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weer

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Dutch has several words spelled weer.[1][2] The three treated here are numbered as in the Etymologisch woordenboek van het Nederlands: the adverb “again”, the noun “weather” and the noun “defence”.[1] Each goes back to an older weder or were of its own.[1][2]

weer1 again

Pronunciation

  • /ʋeːr/, [weːr], [β̞eːr][3]

Forms

weer[3] The full form weder held its own in writing into the 20th century, mainly in formal or archaic style, while weer was the only spoken form.[2]

Etymology

The adverb is inherited from Middle Dutch weder, inherited from Old Dutch withero, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *wiþr, inherited from Proto-Germanic *wiþrą (“against”).[1][3][4] The contracted ⟨weer⟩, with the ⟨d⟩ between vowels lost, already appears in later Middle Dutch.[2][1] The same word is Old Saxon wiðar, Old High German widar (modern German wieder (“again”) and wider (“against”)), Old Frisian wither, Old English wiþer, Old Norse viðr and Gothic 𐍅𐌹𐌸𐍂𐌰 (wiþra, “against”).[1][5][4] In all the old Germanic languages it was a preposition meaning “against, opposite”; the continental West Germanic languages also used it early as an adverb “back, in the opposite direction”.[1] From that came “again”.[1] A shorter form of the preposition gave Old Saxon wið, Old English wiþ (modern English with) and Old Norse við.[1][5]

The Germanic form goes back to Proto-Indo-European *wi-tero-, built with the contrastive suffix *-tero- that is also in achter and ander.[1][3] Its base *wi- (“apart”), perhaps from a word for “in two”, is in Avestan vi- (“apart, aside”) and vītarəm (“sideways”).[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old Dutch wither is first a preposition, “against”, in the Wachtendonck Psalms of the 10th century: fan hendi uuither uuitut uuirkindes, “from the hand of him who acts against the law”.[1] The adverb withero “back, again” is in the same psalms, in uuithere brahtos mi, “you brought me back”.[1][6] Early Middle Dutch weder meant both “back” and “again”: Die weder ter wereld willen keren, “who want to return to the world” (1236).[1]

Semantic evolution

As a preposition we(d)er “against” has long been obsolete; a 1610 text still has te weder “contrary to”.[1][2] The old sense survives in compounds such as weerstaan “to resist”, weerleggen “to refute”, weerspannig “recalcitrant” and weerzin “aversion”.[1] The sense “back” lives on in fixed phrases (heen en weer “to and fro”, over en weer “on both sides”) and in compounds such as weerklinken “to echo” and weerspiegelen “to reflect”; in West Flemish it is still a free sense of the adverb.[1][7]

The everyday sense today is “again”, which in compounds is usually expressed by the prefix her- instead; weerzien and wederopbouw are exceptions.[1] The EWN does not rule out German influence on some compounds, such as weergeven.[1] The adverb was taken into Negerhollands and Berbice Dutch.[8][3]

Timeline

  • 901–1000 – Old Dutch uuither “against” and uuithere “back” appear in the Wachtendonck Psalms.[1][6]
  • c. 1100 – Withere “again” is in Williram's paraphrase of the Song of Songs.[1]
  • 1236 – Middle Dutch weder “back” is recorded.[1]
  • 1285 – The contracted form weer appears.[1]
  • 1610 – Te weder “contrary to” is among the last uses of the old preposition.[2]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. again, once more: Morgen gaan we weer naar school.[7][3]
  2. back, in return, only in fixed phrases: heen en weer, over en weer.[7][3]

Word family

  • alweer
  • wederom
  • weerga
  • weerhaak
  • weerklinken
  • weerleggen
  • weerspannig
  • weerspiegelen
  • weerstaan
  • weerzien
  • weerzin
  • wederopbouw
  • wederdoper
  • wedergeboorte
  • wederhelft
  • weergeven

weer2 weather

Pronunciation

  • /ʋeːr/, [weːr], [β̞eːr][3]

Forms

weer n (uncountable, diminutive weertje n)[3] The older form weder survived in formal and literary language;[2] weer has long been the usual spoken form and is used in almost all recent compounds.[2]

Etymology

The weather noun is inherited from Middle Dutch weder, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *wedr, inherited from Proto-Germanic *wedrą; ⟨weer⟩ arose from ⟨weder⟩ by loss of the ⟨d⟩ between vowels.[1][3][9] The same word is Old Saxon wedar (“weather, wind, storm”), Old High German wetar (modern German Wetter), Old Frisian weder (modern West Frisian waar), Old English weder (modern English weather) and Old Norse veðr (modern Swedish väder).[1][9]

Its further origin is uncertain.[1] The nearest relative is a Slavic word for fine weather, Proto-Slavic *vedro, which points to a common Proto-Indo-European *wedʰrom.[1][3] De Vries and the WNT derive it from the root of waaien “to blow”, but the EWN thinks a link with that root, and with words such as Lithuanian vė́tra (“storm”), unlikely.[5][2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Middle Dutch weder is first recorded around 1240 in Limburg, meaning “weather, storm, air”.[1][6][10] A West Flemish text of 1287 tells of bees that watch the stars to know whether the weather will turn bad.[10]

Semantic evolution

Thirteenth-century texts already speak of droghe weder “dry weather” and quaet weder “bad weather”.[10] The contracted form weer is recorded from 1470.[1] The word now mostly has the neutral sense “state of the atmosphere”, but in older and dialect use it can still mean “storm, shower”, as it did in Middle Dutch.[1]

A second sense, damage to cloth or other material from light and damp, is kept in het weer zit erin.[7] The weather word was borrowed into Ambonese Malay, Manado Malay, Papiamentu, Sranan Tongo and Aukan.[8][3]

Timeline

  • c. 1240 – Middle Dutch weder “weather” is first recorded.[1][6]
  • 1282 – Droghe weder “dry weather” in a Bruges text.[10]
  • 1470 – The contracted form weer appears.[1]
  • 1516 – Dweer was bequame, “the weather was pleasant”, describes a clear, mild day.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The weather: the state of the atmosphere at a place and time, its temperature, wind, cloud and rain: Wat voor weer wordt het morgen?[7][11][3]
  2. Deterioration of a material caused by light and damp, in het weer zit erin.[7]

Word family

  • onweer
  • weerbericht
  • weersverwachting
  • weerman
  • regenweer
  • hondenweer
  • weerkundig

weer3 defence

Pronunciation

  • /ʋeːr/, [weːr], [β̞eːr][3]

Forms

weer f (plural weren, diminutive weertje n)[3] Middle Dutch had were beside weer and werre;[2] were is still found regionally, especially in Flanders.[2]

Etymology

The noun meaning “defence” is inherited from Middle Dutch were, inherited from Old Dutch weri, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *warī, inherited from Proto-Germanic *wari- (“defence”), a noun formed from the verb that became weren “to ward off”.[1][3][2] The same word is Old Saxon weri and Old High German werī (modern German Wehr), and Old Frisian were (modern West Frisian war).[1][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old Dutch weri is recorded around 1100 in Williram's paraphrase, thiu were, “the bulwark, the rampart walk”.[1] Early Middle Dutch has do scuopen Di anderen sic tewere, “then the others prepared to defend themselves” (1250), and sonder were, “without resistance” (1265–1270).[1][10]

Semantic evolution

In Middle Dutch were meant resistance, defence, a fortification, a weapon and a fight.[5][12] As a free noun the word survives mostly in poetry, but it remains common in set phrases with a verb.[2] Zich te weer stellen “to defend oneself” is found around 1538, and in de weer “busy, active” already in 1569.[1] It also lives on in compounds such as verweer, afweer, landweer and brandweer.[3][2]

Timeline

  • c. 1100 – Old Dutch were “bulwark” is recorded.[1]
  • 1250 – Middle Dutch tewere “in defence”.[1][10]
  • c. 1538 – Ter werre stellen, the phrase now zich te weer stellen.[1]
  • 1569 – In de weer “busy” is first recorded.[1]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (literary) defence, resistance.[2][3]
  2. In zich te weer stellen: to defend oneself, put up resistance.[1][2]
  3. In in de weer zijn: to be busy, bustling about.[1]

Word family

  • verweer
  • afweer
  • landweer
  • brandweer
  • borstweer
  • zeeweer
  • tegenweer
  • weerloos
  • weerbaar

Usage notes

Other words spelled weer are now dialectal or obsolete.[2] Weer “wether, castrated ram” is Middle Dutch weder, akin to German Widder and English wether; it is old-fashioned but still regional.[2][5][7] Weer “callus, hard skin” survives in Flanders, Zeeland and North Brabant.[2][13][7] A fishing weer, a fence of stakes and wickerwork in the water, is the word in English weir.[2][12] In North Holland a weer is a long strip of land between two ditches.[2][14] In West Flemish weer is also a conjunction “whether”, the old weder akin to English whether.[15][2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 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
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w 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 q r Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  4. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d e f Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
  6. ^ a b c d Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
  8. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
  9. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  10. ^ a b c d e f 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. ^ Algemeen Nederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; anw.ivdnt.org
  12. ^ a b Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 432
  13. ^ Debrabandere, Frans (2005), Oost-Vlaams en Zeeuws-Vlaams etymologisch woordenboek, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Atlas
  14. ^ Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org
  15. ^ Debrabandere, Frans (2002), West-Vlaams etymologisch woordenboek: de herkomst van de West-Vlaamse woorden, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Atlas