zorg

Forms

zorg f (plural zorgen, diminutive zorgje n)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch sorge, inherited from Old Dutch sorga, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *sorgu, inherited from Proto-Germanic *surgō.^[1][2][3] The Etymologisch woordenboek gives the Germanic form as *s(w)urgō- “care, fear, grief”.^[2] The same word is Old Saxon sorga (“care, fear”), Old High German sorga and sworga (modern German Sorge), Old Frisian sorge (“care, grief”) (modern West Frisian soarch), Old English sorg (modern English sorrow), Old Norse sorg (“grief”) (modern Swedish sorg) and Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌲𐌰 (saurga, “care, grief”).^[2][3]

The further origin is uncertain.^[2][4][5] If the Old High German forms with /sw/ are original, the word belongs to the root Proto-Indo-European *swergʰ- (“to care, worry; to be ill”), which the LIV also finds in a Sanskrit verb meaning “to care about”, in Lithuanian sir̃gti (“to be ill”), in Old Irish serg (“illness”) and in Tocharian A särk and Tocharian B sark.^[2] The /sw/, however, appears only in the Frankish dialects of Old High German, and may be a separate development.^[2][3] De Vries and the Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal set out both possibilities: a base with /sw/ that goes with the Sanskrit verb, or a base without it that goes with the Irish, Lithuanian and Church Slavonic words for illness.^[4][5][6]

The verb zorgen is derived from the noun;^[2] Old Dutch already had sorgon (“to become anxious”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the 10th-century Wachtendonck Psalms: Uuirp ouir herrin sorga thina, “cast your care upon the Lord”.^[2][7] The Old Dutch word meant care or concern.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Middle Dutch sorge covered anxiety, fear and dread, as in 1240 glosses for Latin timor and sollicitudo, and also attention and effort given to a thing, glossing cura.^[8] In a Lower Rhine text of 1210–1225 someone speaks mit sorgen, “anxiously”, to an old man.^[8][2] The word could also mean danger, as when David was in sorghen (1285), and trouble or grief.^[8][9] A man called Lammin Zorghe appears in 1295.^[8] A text of 1434–1436 sums up life as sorgh, liden ende arbeit, “care, suffering and toil”.^[2]

A writer of 1586 already separates sorge from angst: fear is always sad and seldom circumspect.^[5] Today the word means effort and attention spent on keeping something in good order, worry, the thing one worries about, medical care and nursing, and the care sector as a whole.^[10][1]

Jewish Dutch has, from Yiddish, een zorg! or mij een zorg, “who cares”.^[11][12] Dutch passed the word on to Negerhollands as sorg and Sranan Tongo as sorgu, and it lives on in Afrikaans sorg.^[13][1]

Timeline

• 901–1000 – Old Dutch sorga “care” is recorded in the Wachtendonck Psalms.^[2][7][14]
• 1210–1225 – Middle Dutch mit sorgen “anxiously” appears in a Lower Rhine text.^[2][8]
• 1240 – Sorge glosses Latin timor, sollicitudo and cura.^[8][2]
• 1285 – The sense “anxiety” is dated by Van der Sijs, and in sorghen “in danger” appears in West Flanders.^[14][8]
• 1434–1436 – Life is called sorgh, liden ende arbeit.^[2]
• 1570 – Zorg voor zijn lichaam “care for one's body”.^[2]
• 1586 – Sorge is distinguished from angst.^[5]
• 1900 – Regional zorg “easy chair”, short for zorgstoel, is recorded.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. care: the effort and attention spent on keeping something in good condition or making it as good as possible;^[10][1] met zorg means carefully.^[10][1]
2. worry, concern, anxiety: ze maakte zich zorgen om haar zoon.^[10][1]
3. A cause of worry, something one is anxious about.^[10]
4. Medical care and nursing.^[10][1]
5. The care sector, the health services.^[10][1]
6. (regional) An easy chair, short for zorgstoel.^[10][5]

Word family

• mantelzorg
• zorgvuldig
• geldzorg
• gezondheidszorg
• jeugdzorg
• kopzorg
• kraamzorg
• ontzorgen
• ouderenzorg
• thuiszorg
• voorzorg
• zorgen
• zorgeloos
• zorgzaam
• zorgelijk

Related words

• English sorrow
• German Sorge

Usage notes

In Flanders zorg is also short for zorglijn, a line or chain on a boat's rudder that lets it be steered when the tiller breaks.^[5] The ANW analyses the modern noun as formed from the verb zorgen, while the Etymologisch woordenboek derives the verb from the noun.^[15][2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 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 Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
5. ^ 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
6. ^ Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 460
7. ^ a b c Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org
8. ^ 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
9. ^ Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
10. ^ a b c d e f g h Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
11. ^ Kamp, Jacob van de; Wijk, Jacob van der (2006), Koosjer Nederlands: Joodse woorden in de Nederlandse taal, Amsterdam: Contact
12. ^ Beem, H. (1974), Uit Mokum en de mediene: Joodse woorden in Nederlandse omgeving, Assen: Van Gorcum
13. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
14. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
15. ^ Algemeen Nederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; anw.ivdnt.org