Etymologically
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morgen

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈmɔrɣə(n)/[1]

Forms

morgen m (plural morgens, diminutive morgentje n), as an adverb invariable[1] Middle Dutch also had marghen and merghen, still heard in dialects.[2][3] Southern Dutch has a form morgend, with a ⟨d⟩ taken over from avond.[4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch morghen, inherited from Old Dutch morgan, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *morgin, inherited from Proto-Germanic *murgana- (“morning”).[4][1][6] The same word is Old Saxon morgan, Old High German morgan (modern German Morgen), Old Frisian morn (modern West Frisian moarn), Old English morgen (whence morn), Old Norse morginn and Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌲𐌹𐌽𐍃 (maurgins), all meaning “morning”.[4][3][6] The Germanic forms vary in the vowel of the stem and of the suffix, so that several stems are reconstructed: Kroonen suggests that ⟨*murgena-⟩ and ⟨*murgana-⟩ continue the cases of an older n-stem.[4][6] Old Dutch ⟨morgan⟩ comes from ⟨*murgana-⟩, with ⟨u⟩ lowered to ⟨o⟩ before the ⟨a⟩ of the next syllable, while the Middle Dutch and dialect forms with ⟨a⟩ and ⟨e⟩ led Van Wijk to posit a stem ⟨*margana-⟩ as well, a view Kern disputed.[4][3][5]

Outside Germanic the word is connected with Sanskrit मर्क (marká, “eclipse of the sun”), Lithuanian mérkti (“to close the eyes”), Old Church Slavonic мракъ (mrakŭ, “darkness”) and Russian меркнуть (mérknutʹ, “to grow dark, dim”), from a root Proto-Indo-European *merHk- (“to flicker; to grow dark”), an extension of *mer- (“to flicker, twinkle”).[4][6][3] The oldest sense is therefore taken to be “twilight”.[4][7] Franck–Van Wijk also weighed a root with ⟨g⟩, as in mirgė́ti (“to flicker”).[2]

The adverb “tomorrow” was at first a case form of the noun, the dative, used as an adverb of time: “in the morning” after the night meant the next day.[4][3][5] Other languages made the same step: 𐌳𐌿 𐌼𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌲𐌹𐌽𐌰 (du maurgina), tō morgene (whence tomorrow), and demain, built on māne (“early in the morning”).[3][2] The old measure of land is the same word: it was the land that could be ploughed in one morning.[4][8][2] The English word morning took its ending from evening, as Brabant ⟨morgend⟩ took its ⟨d⟩ from avond.[4][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old Dutch morgan “morning” is first found in the Wachtendonck Psalms of the 10th century, in an auont in an morgan, “in the evening and in the morning”.[4][10] The adverb “tomorrow” appears early in Middle Dutch, in a Limburg word list of 1240, and the land measure already in Old Dutch, in 1099.[4][11][10]

Semantic evolution

In 13th-century Middle Dutch the noun is common in phrases such as des morgens vroe, “early in the morning”, and des avondes ende des morghens, “evening and morning”, that is, always.[4][8] The genitive des morgens survives as ’s morgens.[5][12] A Middle Dutch dative form morne (1250) may still show the case behind the adverb.[4] Today the noun means the part of the day up to noon, beside the more everyday ochtend.[4][12][13]

The adverb at first meant the coming morning and then the whole next day.[4][5] From the 16th century it stood for the near future in general, in vandaag of morgen, “one of these days”.[5] Ironic margen weerkomen!, “come back tomorrow!”, said of what will never happen, is recorded in 1615 and found in Bredero, and the later morgen brengen! (“bring it tomorrow!”) dismisses something in the same way.[5][14]

As a measure of land the morgen differed from region to region but was usually close to a hectare: the Rhineland morgen was about 0.85 hectare and for some time even an official standard.[4][15] The word lives on in place names such as Zevenmorgen, and Dutch settlers took it to America, where English morgen is a historical land measure.[15][16]

Dutch morgen “morning” and “tomorrow” passed into Afrikaans môre, Negerhollands morg, Berbice Creole Dutch moroko and Skepi Creole Dutch murg, and the greeting morgen! “good morning” into Ambonese and Manado Malay and Sranan Tongo morgu.[16][1]

Timeline

  • 901–1000 – Old Dutch morgan “morning” in the Wachtendonck Psalms.[4][10]
  • 1099 – Old Dutch morgen as a measure of farmland.[4][10]
  • c. 1201 – Middle Dutch des andern morgenis, “on the next morning”, in the Lower Rhine area.[4][8]
  • 1240 – Morgen “tomorrow” in a Limburg word list.[4][11]
  • 1268 – Morghen as a land measure in the charters of the counts of Holland.[8]
  • 1615 – Margen weerkomen!, “come back tomorrow!”, said of what will never happen.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. morning, the first part of the day, up to noon: op een koude morgen in maart.[12][13][1]
  2. (historical) A measure of farmland, roughly a hectare, the area that could be ploughed in a morning.[4][8]

Adverb

  1. tomorrow, on the day after today: morgen ga ik naar Utrecht.[12][1][17]
  2. In the near future, one day: vandaag of morgen.[5]

Word family

  • morgenstond
  • morgenrood
  • morgengave
  • morgenster
  • gistermorgen
  • morgenochtend
  • overmorgen
  • ochtend
  • English morning
  • German Morgen

Usage notes

’s Morgens means “in the morning”, and goedemorgen or simply morgen! is the morning greeting.[5] Morgen is er weer een dag consoles someone who has not managed something today, and ja, morgen brengen! means “that will never happen”.[12][14]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
  3. ^ a b c d e f Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v 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 c d e f g h i j 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
  6. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  7. ^ Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum
  8. ^ 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
  9. ^ Vercoullie, Jozef (1925), Beknopt etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 3rd ed., 's-Gravenhage / Gent: Nijhoff / Van Rysselberghe & Rombaut
  10. ^ a b c d Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org
  11. ^ a b 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 Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
  13. ^ a b Algemeen Nederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; anw.ivdnt.org
  14. ^ a b Stoett, F. A. (1923–1925), Nederlandsche spreekwoorden, spreekwijzen, uitdrukkingen en gezegden, 4th ed., 3 vols., Zutphen: Thieme
  15. ^ a b Berkel, Gerald van; Samplonius, Kees (2018), Nederlandse plaatsnamen verklaard, Utrecht: Spectrum
  16. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
  17. ^ WikiWoordenboek (Dutch Wiktionary), nl.wiktionary.org