zijn Dutch · revision 37069

+ {{homograph|1|to be}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=791–800, Old Dutch (Utrecht baptismal vow)|origins=ine-pro *h₁es-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /zɛi̯n/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''zijn''' (present ''ben'', ''bent'', ''is'', plural ''zijn''; past ''was'', plural ''waren''; past participle ''geweest'')^(EWN)

+ The older plural form ''zijt'' survives in archaic and regional use with ''gij''.^(EWN)^(WNT) In Middle Dutch the perfect of the verb was formed with ''hebben''.^(VMNW)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The verb meaning “to be” is [[inh|dum|sijn]], [[inh|odt|sīn]].^(EWN)^(Wiktionary) 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.^(EWN)^(ONW)^(WNT)

+

+ From [[ine-pro|*h₁es-|t=to be, exist]] and its zero grade come ⟨is⟩, the plural ⟨zijn⟩ and the old ⟨zijt⟩.^(EWN) The singular ⟨is⟩ is the same form as [[osx|is]], [[goh|ist]] (modern [[de|ist]]), [[ang|is]] (modern [[en|is]]), [[non|es]] and [[got|𐌹𐍃𐍄|tr=ist]], and outside Germanic as [[la|sum|alt=est]], [[grc|ἐστί|tr=estí]], [[sa|अस्ति|tr=ásti]], [[lt|esti|alt=ẽsti]] and [[cu|ѥстъ|tr=jestŭ]].^(EWN)^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912) Old Dutch had the plural [[m|odt|sint|t=they are]], matching [[osx|sind]], [[goh|sint]], [[ang|sind]] and [[m|got|𐍃𐌹𐌽𐌳|tr=sind]], and [[m|la|sum|alt=sunt]] and [[m|sa|सन्ति|tr=sánti]] outside Germanic; it was soon replaced by Middle Dutch [[m|dum|sijn]].^(EWN) 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.^(EWN)^(Wiktionary)^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912)

+

+ From [[ine-pro|*bʰuH-|alt=*bʰueh₂-|t=to come into being, grow]] come the forms with ⟨b-⟩: ⟨ben⟩, Middle Dutch [[m|dum|bist|t=thou art]] and the analogical ⟨bent⟩.^(EWN)^(Wiktionary) Old Dutch had [[m|odt|bin]] and [[m|odt|bist]], like [[goh|bim]] (modern [[m|de|bin]]) and [[ang|bēom]];^(EWN) Gothic and North Germanic have no such forms.^(EWN) The same root gave [[bouwen]].^(EWN)

+

+ From [[ine-pro|*h₂wes-|t=to stay, dwell]] come the forms with ⟨w-⟩: ⟨was⟩, ⟨waren⟩, ⟨wees⟩, ⟨geweest⟩ and the old infinitive [[wezen]], which continues [[m|dum|wesen]], [[m|odt|wesan]] and [[gem-pro|*wesaną]].^(EWN)^(Wiktionary)^(WNT)

+

+ ==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”.^(EWN)^(ONW) 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.^(EWN)

+

+ ==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.^(ONW) In Middle Dutch the infinitive ''sijn'' stood beside ''wesen'', which kept only the past forms and the participle in the paradigm.^(VMNW)^(WNT) 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.^(WNT)

+

+ 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”.^(WNT) The phrase ''Ik denk, derhalve ben ik'' rendered Descartes's ''cogito ergo sum'' in 1811.^(WNT)

+

+ Dutch carried the verb overseas: Negerhollands has ''si'' “to be”.^(Van der Sijs 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 791–800 – The plural ''sint'' “are” appears in the Utrecht baptismal vow.^(EWN)^(ONW)^(Van der Sijs 2001)

+ * 10th century – ''Ic bin'' “I am” and ''thu bist'' “you are” are recorded in the Wachtendonck Psalms.^(EWN)

+ * c. 1100 – The infinitive ''sīn'' is recorded in the Willeram.^(EWN)

+ * 1200 – Middle Dutch ''sijn'' is recorded in Limburg.^(VMNW)

+ * 1548 – ''Zijn'' as a noun, “reality”, appears in ''een schijn zonder zijn'', an appearance without substance.^(WNT)

+ * 1811 – ''Ik denk, derhalve ben ik'' renders Descartes's ''cogito ergo sum''.^(WNT)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|exist]], to be real.^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To be in a place, to be present: ''Ze is nog op kantoor.''^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Linking a subject to a description, a [[m|en|copula]]: ''Het water is koud.''^(Wiktionary)^(ANW)

+ # Forming the perfect tense of many [[m|en|intransitive]] verbs, and of the passive: ''Hij is vertrokken'';^(Wiktionary) ''Het huis is verkocht.''^(Wiktionary)

+ # To amount to, to equal: ''Drie maal drie is negen.''^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)

+ # With ''van'': to belong to: ''Die fiets is van mijn zus.''^(Van Dale 2014)

+ # Used impersonally of weather and conditions: ''Het is warm vandaag.''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(het zijn)'' Existence, [[m|en|being]].^(Van Dale 2014)^(WNT)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bijzijn]]

+ * [[samenzijn]]

+ * [[aanzijn]]

+ * [[bewustzijn]]

+ * [[welzijn]]

+ * [[voorzijn]]

+ * [[hetzij]]

+ * [[tenzij]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|his}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=811–812, Old Dutch|origins=ine-pro *se-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /zɛi̯n/, /zən/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''zijn''' (dependent possessive, independent possessive zijne, contracted form z'n)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The possessive meaning “his” is [[inh|dum|sijn]], [[inh|odt|sīn]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*sīn]], [[inh|gem-pro|*sīnaz|alt=*sīna-]].^(EWN)^(Wiktionary)^(Kroonen 2013) It was originally a reflexive possessive, “one's own”.^(Wiktionary)^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912) The same word is [[osx|sīn]], [[goh|sīn]] (modern [[de|sein]]), [[ofs|sīn]], [[ang|sīn]], [[non|sinn]] and [[got|𐍃𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃|tr=seins|t=his, her, their own]].^(EWN)^(Kroonen 2013)

+

+ It is formed from the reflexive stem [[ine-pro|*se-]], as are Gothic [[m|got|𐍃𐌹𐍃|tr=sis]] and [[m|got|𐍃𐌹𐌺|tr=sik|t=himself]]; the EWN derives it from that stem's genitive.^(EWN)^(Kroonen 2013)^(De Vries 1971) The same reflexive stem gave [[la|suus|t=his own]] and [[grc|ἑός|tr=heós]], built with a different suffix.^(Wiktionary)^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912) Dutch [[zich]] belongs with it.^(EWN)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The pronoun is first recorded in 811–812, in ''siniu gelp ando sinan uuilleon'' “his pride and his will”.^(EWN)^(ONW) The Wachtendonck Psalms of the 10th century speak of ''werk hando sinro'', the works of his hands.^(EWN)

+

+ ==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).^(EWN) 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”.^(EWN)

+

+ Dutch took the pronoun abroad: Negerhollands and Berbice Dutch have ''si'' as a possessive of the third person.^(Van der Sijs 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 811–812 – Old Dutch ''sīn'' “his” is first recorded.^(EWN)^(ONW)

+ * 10th century – The Wachtendonck Psalms decline it like an adjective: ''sinro'', ''sina''.^(EWN)^(Van der Sijs 2001)

+ * c. 1100 – ''In sinan winkelnere'' “in his wine cellar” appears in the Willeram.^(EWN)

+ * 1200 – Middle Dutch ''sijn'' is recorded in Limburg.^(VMNW)

+ * 1285 – The genitive ''sijns'' “of him” appears.^(EWN)^(VMNW)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Determiner===

+ # [[m|en|his]]: belonging to a male person: ''Hij zoekt zijn sleutels.''^(Wiktionary)^(ANW)

+ # [[m|en|its]]: belonging to a thing or animal of neuter gender: ''Het paard schudt zijn manen.''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[wezen]]

+ * [[bouwen]]

+ * [[zich]]

+ * [[hij]]

+ * [[de|sein]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In speech the possessive is usually reduced to ''z’n''.^(Wiktionary) 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.^(Theissen 1978)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}