wig

Forms

wig f (plural wiggen, diminutive wiggetje n)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch wegge, inherited from Old Dutch *weggi, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *wagi, inherited from Proto-Germanic *wagja- (“wedge”).^[2][1][3] The same word is Old Frisian wegge, Old Saxon weggi, Old High German weggi (Middle High German wecke, modern German Weck (“bread roll”)), Old English wecg (modern English wedge) and Old Norse veggr.^[2] Wiktionary takes it back to Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ- (“to move”) and compares Lithuanian vãgis (“peg, hook”).^[1]

The ⟨i⟩ of the modern form is not the regular outcome of /a/ with umlaut.^[2] Some dictionaries therefore reconstruct a separate ablaut form *wegja- for ⟨wigge⟩, as the WNT does.^[2][4] De Vaan argues instead that ⟨wigge⟩ is an internal Dutch and Low German variant of ⟨wegge⟩: ⟨wegge⟩ is the oldest form of the meaning “wedge” too, the ⟨e⟩ forms still mean “wedge” in Flemish and Hollandic dialects, and all other Germanic languages point only to the form with /a/.^[2] The standard language then split the forms by meaning, ⟨wegge⟩ for bread and ⟨wigge⟩ for any other wedge-shaped object.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Old Dutch the word survives only in the place name Weggestapolon, a location near Batmen in Overijssel, recorded in 1046.^[3] Middle Dutch wegge “wedge” is recorded in 1390–1410.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Until about 1600 wegghe and wigghe were equal variants.^[2] Kiliaan (1599) gives both, and after 1600 the written language dropped the ⟨e⟩ forms for “wedge”.^[2] The WNT describes the wedge as a tool for splitting wood and stone, and one with a right-angled section for fixing and wedging parts, also called a keg.^[4] Een wig slaan or drijven tussen, to drive a wedge between people, is recorded from 1861.^[4][5] Winschoten (1681) describes the wooden or iron wedge driven in with a heavy mallet to split knotty wood.^[6]

In 1987 Dutch economists and politicians began to call the difference between gross and net wages, made up of social insurance and pension contributions and tax, de wig.^[7][8] Jersey Dutch had wäx.^[1]

Timeline

• 1046 – The Old Dutch place name Weggestapolon is recorded.^[3]
• 1390–1410 – Middle Dutch wegge “wedge” is recorded.^[2]
• 1491–1500 – Opwigghen “to break open with a wedge” is recorded.^[2]
• 1567 – The form wigghe appears.^[2][4]
• 1599 – Kiliaan gives wegghe and wigghe as equal variants.^[2]
• 1842 – The spelling wig appears.^[2]
• 1861 – Er een wig tussen slaan is recorded.^[4]
• 1987 – De wig names the gap between gross and net wages.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A wedge, a piece of wood or metal tapering to a sharp edge, used to split wood or to fix something in place.^[5][4][1]
2. (Netherlands) The difference between an employer's labour costs and the employee's net wage; the tax wedge.^[5][7][8]

Word family

• wiggen
• wigvormig
• wigschrift
• wigstaartarend

Related words

• wegge
• keg
• English wedge

Usage notes

The ⟨e⟩ form survives as wegge, a wedge-shaped wheat loaf, and in eastern and Limburg dialects as a word for white bread.^[2][9] The WNT records a separate adverb wig only in the sound-symbolic phrases wig en wag (1651) and wigge wagge (1667), expressing doubt or wavering.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Vaan, Michiel de (2020), Digitale etymologieën: toevoegingen bij het Etymologisch Woordenboek van het Nederlands, Cossonay-Ville: Éditions Drapeau, p. 152
3. ^ a b c Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org
4. ^ a b c d e f g 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
5. ^ a b c Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b c Coster, Marc de (1999), Woordenboek van neologismen: 25 jaar taalaanwinsten, Amsterdam: Contact
8. ^ a b Reinsma, R. (1999), Neologismen, Den Haag: Sdu
9. ^ Debrabandere, Frans (2010), Brabants etymologisch woordenboek: de herkomst van de woordenschat van Antwerpen, Brussel, Noord-Brabant en Vlaams-Brabant, Zwolle: Wbooks