onder

Forms

onder^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch onder, inherited from Old Dutch under, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *undar, inherited from Proto-Germanic *under (“under; among”).^[2][1][3] The same word is Old Saxon undar, Old High German untar (modern German unter), Old Frisian under (modern West Frisian ûnder), Old English under (modern English under), Old Norse undir and Gothic 𐌿𐌽𐌳𐌰𐍂 (undar), all meaning “under”.^[2][4][3] All of them except the Gothic word also meant “among, between”.^[2] Beside them stands a shorter Norse form, und (“under”).^[2][5]

According to the EWN and Kroonen, two Indo-European prepositions fell together in the Germanic word, which is why it means both “under” and “among”.^[2][3] One is Proto-Indo-European *(H)n̥dʰer- (“under”), the source of Latin īnfrā (“below”) and īnferus (“lower”) and Sanskrit अधर (ádhara, “lower”).^[2][3][6] The other is *h₁n̥tér (“inside, between”), a comparative of *h₁en (“in”) (see in), which gave inter (“between”), Oscan anter, Old Irish eter, Sanskrit अन्तर् (antár, “between, within”) and Old Church Slavonic ѫтрь (ǫtrĭ, “inside”); its full grade is in Ancient Greek ἔντερα (éntera, “entrails”) and iðrar (“entrails”).^[2][4][3] The older scholars were already divided: the Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal gave the senses separate articles, and Franck–Van Wijk thought the merger likely but not certain.^[6][7][8]

With the suffix of internus, the same base formed a Germanic noun for the time “in between”, Middle Dutch onderen (“forenoon”), undern (“mid-morning”) and 𐌿𐌽𐌳𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌽𐌹𐌼𐌰𐍄𐍃 (undaurnimats, “breakfast”).^[4][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old Dutch under is first recorded in the Wachtendonck Psalms of the 10th century, already in both senses: undir tungon minro “under my tongue” and in uuosc under unsculdigin hendi mina “I washed my hands among the innocent”.^[2][10][11] The psalms also use it of time, “during”.^[10] In Middle Dutch it appears in Ghent in 1236, in a passage about feather cushions onder hare houede “under their heads”.^[2][12]

Semantic evolution

In 13th-century Middle Dutch the preposition meant “below”, “at the foot of” (a tree, a mountain), “among” (onder de guldebroeders, 1277) and “under the rule of” (onder minen here, 1277); onder den dach and onder den hemel meant “here on earth”, and onder hant hebben “to be busy with”.^[2][12] As an adverb it is recorded from 1260 in Brabant, for “at the bottom” and “downwards”, and of the sun, “set”.^[12][11] It once governed the dative as well as the accusative; the Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal found the dative still in 17th-century Bible Dutch and only in the fixed onder ede “under oath” in its own day.^[6]

The adverb is part of many separable verbs (onderlopen “to be flooded”, onderduiken “to dive under, go into hiding”); in 1681 Winschoten found de kelder liep onder an odd way of saying that the cellar was flooded.^[13][14] In 19th-century Flemish writing De Vreese marked onder pers zijn “to be in the press” and onder dit opzicht “in this respect” as gallicisms after French sous presse and sous ce rapport.^[15] Stoett explains iets onder de leden hebben, to be sickening for something, from leden in the sense “the body”, a phrase found in the Middle Ages.^[16]

The preposition is one of the few Dutch prepositions that other languages took over as prepositions: Sranan Tongo ondro, Berbice Dutch ondro, Negerhollands onder, ondu and Aukan ondoo.^[17][1] In the East Indies onder became an Indonesian title for an assistant district head in colonial times.^[17]

Timeline

• 901–1000 – Old Dutch under “under” and “among” appears in the Wachtendonck Psalms.^[2][10][11]
• 1236 – Middle Dutch onder hare houede “under their heads”, in Ghent.^[2][12]
• 1260 – The adverb onder “at the bottom” is first recorded, in Brabant.^[12]
• 1277 – Onder minen here “under my lord's rule”.^[2]
• 1285 – Doe die sonne onder was, “when the sun had set”, in a West Flemish text.^[12]
• 1688 – A Bible edition still writes the dative onder den volcke “among the people”.^[6]

Meanings

Preposition

1. under, below, beneath: in a lower place than: de kat slaapt onder de tafel.^[1][14][6]
2. Covered with: zijn schoenen zaten onder de modder.^[1]
3. among, in the midst of, including: onder vrienden.^[1][14][6]
4. During an action or process: onder het eten werd er niet gepraat.^[1][10]
5. Under the authority or influence of: onder toezicht staan.^[2][6]

Adverb

1. At the bottom, underneath: van boven tot onder, over the whole length.^[18][1]
2. Down, downwards; after a noun, implying movement: de trap onder.^[1][12]
3. Part of separable verbs (onderduiken) and of pronominal adverbs (waaronder, eronder).^[14][6]

Word family

• onderling
• onderst
• onderaan
• ondertussen
• onderweg
• ondersteboven
• onderdoor
• onderbroek
• onderarm
• onderduiken
• ondergaan
• onderhouden
• onderbrengen
• onderdoen

Related words

• onder-
• in
• English under
• German unter

Usage notes

Stoett explains er de wind onder hebben, to have authority over others, from leaves driven before the wind.^[16] In Flemish onder de hand hebben for “to have at hand” was criticised as a loan translation of French avoir sous la main; in the north the phrase means “secretly” or “in the meantime”.^[15]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 c d e Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
5. ^ Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 269
6. ^ a b c d e f g h 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
7. ^ Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
8. ^ Vercoullie, Jozef (1925), Beknopt etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 3rd ed., 's-Gravenhage / Gent: Nijhoff / Van Rysselberghe & Rombaut
9. ^ Haeringen, C. B. van (1936), Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal: Supplement, 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
10. ^ a b c d Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org
11. ^ a b c 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 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
13. ^ 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
14. ^ a b c d WikiWoordenboek (Dutch Wiktionary), nl.wiktionary.org
15. ^ a b Vreese, Willem de (1899), Gallicismen in het Zuidnederlandsch, Gent: Siffer
16. ^ a b Stoett, F. A. (1923–1925), Nederlandsche spreekwoorden, spreekwijzen, uitdrukkingen en gezegden, 4th ed., 3 vols., Zutphen: Thieme
17. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
18. ^ Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers