zeggen Dutch · revision 37081

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈzɛɣə(n)/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''zeggen''' (past ''zei'', plural ''zeiden'', also ''zegde''; past participle ''gezegd'')^(EWN)^(Wiktionary)

+ Middle Dutch wrote ''segghen'', ''secghen'' and ''seggen''.^(VMNW)^(MNW) The older past ''zeide'' is obsolete, and a regional past ''zee'' also occurs.^(WNT)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|dum|seggen|alt=segghen]], [[inh|odt|seggen]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*saggjan]], [[inh|gem-pro|*sagjaną|alt=*sagjan-|t=to say, recount]].^(EWN)^(Wiktionary)^(Kroonen 2013) The same verb is [[osx|seggian]], [[goh|seggen]], [[ofs|sedza]] (modern [[fy|sizze]]), [[ang|secgan]] (modern [[en|say]]) and [[non|segja]] (modern [[sv|säga]]); Gothic has no such verb.^(EWN)^(Kroonen 2013)^(WNT) Beside it stood forms of the third weak class, [[gem-pro|*sagēn-]]: Old Dutch [[m|odt|sagon|alt=sagen]], found only in eastern texts, Middle Dutch [[m|dum|sagen|alt=saghen]], [[goh|sagēn]] (modern [[de|sagen]]) and [[ang|sagian]].^(EWN)^(De Vries 1971)

+

+ The source is [[ine-pro|*sekʷ-|t=to tell]].^(EWN)^(Kroonen 2013) Like [[lt|sakýti|t=to say]], the Germanic verb continues an iterative [[ine-pro|*sokʷ-éie-]], also behind [[cu|сочити|tr=sočiti|t=to indicate]].^(EWN)^(Kroonen 2013) Other forms of the root are [[la|inquam|t=I say]], [[grc|ἐννέπω|tr=ennépō|t=to tell]], [[sga|seichid|t=to say]] and [[owl|hepp|t=says]].^(EWN)^(Kroonen 2013)^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912) The root may be the same as [[ine-pro|*sekʷ-|alt=*sekʷ-|t=to follow]], with a development through “repeat, recount”; the WNT also derives it from “follow”.^(EWN)^(WNT) Others take ⟨*sagjan-⟩ as a causative of [[zien]] “to see”, “make see, show”, a shift the EWN finds plausible, comparing [[la|dīcō|t=to say]];^(EWN)^(De Vries 1971)^(De Vries & De Tollenaere 2004|453) De Vries accepted the link with seeing.^(EWN)^(De Vries 1971)^(De Vries & De Tollenaere 2004|453)

+

+ The verb was once as irregular as [[hebben]].^(EWN) Only the past ⟨zei⟩ is still irregular: it comes from Proto-Germanic ⟨*sagida-⟩ with the western Dutch change of ⟨-agi-⟩ to ⟨-ei-⟩ seen in [[dweil]], followed by the loss of ⟨d⟩ between vowels in the singular, as in [[heide|alt=hei]].^(EWN)^(Wiktionary) The plural ⟨zeiden⟩ kept its ⟨d⟩, and the participle ⟨gezegd⟩ replaced western ⟨gezeid⟩.^(EWN)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old Dutch ''sagen'' appears once in the Middle Franconian part of the Wachtendonck Psalms and then in the Willeram of about 1100, which has ''Sage mir, wine min'', “tell me, my friend”.^(ONW) The first Middle Dutch record, from 1236, warns against anyone who ''sinen nasten en ledlic word seget'', says an ugly word to his neighbour.^(EWN)^(VMNW)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Middle Dutch ''segghen'' meant to speak and to state, but also to tell someone to do something, to put in writing, to name, to claim and to pass judgement.^(VMNW)^(Wiktionary) The infinitive was used as a noun from the start: in a Ghent text of 1237 ''sonder segghen'' means “without judgement”, and later ''een ghemene segghen'' was a common saying (1373).^(VMNW)^(MNW) The noun also gave ''het voor het zeggen hebben'', to be in command.^(WNT)

+

+ Around 1600 ''zeg ik'', “I say”, was used as a filler for emphasis; it has long been obsolete.^(WNT) ''Zeggen waar het op staat'', to say plainly what the matter is, goes back to the Middle Ages.^(Stoett 1923) ''Om zo te zeggen'' is a translation of German ''sozusagen'' or English ''so to say''.^(Van der Sijs 2005) In Flanders, ''En zeggen dat…'' “And to think that…” imitates French ''et dire que''.^(De Vreese 1899)

+

+ Afrikaans has ''sê'', and Javindo ''seg'', ''seggen'' and ''sèè''.^(Wiktionary)^(Van der Sijs 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1100 – ''Sage mir'' “tell me” is recorded in the Willeram.^(ONW)

+ * 1236 – Middle Dutch ''seget'' “says” appears.^(EWN)^(VMNW)

+ * 1237 – The noun ''segghen'' “judgement” appears in a Ghent text.^(VMNW)

+ * 1260–1270 – The verb is recorded in the romance of Beuve de Hantone.^(Van der Sijs 2001)

+ * 1373 – ''Een ghemene segghen'', a common saying.^(MNW)

+ * 1568 – ''Niet van veel zegghens'', not given to much talk.^(WNT)

+ * 1600 – ''Zeg ik'' is recorded as a filler word.^(WNT)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|say]], to tell, to put into words: ''Ze zei dat ze later zou komen.''^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To think, to judge, to give as one's opinion: ''Wat zeg jij van dit plan?''^(Van Dale 2014)^(WikiWoordenboek)

+ # To mean, to signify: ''Die naam zegt mij niets.'' In ''dat wil zeggen'' it introduces an explanation, “that is to say”.^(Van Dale 2014)^(WikiWoordenboek)

+ # To tell someone to do something, to [[m|en|order]]: ''Doe nu maar wat ik zeg.''^(WikiWoordenboek)^(VMNW)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(het zeggen)'' The right to decide, one's say: ''het voor het zeggen hebben'', to be in charge.^(WNT)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[zeg]]

+ * [[zegsman]]

+ * [[zeggenschap]]

+ * [[zegswijze]]

+ * [[afzeggen]]

+ * [[nazeggen]]

+ * [[opzeggen]]

+ * [[toezeggen]]

+ * [[voorzeggen]]

+ * [[waarzeggen]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[zien]]

+ * [[en|say]]

+ * [[de|sagen]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Zeggen waar het op staat'' “to speak plainly” is already found in the medieval poem ''Ons Heren Passie'': ''Ic sel di segghen waert op staet''.^(Stoett 1923) The regular past ''zegde'' is old-fashioned or formal in the Netherlands, except in compounds (''zegde toe'', ''zegde af''); in Belgium some speakers prefer it because they feel ''zei'' to be dialectal, although all Belgian dialects use ''zei''.^(EWN)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}