een Dutch · revision 37072

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=901–1000, Wachtendonck Psalms|origins=ine-pro *h₁óynos}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Article: /ən/^(Wiktionary)

+ * Numeral: /eːn/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''een''' (as an article, unstressed, also written '''’n'''; as a numeral, stressed, written '''één''' where needed)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|dum|een]], [[inh|odt|ēn]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*ain]], [[inh|gem-pro|*ainaz|alt=*aina-|t=one, alone]].^(EWN)^(Wiktionary)^(Kroonen 2013) The same word is [[osx|ēn]], [[goh|ein]] (modern [[de|ein]]), [[ofs|ēn]], [[ang|ān]] (modern [[en|one]]), [[non|einn]] and [[got|𐌰𐌹𐌽𐍃|tr=ains]].^(EWN)^(De Vries 1971)^(Kroonen 2013)

+

+ It goes back to [[ine-pro|*h₁óynos|t=one]], and is related to [[la|ūnus]], [[grc|οἴνη|tr=oínē|t=one (on a die)]], [[prg|ains]], [[lt|víenas]], [[lv|viens]] and [[sga|óen]].^(EWN)^(De Vries 1971)^(Orel 2003)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old Dutch has the word in the 10th-century Wachtendonck Psalms, in the phrase ''in ēn'' “together” and ''eino'' “the one”.^(EWN)^(Van der Sijs 2001) A list of possessions of about the same time names ''en werr sancti Liudgeri'', one weir belonging to Saint Liudger.^(ONW) Its use as an indefinite article is first found in the Leiden Willeram of about 1100.^(EWN)^(Van der Sijs 2001)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ As in most Germanic and the Romance languages, the numeral came to be used as an indefinite article; in Dutch this must have happened in the course of the 11th century.^(EWN) The article is unstressed and pronounced /ən/, while the numeral keeps the full vowel /eːn/.^(Wiktionary)^(Van Dale 2014)

+

+ Middle Dutch also used ''een'' as an indefinite pronoun, “someone, a certain one”, often in the phrase ''een die hiet …'', “one who was called …”.^(VMNW)^(MNW) The numeral formed many derivatives and compounds, among them ''eenheid'', ''eenzaam'', ''eenvoudig'' and ''eendracht''.^(WNT)

+

+ The numeral was borrowed into Negerhollands, Berbice Dutch, Skepi Dutch, Sranan Tongo ([[srn|ein]]) and the Carib language Tiriyó, and the article into Negerhollands and Berbice Dutch.^(Van der Sijs 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 901–1000 – Old Dutch ''ēn'' and ''eino'' are recorded in the Wachtendonck Psalms.^(EWN)^(Van der Sijs 2001)

+ * c. 1100 – ''Ein'' is used as an indefinite article in the Leiden Willeram.^(EWN)^(Van der Sijs 2001)

+ * 1240 – A Limburg glossary renders Latin ''unus'' as ''ein''.^(VMNW)

+ * 1785 – ''Tot by eenen in den nagt'', “until one o'clock at night”, uses the numeral for the hour.^(WNT)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Article===

+ # [[m|en|a]], an: the [[m|en|indefinite article]], before a singular noun.^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Before a plural, in exclamations about a number: ''een mensen dat er waren!'', “what a lot of people there were!”.^(Van Dale 2014)^(WikiWoordenboek)

+ # Standing for a whole kind: ''een kat is geen hond'', “a cat is not a dog”.^(Van Dale 2014)

+

+ ===Numeral===

+ # [[m|en|one]], the smallest positive [[m|en|whole number]].^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The first in a series.^(Van Dale 2014)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # One, the same, united: ''een met de natuur'', “at one with nature”.^(Van Dale 2014)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The figure 1; a one.^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[eenheid]]

+ * [[enig]]

+ * [[eens]]

+ * [[eentje]]

+ * [[eenzaam]]

+ * [[eenvoudig]]

+ * [[eendracht]]

+ * [[eenhoorn]]

+ * [[eenkennig]]

+ * [[bijeen]]

+ * [[meteen]]

+ * [[aaneen]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|one]]

+ * [[de|ein]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The phrases ''een en ander'', “what was mentioned”, and ''het een en ander'', “various things”, keep the numeral.^(Van Dale 2014) The stressed numeral is written with accents, ''één'', where it could be read as the article.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}