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zijn

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zijn1 to be

Pronunciation

Forms

zijn (present ben, bent, is, plural zijn; past was, plural waren; past participle geweest)[2] The older plural form zijt survives in archaic and regional use with gij.[2][3] In Middle Dutch the perfect of the verb was formed with hebben.[4]

Etymology

The verb meaning “to be” is inherited from Middle Dutch sijn, inherited from Old Dutch sīn.[2][1] Like the verb for “to be” in every Germanic language, it is irregular: its forms go back to three Proto-Indo-European roots with different meanings, which largely fell together in Germanic.[2][5][3]

From Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- (“to be, exist”) and its zero grade come ⟨is⟩, the plural ⟨zijn⟩ and the old ⟨zijt⟩.[2] The singular ⟨is⟩ is the same form as Old Saxon is, Old High German ist (modern German ist), Old English is (modern English is), Old Norse es and Gothic 𐌹𐍃𐍄 (ist), and outside Germanic as Latin est, Ancient Greek ἐστί (estí), Sanskrit अस्ति (ásti), Lithuanian ẽsti and Old Church Slavonic ѥстъ (jestŭ).[2][6] Old Dutch had the plural sint (“they are”), matching Old Saxon sind, Old High German sint, Old English sind and 𐍃𐌹𐌽𐌳 (sind), and sunt and सन्ति (sánti) outside Germanic; it was soon replaced by Middle Dutch sijn.[2] The infinitive ⟨zijn⟩ itself is a newer formation by analogy with these forms: Wiktionary traces it to late Old Dutch, where the first person plural subjunctive ⟨sīn⟩ “let us be” had come to look like an infinitive.[2][1][6]

From Proto-Indo-European *bʰueh₂- (“to come into being, grow”) come the forms with ⟨b-⟩: ⟨ben⟩, Middle Dutch bist (“thou art”) and the analogical ⟨bent⟩.[2][1] Old Dutch had bin and bist, like Old High German bim (modern bin) and Old English bēom;[2] Gothic and North Germanic have no such forms.[2] The same root gave bouwen.[2]

From Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes- (“to stay, dwell”) come the forms with ⟨w-⟩: ⟨was⟩, ⟨waren⟩, ⟨wees⟩, ⟨geweest⟩ and the old infinitive wezen, which continues wesen, wesan and Proto-Germanic *wesaną.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb is recorded in the earliest Old Dutch text, the Utrecht baptismal vow (791–800), where the convert renounces the evil spirits the hira genotas sint “who are their companions”.[2][5] The 10th-century Wachtendonck Psalms have Ic bin arm “I am poor” and thu bist “you are”, and the infinitive sīn appears around 1100 in the Willeram.[2]

Semantic evolution

Already in Old Dutch the verb meant to exist, to be present somewhere, and served as a link between a subject and its predicate.[5] In Middle Dutch the infinitive sijn stood beside wesen, which kept only the past forms and the participle in the paradigm.[4][3] The 16th century still had several forms that later disappeared: bin and bem beside ben, du bist and the subjunctive si used for the indicative.[3]

The infinitive came to be used as a noun, at first in the 16th and 17th centuries in the contrast of zijn and schijn, being and seeming; after a gap in the 18th century it returned as a term of philosophy, “being, existence”.[3] The phrase Ik denk, derhalve ben ik rendered Descartes's cogito ergo sum in 1811.[3]

Dutch carried the verb overseas: Negerhollands has si “to be”.[7][1]

Timeline

  • 791–800 – The plural sint “are” appears in the Utrecht baptismal vow.[2][5][8]
  • 10th century – Ic bin “I am” and thu bist “you are” are recorded in the Wachtendonck Psalms.[2]
  • c. 1100 – The infinitive sīn is recorded in the Willeram.[2]
  • 1200 – Middle Dutch sijn is recorded in Limburg.[4]
  • 1548 – Zijn as a noun, “reality”, appears in een schijn zonder zijn, an appearance without substance.[3]
  • 1811 – Ik denk, derhalve ben ik renders Descartes's cogito ergo sum.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To exist, to be real.[9][1]
  2. To be in a place, to be present: Ze is nog op kantoor.[9][1]
  3. Linking a subject to a description, a copula: Het water is koud.[1][10]
  4. Forming the perfect tense of many intransitive verbs, and of the passive: Hij is vertrokken;[1] Het huis is verkocht.[1]
  5. To amount to, to equal: Drie maal drie is negen.[9][1]
  6. With van: to belong to: Die fiets is van mijn zus.[9]
  7. Used impersonally of weather and conditions: Het is warm vandaag.[1]

Noun

  1. (het zijn) Existence, being.[9][3]

Word family

  • bijzijn
  • samenzijn
  • aanzijn
  • bewustzijn
  • welzijn
  • voorzijn
  • hetzij
  • tenzij

zijn2 his

Pronunciation

  • /zɛi̯n/, /zən/[1]

Forms

zijn (dependent possessive, independent possessive zijne, contracted form z'n)[1]

Etymology

The possessive meaning “his” is inherited from Middle Dutch sijn, inherited from Old Dutch sīn, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *sīn, inherited from Proto-Germanic *sīna-.[2][1][11] It was originally a reflexive possessive, “one's own”.[1][6] The same word is Old Saxon sīn, Old High German sīn (modern German sein), Old Frisian sīn, Old English sīn, Old Norse sinn and Gothic 𐍃𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃 (seins, “his, her, their own”).[2][11]

It is formed from the reflexive stem Proto-Indo-European *se-, as are Gothic 𐍃𐌹𐍃 (sis) and 𐍃𐌹𐌺 (sik, “himself”); the EWN derives it from that stem's genitive.[2][11][12] The same reflexive stem gave Latin suus (“his own”) and Ancient Greek ἑός (heós), built with a different suffix.[1][6] Dutch zich belongs with it.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The pronoun is first recorded in 811–812, in siniu gelp ando sinan uuilleon “his pride and his will”.[2][5] The Wachtendonck Psalms of the 10th century speak of werk hando sinro, the works of his hands.[2]

Semantic evolution

Like mijn and haar, zijn also served as the genitive of the personal pronoun hij: Old Dutch ic sal beidan sin “I will wait for him”, and in Middle Dutch, with an added genitive -s, sijns “of him” (1285).[2] It was at first declined like an adjective, but in modern Dutch the endings have worn away, except in fixed combinations such as Zijne Hoogheid and in het zijne and de zijnen, “his part” and “his people”.[2]

Dutch took the pronoun abroad: Negerhollands and Berbice Dutch have si as a possessive of the third person.[7][1]

Timeline

  • 811–812 – Old Dutch sīn “his” is first recorded.[2][5]
  • 10th century – The Wachtendonck Psalms decline it like an adjective: sinro, sina.[2][8]
  • c. 1100 – In sinan winkelnere “in his wine cellar” appears in the Willeram.[2]
  • 1200 – Middle Dutch sijn is recorded in Limburg.[4]
  • 1285 – The genitive sijns “of him” appears.[2][4]

Meanings

Determiner

  1. his: belonging to a male person: Hij zoekt zijn sleutels.[1][10]
  2. its: belonging to a thing or animal of neuter gender: Het paard schudt zijn manen.[1]

Usage notes

In speech the possessive is usually reduced to z’n.[1] The construction zijn + te + infinitive, “to be done”, as in an official “these rules are to be applied”, has been called a germanism by purists, though it could as well be modelled on English or French.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v 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 q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 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 h i j 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 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
  5. ^ a b c d e f Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org
  6. ^ a b c d Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
  7. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
  8. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
  9. ^ a b c d e Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
  10. ^ a b Algemeen Nederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; anw.ivdnt.org
  11. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  12. ^ Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
  13. ^ Theissen, Siegfried (1978), Germanismen in het Nederlands, Hasselt