zeggen

Forms

zeggen (past zei, plural zeiden, also zegde; past participle gezegd)^[2][1] Middle Dutch wrote segghen, secghen and seggen.^[3][4] The older past zeide is obsolete, and a regional past zee also occurs.^[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch segghen, inherited from Old Dutch seggen, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *saggjan, inherited from Proto-Germanic *sagjan- (“to say, recount”).^[2][1][6] The same verb is Old Saxon seggian, Old High German seggen, Old Frisian sedza (modern West Frisian sizze), Old English secgan (modern English say) and Old Norse segja (modern Swedish säga); Gothic has no such verb.^[2][6][5] Beside it stood forms of the third weak class, Proto-Germanic *sagēn-: Old Dutch sagen, found only in eastern texts, Middle Dutch saghen, Old High German sagēn (modern German sagen) and Old English sagian.^[2][7]

The source is Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- (“to tell”).^[2][6] Like Lithuanian sakýti (“to say”), the Germanic verb continues an iterative Proto-Indo-European *sokʷ-éie-, also behind Old Church Slavonic сочити (sočiti, “to indicate”).^[2][6] Other forms of the root are Latin inquam (“I say”), Ancient Greek ἐννέπω (ennépō, “to tell”), Old Irish seichid (“to say”) and Old Welsh hepp (“says”).^[2][6][8] The root may be the same as Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- (“to follow”), with a development through “repeat, recount”; the WNT also derives it from “follow”.^[2][5] Others take ⟨*sagjan-⟩ as a causative of zien “to see”, “make see, show”, a shift the EWN finds plausible, comparing Latin dīcō (“to say”);^[2][7][9] De Vries accepted the link with seeing.^[2][7][9]

The verb was once as irregular as hebben.^[2] Only the past ⟨zei⟩ is still irregular: it comes from Proto-Germanic ⟨*sagida-⟩ with the western Dutch change of ⟨-agi-⟩ to ⟨-ei-⟩ seen in dweil, followed by the loss of ⟨d⟩ between vowels in the singular, as in hei.^[2][1] The plural ⟨zeiden⟩ kept its ⟨d⟩, and the participle ⟨gezegd⟩ replaced western ⟨gezeid⟩.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old Dutch sagen appears once in the Middle Franconian part of the Wachtendonck Psalms and then in the Willeram of about 1100, which has Sage mir, wine min, “tell me, my friend”.^[10] The first Middle Dutch record, from 1236, warns against anyone who sinen nasten en ledlic word seget, says an ugly word to his neighbour.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Middle Dutch segghen meant to speak and to state, but also to tell someone to do something, to put in writing, to name, to claim and to pass judgement.^[3][1] The infinitive was used as a noun from the start: in a Ghent text of 1237 sonder segghen means “without judgement”, and later een ghemene segghen was a common saying (1373).^[3][4] The noun also gave het voor het zeggen hebben, to be in command.^[5]

Around 1600 zeg ik, “I say”, was used as a filler for emphasis; it has long been obsolete.^[5] Zeggen waar het op staat, to say plainly what the matter is, goes back to the Middle Ages.^[11] Om zo te zeggen is a translation of German sozusagen or English so to say.^[12] In Flanders, En zeggen dat… “And to think that…” imitates French et dire que.^[13]

Afrikaans has sê, and Javindo seg, seggen and sèè.^[1][14]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – Sage mir “tell me” is recorded in the Willeram.^[10]
• 1236 – Middle Dutch seget “says” appears.^[2][3]
• 1237 – The noun segghen “judgement” appears in a Ghent text.^[3]
• 1260–1270 – The verb is recorded in the romance of Beuve de Hantone.^[15]
• 1373 – Een ghemene segghen, a common saying.^[4]
• 1568 – Niet van veel zegghens, not given to much talk.^[5]
• 1600 – Zeg ik is recorded as a filler word.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To say, to tell, to put into words: Ze zei dat ze later zou komen.^[16][1]
2. To think, to judge, to give as one's opinion: Wat zeg jij van dit plan?^[16][17]
3. To mean, to signify: Die naam zegt mij niets. In dat wil zeggen it introduces an explanation, “that is to say”.^[16][17]
4. To tell someone to do something, to order: Doe nu maar wat ik zeg.^[17][3]

Noun

1. (het zeggen) The right to decide, one's say: het voor het zeggen hebben, to be in charge.^[5]

Word family

• zeg
• zegsman
• zeggenschap
• zegswijze
• afzeggen
• nazeggen
• opzeggen
• toezeggen
• voorzeggen
• waarzeggen

Related words

• zien
• English say
• German sagen

Usage notes

Zeggen waar het op staat “to speak plainly” is already found in the medieval poem Ons Heren Passie: Ic sel di segghen waert op staet.^[11] The regular past zegde is old-fashioned or formal in the Netherlands, except in compounds (zegde toe, zegde af); in Belgium some speakers prefer it because they feel zei to be dialectal, although all Belgian dialects use zei.^[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 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g 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
4. ^ a b c Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
5. ^ a b c d e f g h 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
6. ^ a b c d e Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b c Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
9. ^ a b Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 453
10. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org
11. ^ a b Stoett, F. A. (1923–1925), Nederlandsche spreekwoorden, spreekwijzen, uitdrukkingen en gezegden, 4th ed., 3 vols., Zutphen: Thieme
12. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2005), Groot leenwoordenboek, Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale
13. ^ Vreese, Willem de (1899), Gallicismen in het Zuidnederlandsch, Gent: Siffer
14. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
15. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
16. ^ a b c Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
17. ^ a b c WikiWoordenboek (Dutch Wiktionary), nl.wiktionary.org