Semantic evolution

Middle Dutch mi served as dative and accusative and as a reflexive, and with selve or selven it meant “myself”; the earliest record is from the Lower Rhine area in 1201.[7] The MNW also notes the “ethical” dative inserted for liveliness, which modern Dutch expresses with me.[8] In Early Modern Dutch the spelling became mij, and in unstressed position me appears, as in zo steictme “so it stings me” (1527–40).[2]

Today mij is the stressed object form beside unstressed me.[9][1] The pronoun passed into Negerhollands, where mi and mie meant “I, me, my”, and into Chinese Malay, and Afrikaans has my.[10][1]

Timeline

  • 901–1000 – Uue sal leidon mi “who will lead me?” in the Wachtendonck Psalms.[2][5]
  • c. 1100 – Dative mir and accusative mich in the Leiden Willeram.[6]
  • 1201 – Middle Dutch reflexive mi in the Lower Rhine area.[7]
  • 1275 – Mins selues segel “my own seal” in Holland.[7]
  • 1527–40 – Unstressed me in zo steictme “so it stings me”.[2]

Meanings

Pronoun

  1. me, the stressed object form of ik: Geef het boek aan mij, niet aan hem.[9][1]
  2. After a preposition: Kom maar naast mij zitten.[11][1]
  3. (reflexive) myself: Ik schaam mij daarvoor.[9][11]

Usage notes

Van mij mag je means “go ahead, though I have my doubts”.[9] Middle Dutch mi could also be a form of men “one”, from 1359.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 248
  4. ^ a b c Vercoullie, Jozef (1925), Beknopt etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 3rd ed., 's-Gravenhage / Gent: Nijhoff / Van Rysselberghe & Rombaut
  5. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
  6. ^ a b c Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org
  7. ^ 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
  8. ^ a b Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
  9. ^ a b c d Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
  10. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
  11. ^ a b WikiWoordenboek (Dutch Wiktionary), nl.wiktionary.org