hem Dutch · revision 37076

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=901–1000, Old Dutch (Wachtendonck Psalms)|origins=ine-pro *h₁e}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ɦɛm/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''hem'''^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|dum|hem]], [[inh|odt|himo]] (more often [[m|odt|imo]]), [[inh|gem-pro|*himmai]], originally the dative singular masculine and neuter of the third-person pronoun.^(EWN)^(Wiktionary) The EWN reconstructs the Germanic stem as ⟨*imm-⟩, from older ⟨*ism-⟩, with /sm/ assimilated to /mm/.^(EWN) The same form is [[osx|imu]], [[goh|imo]] (modern [[de|ihm]]), [[ofs|him]], [[ang|him]] (modern [[en|him]]) and [[got|𐌹𐌼𐌼𐌰|tr=imma]].^(EWN)

+

+ The initial /h/ is a prefix, probably demonstrative in origin, that North Sea Germanic and parts of Middle Franconian put before the old stem, as in [[hij]], [[haar]] and [[hun]]; the Wachtendonck Psalms mostly lack it, as their reviser's inland dialect did not use it there.^(EWN) Proto-Indo-European had no separate third-person pronoun;^(EWN) Germanic used the demonstrative [[ine-pro|*h₁e]], whose dative masculine singular is reconstructed as ⟨*h₁esmei⟩, and to which [[la|is|alt=eī]] and [[sa|अस्मै|tr=asmái]] also belong.^(EWN)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the 10th-century Wachtendonck Psalms the form ''imo'' occurs 32 times as dative and accusative, and ''himo'' four times as dative, in the first psalms with their strong Middle Franconian colouring.^(EWN) The Willeram (about 1100) has ''him'' and ''himo''.^(EWN)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ North Sea Germanic, Old and Middle Dutch included, no longer kept the dative and accusative apart in the masculine, so ''hem'' served for both.^(EWN) An old unstressed accusative ''-ne'' or ''-en'' survived into the 17th century, as in ''ick hanghen aenden hack'', “I hang it on the hook” (1544).^(EWN)

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+ Middle Dutch had no reflexive pronoun and used ''hem'' for “himself, herself, itself” and, in the plural, “themselves” and “each other”.^(EWN)^(VMNW) From the 13th century, spreading from east to west and mainly in writing, the German loan ''zich'' took over that role, and the plural uses passed to ''hun'' and ''hen''.^(EWN)

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+ In the euphemistic curse ''krijg hem!'' the empty object stands for some disease or disaster.^(Van Sterkenburg 2001) Dutch passed the pronoun to Negerhollands (''em'', ''am'', ''hem'' “he, she, him, her”), and through it to Virgin Islands Creole, as well as to Sranan, Skepi Dutch and Javindo.^(Van der Sijs 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 10th century – Old Dutch ''imo'' and ''himo'' are recorded in the Wachtendonck Psalms.^(EWN)

+ * c. 1100 – ''Him'' and ''himo'' appear in the Willeram.^(EWN)

+ * 1200 – Middle Dutch ''hem'' is recorded in the Servaas legend.^(Van der Sijs 2001)

+ * 1236 – ''Hem'' is used reflexively, “himself”, in a Ghent text.^(VMNW)

+ * 1248 – ''Onder hem allen'' “among themselves” appears in Antwerp.^(VMNW)

+ * 1544 – The old enclitic accusative appears in ''ick hanghen aenden hack''.^(EWN)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Pronoun===

+ # [[m|en|him]]: the object form of ''hij'': ''Ik heb hem gisteren gebeld.''^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(games)'' The player who is “it” in a game of [[m|en|tag]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[hemzelf]]

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[hij]]

+ * [[hun]]

+ * [[hen]]

+ * [[zich]]

+ * [[de|ihm]]

+ * [[en|him]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Dat is hem'' is said when pointing out the person or thing meant, and ''volgens hem'' means “according to him”.^(Van Dale 2014) Separate words spelled ''hem'' are the noun ''hem'', a plot of land surrounded by ditches or outside a dike, recorded from 1182,^(ONW)^(Van der Sijs 2001) and the interjection ''hem'' used to call someone or clear one's throat, recorded from 1611.^(WNT)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}