raden

Forms

raden^[1] The verb was strong (ried); the weak past raadde is found from the 16th century, with the oldest example in 1569, and is now the usual form, while the participle has remained geraden.^[2][3] The Flemish and Holland form raan survives only in ra, ra, wat is dat?, and raaien, originally from Brabant and Utrecht, has spread into Holland dialects and familiar speech.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch râden, inherited from Old Dutch rādan, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *rādan, inherited from Proto-Germanic *rēdaną (“to advise, to decide”).^[3][1][4] The same verb is Old Saxon rādan (“to take care of”), Old High German rātan (modern German raten), Old Frisian rēda (modern West Frisian riede), Old English rǣdan (“to advise; to explain, to read”) (modern English read), Old Norse ráða (modern råda) and Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐍂𐌴𐌳𐌰𐌽 (garēdan, “to provide for”); with another ablaut grade there is 𐍂𐍉𐌳𐌾𐌰𐌽 (rōdjan, “to speak”).^[3][4][5] The meanings vary widely between the Germanic languages, and the original one was probably “to deliberate”.^[3]

It is probably related to Old Irish rádid (“to speak”) and to Old Church Slavonic and Sanskrit verbs for “to take care of” and “to prepare”, from Proto-Indo-European *reh₁dʰ- (“to accomplish”), perhaps an extension of the root of rede.^[3][4][6] De Vries took it as an extension of a root ⟨*rē-⟩ beside *ar- (“to fit”), with “to make fitting” as the starting point.^[5]

In Dutch the chief meaning was long “to advise”, now mostly carried by aanraden;^[3] “to consider” passed to beraden, and verraden is an old derivative.^[3] “To guess” grew out of “to ponder, to form an idea of something unknown”;^[3][7] Middle Dutch had it, but more often in the derivative ⟨gheraden⟩.^[3][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old Dutch rādan is first recorded around 1100 in the Egmond Willeram: Sie rieden mir ouch, thaz ich… “they also advised me that I (should cast away worldly cares)”.^[8][3][9]

Semantic evolution

A text from Werden of about 1151 uses the verb for plotting against someone's life.^[8] Middle Dutch raden meant to deliberate, alone or with others, often in secret; to plot (raden ane, 1410); to advise; and of God or the devil, to put into someone's mind.^[10][11] The sense “to guess” appears in 1270–1290: from the nature of one animal so rait man that of another.^[3]

In the Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal “to deliberate” (1558) is obsolete, while “to give advice” (1528) and “to recommend” remain.^[2] Raadsel “riddle”, Middle Dutch ratsele, is recorded from 1240.^[3] Today “to guess” comes first, and “to advise” lives on in dat is je geraden! “you had better do that”.^[12][3]

The verb was borrowed into Papiamentu rei (“to guess”) (older rai, raai) and Sranan Tongo rai (“to guess; to advise”), and lives on in Negerhollands raad and Afrikaans raai.^[13][1]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – Old Dutch rieden “(they) advised” is recorded in the Egmond Willeram.^[8][3]
• c. 1151 – The verb is used for plotting, in a text from Werden.^[8]
• 1201 – Middle Dutch raden is first recorded, in the Lower Rhine area.^[11]
• 1240 – The derivative ratsele “problem, riddle” is recorded.^[3]
• 1270–1290 – Raden “to guess” is first recorded.^[3]
• 1528 – Raden “to give advice” is recorded.^[2]
• 1569 – The weak past raedde is first found.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To guess.^[12][1][14]
2. To advise.^[12][1][14]

Word family

• raadsel
• aanraden
• afraden
• ontraden
• beraden
• verraden
• raadzaam
• geraden

Related words

• raad
• rede

Usage notes

Dat laat zich raden is said when the answer is obvious, and driemaal raden invites the questioner to guess.^[12] Middle Dutch also had a separate weak verb raden “to break on the wheel”, formed from rat “wheel”.^[10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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 m n o p 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 Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
6. ^ Veen, P. A. F. van; Sijs, Nicoline van der (1997), Etymologisch woordenboek: de herkomst van onze woorden, 2nd ed., Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Lexicografie
7. ^ a b Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 303
8. ^ a b c d Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org
9. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
10. ^ a b Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
11. ^ a b 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
12. ^ a b c d Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
13. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
14. ^ a b WikiWoordenboek (Dutch Wiktionary), nl.wiktionary.org