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mijn

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mijn1 my

Pronunciation

  • /mɛi̯n/, /mən/[1]

Forms

mijn (dependent possessive, independent possessive mijne, contracted form m'n)[1]

Etymology

The possessive “my” is inherited from Middle Dutch mijn, inherited from Old Dutch mīn, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *mīn, inherited from Proto-Germanic *mīna-.[2][1][3] It was originally the genitive singular of the personal pronoun of the first person, whose other forms include mij.[2][4] The same word is Old Saxon mīn, Old High German mīn (modern German mein), Old Frisian mīn (modern West Frisian myn), Old English mīn (modern English ⟨mine⟩ and ⟨my⟩), Old Norse mínn (modern Swedish min) and Gothic 𐌼𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃 (meins).[2][3]

The EWN traces it to Proto-Indo-European *h₁mei, with a genitive ⟨*h₁méne⟩, and compares Latin meī (“of me”), Sanskrit मम (máma), Lithuanian manę̃s, Old Church Slavonic мене (mene) and Hittite ammēl, though the exact formal relations are not always clear.[2] The older handbooks explain the Germanic form as built with the suffix ⟨*-no-⟩ on ⟨*mei⟩, a case form of the stem ⟨*me-⟩, which also gave meus.[5][6][7] dijn and zijn are formed in the same way.[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The possessive is first recorded in the 10th-century Wachtendonck Psalms, in lif min “my life”, where it always follows its noun.[2][4] By the Willeram of about 1100 it also stood before the noun: Ich bekenno mine unkraft “I confess my weakness”.[4]

Semantic evolution

In Middle Dutch the possessive was declined like an adjective, as in mine dragme die verloren was “my drachma that was lost” (1291).[8] Modern Dutch uses the uninflected form before nouns, the independent de mijne, het mijne “mine”, and the spoken reduced form m’n.[1] Old genitives survive in fixed phrases such as mijns inziens “in my opinion”.[9]

The pronoun spread with Dutch: Afrikaans has my, Negerhollands mi, and Chinese Malay mèyn.[1][10]

Timeline

  • 901–1000 – min is recorded in the Wachtendonck Psalms.[2][11][4]
  • c. 1100 – The Willeram puts it before the noun: mine unkraft.[4]
  • 1200 – Middle Dutch mijn is recorded in Limburg.[8]
  • 1240 – A Limburg glossary renders Latin meus with min.[8]
  • 1267 – mijn appears in a charter.[2]

Meanings

Determiner

  1. my: belonging to the speaker: Dat is mijn fiets.[9][1] het mijn en dijn: what is mine and what is someone else's.[9]
  2. (de mijne, het mijne) Mine: Jouw auto is sneller dan de mijne.[1]
  3. Mijn God!: an exclamation of fright, surprise or indignation.[9]

Word family

  • mijnheer
  • mijnent
  • mijnentwege
  • mijnerzijds

mijn2 mine (excavation)

Pronunciation

Forms

mijn f (plural mijnen, diminutive mijntje n)[1]

Etymology

The noun for a mine is inherited from Middle Dutch mine (“ore, metal”), borrowed from Old French mine.[2][1][7] The verb mineren (“to dig a tunnel”) came first, in 1285, from Old French miner.[2] The French noun comes from Gaulish *mīna or ⟨*meina⟩ “raw ore”; Medieval Latin minō is based on the Gaulish word too.[2][7] Related words are Old Irish méin (“ore, metal”) and Welsh mwyn (“ore, mine”), from Proto-Celtic *mēni- (“mineral, metal”).[2] The WNT, in 1906, still called the origin of the French verb unknown.[12]

The sense “tunnel or hole filled with explosives” was borrowed again from French.[2] The sense “sea mine, land mine” comes from the English noun mine, itself from French, where it had developed through “a charge of explosive in such a hole”.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Middle Dutch mine first meant ore or metal, as in zilver ofte loot ofte ander mine “silver or lead or other ore” in the mid-14th century.[2][13] Van der Sijs dates the sense “place where ore or coal is dug” to 1376–1400.[11]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th century mijne meant both an ore pit and an underground tunnel (1567).[2] The sense “ore” went out of use after the early modern period.[2][12] In siege warfare a mijn was a tunnel dug under the enemy's works and filled with powder (1625), then the charge itself (1687).[2] From this came ondermijnen, first “to dig under” (1625), then “to undermine” (1776).[2]

Later it was used figuratively for a rich source (1866) and for a mining company.[12][9] The naval mine appears in Dutch in 1906, the land mine in 1950.[2] Swedish min comes from the Dutch noun, and Makassarese meng “sea mine” too.[10]

Timeline

  • 1285 – The verb mineren “to dig a tunnel” is recorded.[2][8]
  • mid-14th century – Middle Dutch mine “ore” is recorded.[2][13]
  • 1376–1400 – mine “place where ore is dug” is recorded.[11]
  • 1567 – mijne “ore pit, tunnel” appears in a nomenclator.[2]
  • 1625 – mijn “tunnel for explosives” and ondermijnen are recorded.[2]
  • 1687 – de mijnen laten springen: mijn now means the explosive charge.[2]
  • 1906 – mijn “sea mine” is recorded.[2]
  • 1950 – mijn “land mine” is recorded in Van Dale.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A mine: a place where ore, coal or other minerals are dug: Zijn grootvader werkte in de mijn.[9][1]
  2. A mining company.[9][12]
  3. (military) A device filled with explosives that goes off on contact, such as a land or sea mine.[9][1] mijnen vegen: to clear sea mines.[9]
  4. (military, historical) A tunnel dug under enemy works and filled with explosives.[9][1]
  5. (entomology) A tunnel eaten by an insect larva inside a leaf.[1]

Word family

  • goudmijn
  • kolenmijn
  • landmijn
  • zeemijn
  • mijnbouw
  • mijnenveld
  • mijnwerker
  • mijnen
  • ondermijnen

Usage notes

A third mijn, southern and now historical, is a public sale by Dutch auction, especially of fish, and the place where it was held.[12][1] It comes from the verb mijnen, to call out “mine!”, that is, to buy at a Dutch auction.[1][12] Van der Sijs dates it to 1390–1407.[11] It lives on in French dialect minque, the fish market in Belgium.[10][12] In East Flemish mijn also means a pit for storing fodder.[14]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p 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 v w x y z 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 Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d e Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org
  5. ^ a b Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
  6. ^ a b Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 248
  7. ^ a b c Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ a b c d 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
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
  10. ^ a b c Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
  11. ^ a b c d Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
  12. ^ a b c d e f g 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
  13. ^ a b Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
  14. ^ Debrabandere, Frans (2005), Oost-Vlaams en Zeeuws-Vlaams etymologisch woordenboek, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Atlas