vinden

Forms

vinden (past vond, plural vonden; past participle gevonden)^[2] The assimilated form vinnen was still regularly written in the 16th and 17th centuries, and ik vin is common in casual speech.^[2] Dialects have vijnden and vijnen, with the usual diphthong before n and a dental, and the nasalised vingen.^[2] The old past singular vant was still regular in the 16th and 17th centuries and survives in Flemish.^[2] The participle without ge-, vonden, disappeared from writing after the 16th century but lived on in West Flemish.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch vinden, inherited from Old Dutch findan, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *finþan, inherited from Proto-Germanic *finþan-.^[4][1] The same verb is Old Saxon findan, Old High German findan (modern German finden), Old Frisian finda, Old English findan (modern English find), Old Norse finna and Gothic 𐍆𐌹𐌽𐌸𐌰𐌽 (finþan).^[4][5][6] The Old Norse verb also means “to visit, perceive”, and the Gothic one “to recognise, learn”.^[4][6] The regular principal parts were ⟨*fanþ-⟩, ⟨*fundun-⟩, ⟨*fundan-⟩: the alternation of /þ/ and /d/ normally belonged to the last two, but in West Germanic it spread to the first two as well.^[4]

Beside it stands the ablauting weak verb Proto-Germanic *fandōn-, seen in Middle Dutch vanden (“to test, visit”), Old High German fantōn (“to examine”) (modern German fahnden (“to search for”)) and Old English fandian (“to examine, test”).^[4][5]

Most scholars trace the Germanic verb to the root Proto-Indo-European *pent- (“to go, arrive; to find the way”), the root of pad: the meaning would have gone from “arrive” through “visit, seek out” to “come upon”, as in Latin inveniō (“to find”), literally “to come in”.^[4][7][6] The words of that root elsewhere are nouns for paths and crossings, such as Latin pōns (“bridge”), Ancient Greek πόντος (póntos, “sea”), Ancient Greek πάτος (pátos, “path”) and Sanskrit पन्थाः (pánthāḥ, “path”), so the EWN objects that the strong verb would then have been formed from a noun inside Germanic.^[4][5][8] Others start from a nasalised form of Proto-Indo-European *peth₂- (“to fly, fall”), the root of Latin petō (“to make for, seek”), but no other language has such a nasal form.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb is recorded in the Wachtendonck Psalms of the 10th century, in the phrase in ne fant “and I did not find him” and daga folla fundona, “full days will be found in them”.^[4][9] About 1100 the Willeram has iof ich eynech sinro spore muga uindan “whether I can find any trace of him”.^[4] Middle Dutch vinden is recorded in Limburg in 1200, and a Limburg glossary of 1240 renders Latin reperire.^[10]

Semantic evolution

The basic sense, to come upon something or someone that was sought, has not changed since Old Dutch.^[4] Middle Dutch also used the verb for reaching a conclusion after testing or inquiry, for judging, for devising and inventing, and for experiencing, as in an Antwerp text of 1236 on a leper declared healthy.^[4][10] Of these, “to be of the opinion” is the main one left in modern Dutch, while others survive in derivatives such as bevinden and ondervinden.^[4] The legal sense “to give judgement” lies behind vonnis.^[4][10]

Belgian iemand gaan vinden “to go and see someone” was condemned in 1899 as a gallicism after French aller trouver.^[11] In Surinamese Dutch the verb also means “to obtain, get hold of”.^[12] It lives on in Afrikaans vind, Negerhollands vind and fin and Berbice Dutch fende, and Sranan feni “to think, to find again” comes from Dutch or English.^[13][1]

Timeline

• 901–1000 – Old Dutch findan appears in the Wachtendonck Psalms.^[4][14][9]
• c. 1100 – The Willeram uses it for finding a trace.^[4]
• 1200 – Middle Dutch vinden is recorded in Limburg.^[10]
• 1236 – The sense “to declare after examination” is recorded.^[4]
• 1265–1270 – The verb is used for “to judge” and “to experience”.^[4][10]
• 1561 – Den wech … vinnen “to find the way” shows the assimilated form.^[2]
• 1899 – De Vreese condemns iemand gaan vinden as a gallicism.^[11]

Meanings

Verb

1. To find, to come across, by chance or after searching: Ik vond mijn sleutels onder de bank.^[15][1][16]
2. To think up, to devise: Ze vond een slimme oplossing.^[15][17]
3. To consider, to think, to be of the opinion: Ik vind deze film saai.^[15][1]
4. To meet with, to receive, as in de dood vinden “to be killed”.^[15]

Word family

• vinder
• vondeling
• vondst
• vindbaar
• vinding
• vindplaats
• bevinden
• goedvinden
• ondervinden
• plaatsvinden
• terugvinden
• uitvinden
• vonnis

Related words

• pad
• English find
• German finden
• German fahnden

Usage notes

The proverb een goed woord vindt altijd een goede plaats, “a kind word always finds a good place”, is recorded from the 16th century.^[18] Fixed phrases include zijn tweede adem vinden and aftrek vinden, “to sell well”.^[15]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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. ^ Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r 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 Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
6. ^ a b c Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
7. ^ Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 412
8. ^ Veen, P. A. F. van; Sijs, Nicoline van der (1997), Etymologisch woordenboek: de herkomst van onze woorden, 2nd ed., Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Lexicografie
9. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org
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 Vreese, Willem de (1899), Gallicismen in het Zuidnederlandsch, Gent: Siffer
12. ^ Donselaar, J. van (1989), Woordenboek van het Surinaams-Nederlands, Muiderberg: Coutinho
13. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
14. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
15. ^ a b c d e Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
16. ^ Algemeen Nederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; anw.ivdnt.org
17. ^ WikiWoordenboek (Dutch Wiktionary), nl.wiktionary.org
18. ^ Stoett, F. A. (1923–1925), Nederlandsche spreekwoorden, spreekwijzen, uitdrukkingen en gezegden, 4th ed., 3 vols., Zutphen: Thieme