de Dutch · revision 37065

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=901–1000, Wachtendonck Psalms|origins=ine-pro *to-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /də/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''de''' (neuter het, indefinite een)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|dum|de]], [[inh|odt|the]], the unstressed form of the demonstrative pronoun [[die]].^(EWN)^(Wiktionary)^(Van Veen & Van der Sijs 1997) In unstressed position the demonstrative, which had a long vowel, was reduced, and the definite article developed from this weak form.^(EWN)^(De Vries & De Tollenaere 2004|98) The same article or pronoun is [[osx|thē]], [[goh|dēr]], [[ofs|thē]] and [[enm|the]], from the stem [[gem-pro|*þē-]].^(EWN)^(Van Veen & Van der Sijs 1997)

+

+ These forms with an initial dental go back to the pronominal root [[ine-pro|*to-]].^(EWN) The masculine and feminine nominative originally began with an s, from [[ine-pro|*so]], as in [[ang|se]] and [[m|ang|sēo]], [[non|sá]] and [[m|non|sú]], [[got|𐍃𐌰|tr=sa]], and the Middle Dutch feminine personal pronoun [[m|dum|soe]], which was once the feminine demonstrative.^(EWN)^(De Vries & De Tollenaere 2004|98)^(Vercoullie 1925) In the younger Germanic languages the dental of the other cases spread to the nominative.^(EWN)^(De Vries & De Tollenaere 2004|98)^(Van Veen & Van der Sijs 1997) Outside Germanic the same pronouns are [[grc|ὁ|tr=ho]] and [[m|grc|τό|tr=tó]], [[lt|tas|t=that]], [[cu|тъ|tr=tŭ|t=that]] and [[sa|स|tr=sá]], and the second part of [[la|iste|t=this, that]].^(EWN)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old Dutch has the article only once before 1100, in the Wachtendonck Psalms (10th century): in Psalm 2:12 ''biuet the lera'' “receive the teaching”, the interlinear translation adds an article that the Latin lacks.^(EWN)^(ONW) The demonstrative itself is older: a charm of about 891–900 has ''thie gihele'' “who may heal (the horse)”.^(EWN) In Old Dutch the article is still the demonstrative with weakened meaning, used before a noun.^(ONW) The Middle Dutch article ''de'' or ''die'' appears around 1200 in Limburg, in the Servas legend.^(EWN)^(VMNW)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Already in Middle Dutch ''de'' and ''die'' were gradually divided by function, ''de'' as the article and ''die'' as the demonstrative.^(EWN) Middle Dutch could also use the article in a distributive sense, “per”, in prices and dues, as in a Willebroek charter of 1296 that sets the rent at so much rye per quarter.^(VMNW) The colloquial ''zoveel de man'' “so much per person” continues this.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The old case forms died out in speech, where the genitive is expressed with ''van''.^(WNT) They survive only in phrases and compounds: ''der'' in ''de tocht der tochten'' and in [[derhalve]], [[dergelijk]] and [[dermate]], ''den'' in ''op den duur'', and ''des'' in ''des te beter'', ''in het zuiden des lands'' and [[destijds]].^(EWN) Older writers often used ''den'' for ''de'', especially before a vowel or ''h'', and in 1910 the WNT still heard colloquial ''den'' in phrases such as ''den baas'' and ''den ouwe'', a use it thought was dying out.^(WNT) When stressed, ''de'' can single out the best of its kind.^(Van Dale 2014)

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+ Dutch passed the article on to its colonial languages: Afrikaans [[m|af|die]], Negerhollands ''də'', and ''di'' in Berbice Dutch and Skepi Dutch.^(Van der Sijs 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 891–900 – The Old Dutch pronoun ''thie'' is recorded in a charm.^(EWN)

+ * 901–1000 – The Wachtendonck Psalms have the only Old Dutch article before 1100, ''the lera'' “the teaching”.^(EWN)^(ONW)

+ * c. 1100 – ''The'' appears as an article in the Old Dutch Willeram.^(Van der Sijs 2001)^(EWN)

+ * c. 1200 – Middle Dutch ''de'' and ''die'' are recorded in Limburg.^(EWN)^(VMNW)

+ * 1296 – A Brabant charter uses ''de'' in the sense “per”.^(VMNW)

+ * 1567 – Early Modern Dutch ''omtrent den ses uren'' “about six o'clock” shows the article before a number.^(WNT)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Article===

+ # [[m|en|the]]: the [[definite article]] before masculine and feminine nouns in the singular and before all nouns in the plural: ''de fiets'', ''de huizen''.^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)^(WNT)

+ # ''(stressed)'' Marks someone or something as the best or the real one of its kind: ''dat is dé plek voor vakantie''.^(Van Dale 2014)

+

+ ===Preposition===

+ # ''(informal)'' [[m|en|per]], for each, mostly with ''man'': ''tien euro de man''.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[degene]]

+ * [[dewijl]]

+ * [[dergelijk]]

+ * [[derhalve]]

+ * [[dermate]]

+ * [[desalniettemin]]

+ * [[desgelijks]]

+ * [[deskundig]]

+ * [[desnoods]]

+ * [[desondanks]]

+ * [[destijds]]

+ * [[dewelke]]

+ * [[dezelfde]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[die]]

+ * [[dat]]

+ * [[daar]]

+ * [[dit]]

+ * [[toen]]

+ * [[en|the]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In speech the article has the single form ''de''; the case forms ''der'', ''den'' and ''des'' belong to written and fixed language.^(WNT)^(EWN) Neuter singular nouns take [[het]] instead.^(WNT)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}