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vijf

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Pronunciation

Forms

vijf (cardinal numeral); as a noun de vijf, plural vijven[1][2] Older and poetic Dutch also has vijve, used like tiene beside tien.[3] West Flemish, much of Zeeland and part of the South Holland islands have a rounded vowel, vuuf or vuve.[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch vijf, inherited from Old Dutch fīf, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *fimf, inherited from Proto-Germanic *fimf (“five”).[4][1][5] The same numeral is Gothic 𐍆𐌹𐌼𐍆 (fimf), Old Norse fimm, Old English fīf (modern English five), Old Frisian fīf, Old Saxon fīf and Old High German fimf (modern German fünf).[4][6][7] It goes back to Proto-Indo-European *pénkʷe (“five”), which is also the source of Latin quīnque, Ancient Greek πέντε (pénte), Sanskrit पञ्च (páñca) and Lithuanian penkì.[4][6][8]

From the Indo-European form one would expect Proto-Germanic ⟨*finhwe⟩.[7][4] The second ⟨f⟩ is explained as an assimilation to the first, after a labial and a resonant, the same sporadic change that turned /kʷ/ into /p/ and then /f/ in wolf.[7][4][8] Dutch, Old Saxon, Old Frisian and Old English lost the /n/ before the voiceless fricative and lengthened the vowel, a North Sea Germanic change also seen in zacht, so that Gothic and Old High German keep a nasal which Dutch lacks.[4][6][8] The long /iː/ was later diphthongised to the /ɛi/ written ⟨ij⟩.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old Dutch numerals may already be hidden in the badly corrupted glosses of the Lex Salica of the 8th century, which have forms read as “five” and “five hundred”.[4][9] The numeral is certain in place names of the 9th to 12th centuries, such as Finfluze in Frisia (819) and Uif gemete “Vijfgemeten” in West Flanders (1162), and in the Rhineland Reimbibel of 1151–1200, Ik haue uinf brôthere, “I have five brothers”.[5][4] Middle Dutch uíjf iaer, “five years”, follows in 1220–40.[4][10]

Semantic evolution

Already in the 13th century vijf was used for an ordinal place in a series and in dates counted backwards from the Roman calends, as well as in compound numbers such as x. ende viue, “fifteen”.[10] In late medieval Utrecht and Dordrecht die vive was the name of a board of five men, and a single member was called een vive.[11]

The noun de vijf is the figure 5 and a mark or a group of five.[2][12] In the 17th century gans vijven! was an oath, explained either as an extension of gans vier! “by God's fire”, with vier misread as the numeral, or as a reference to the five wounds of Christ.[13] The phrase veel vieren en vijven hebben, “to make a lot of fuss, raise objections”, grew out of these exclamations.[14] Vijfde colonne, for an enemy's helpers inside a country, translates the Spanish phrase of a Francoist general in 1936.[15]

The numeral passed into the Dutch creoles: Negerhollands fyf, Berbice Dutch faifu, Skepi Dutch faif, and into Sranan Tongo as feifi.[16][1] Afrikaans has vyf.[1]

Timeline

  • 701–800 – The Lex Salica glosses may contain the Old Dutch numeral.[9][4]
  • 819 – The place name Finfluze is recorded in Frisia.[5]
  • 1151–1200 – Ik haue uinf brôthere, “I have five brothers”, in the Reimbibel.[5][4]
  • 1220–1240 – Middle Dutch uíjf iaer, “five years”.[4][10]
  • 1240 – A Limburg glossary renders Latin quinque as uiue.[10]
  • 1460 – Vive is the title of a member of the Utrecht board of five.[11]
  • 1936 – The phrase vijfde colonne “fifth column” is coined in Spanish and soon translated into Dutch.[15]

Meanings

Numeral

  1. five, the number one more than four: Ze heeft vijf kleinkinderen.[2][1]
  2. the fifth in a series: hoofdstuk vijf.[2][10]

Noun

  1. the figure 5; a mark of five out of ten: Hij haalde een vijf voor zijn proefwerk.[2][12]

Word family

  • vijftig
  • vijftien
  • vijfde
  • vijfje
  • vijfling
  • vijfduizend
  • vijfhoog
  • vijfdelig
  • vijfhoek
  • vijfhoekig
  • vijfjarig

Usage notes

Na veel vijven en zessen means “after much hesitation”, and geef me de vijf is a colloquial request for a handshake.[2] De schijf van vijf is the Dutch circle diagram of the five groups of a healthy diet.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
  3. ^ a b 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
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org
  6. ^ a b c Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
  7. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  8. ^ a b c Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
  9. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
  10. ^ 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
  11. ^ a b Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
  12. ^ a b WikiWoordenboek (Dutch Wiktionary), nl.wiktionary.org
  13. ^ Sterkenburg, P. G. J. van (2001), Vloeken: een cultuurbepaalde reactie op woede, irritatie en frustratie, 2nd ed., Den Haag: Sdu
  14. ^ Stoett, F. A. (1923–1925), Nederlandsche spreekwoorden, spreekwijzen, uitdrukkingen en gezegden, 4th ed., 3 vols., Zutphen: Thieme
  15. ^ a b Veen, P. A. F. van; Sijs, Nicoline van der (1997), Etymologisch woordenboek: de herkomst van onze woorden, 2nd ed., Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Lexicografie
  16. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)