man Dutch · revision 37118

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /mɑn/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''man''' ''m'' (plural mannen or man or mans, diminutive mannetje n or manneke n or manneken n)^(Wiktionary)

+ Middle Dutch had the plurals ''manne'', ''mannen'' and ''mans'', and an uninflected plural ''man''.^(MNW) The uninflected plural survives after numerals.^(MNW)^(WNT)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|dum|man]], [[inh|odt|man]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*mann]], [[inh|gem-pro|*mann-|alt=*mannan-|t=man, person]].^(EWN)^(Wiktionary)^(Kroonen 2013) The same word is [[osx|man]], [[goh|man]] (modern [[de|Mann]]), [[ofs|mon]], [[ang|mann]] (modern [[en|man]]), [[non|maðr]] and [[got|𐌼𐌰𐌽𐌽𐌰|tr=manna]], all meaning “man” or “human being”.^(EWN)^(De Vries 1971)^(Kroonen 2013) The tribal names Marcomanni and Alamanni contain it, and Tacitus names a Mannus, son of Tuisto, as the mythical ancestor of the Germanic peoples.^(De Vries 1971)^(EWN)

+

+ The EWN calls the earlier history of the word not entirely clear and sets out four explanations.^(EWN) The most widely held starts from [[ine-pro|*mon-u-]], an extension of a root for “human being” that also gives [[sa|मनु|tr=mánu-|t=man, human being]], the name of Manu, the mythical forefather of mankind in Sanskrit texts.^(EWN)^(De Vries 1971)^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912) Another suffix gives [[cu|мѫжь|tr=mǫžĭ|t=man]] (modern [[ru|муж|tr=muž|t=husband]]).^(EWN)^(De Vries 1971) In this view the weak cases had ⟨*monw-⟩ before a vowel, which was assimilated to ⟨*monn-⟩, and the double ⟨nn⟩ then spread through the whole paradigm.^(EWN)^(Vercoullie 1925) Franck and Van Wijk start instead from an n-stem ⟨*monon-⟩, whose weak cases had ⟨*monn-⟩, and the EWN gives this as a second variant.^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912)^(EWN)

+

+ Many scholars have linked the root with [[ine-pro|*men-|t=to think]], the source of [[manen]] “to remind”, so that the word would have meant “the thinking being”.^(EWN)^(De Vries 1971)^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912) De Vries and De Tollenaere allow it on formal grounds,^(De Vries & De Tollenaere 2004|239) but the EWN finds so abstract a name unlikely for such an early period, and others have rejected the link.^(EWN)^(De Vries 1971)^(Van Haeringen 1936) A third explanation, which the EWN thinks less likely and Kroonen favours, derives the word from [[ine-pro|*dʰǵʰmṓ|t=earthling, human]], the source of [[la|homō|t=human being]] and of the second part of [[bruidegom]], with the initial consonants lost.^(EWN)^(Wiktionary) The fourth, by Liberman (2005), reverses the usual view and derives the common noun from the god's name Mannus.^(EWN)

+

+ The pronoun [[men]] “one” is an unstressed form of the same noun.^(WNT)^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The word is first recorded in the 10th-century Wachtendonck Psalms, where it usually translates Latin ''homo'' “human being”: ''uuanda trat mi man'', “for man trampled me”.^(EWN)^(ONW) The same psalms already use it for men as males and, in the plural, for a ruler's men.^(ONW)^(EWN) Middle Dutch ''man'' is first found in Limburg about 1200, and a Limburg glossary of 1240 gives it for Latin ''homo''.^(VMNW)^(EWN)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old Dutch the main sense was “human being, person”, so close to the indefinite “one” that the two are hard to keep apart.^(ONW) Middle Dutch used ''man'' for a person, an adult man, a fighting man, a workman, a vassal or servant, an owner, a husband and a male animal.^(VMNW)^(Wiktionary) Medieval accounts justified each item ''man ende stic'', person by person and piece by piece.^(MNW)

+

+ The old sense “person” lives on in [[iemand]] and [[niemand]] and in set phrases: ''de gemene man'' “the common people”, ''op de man af'' “point-blank” and ''als de nood aan de man komt'' “when it comes to the crunch”.^(MNW)^(WNT)^(Van Dale 2014) ''Iets aan de man brengen'', to find buyers for something, began with selling wares.^(WNT)^(Van Dale 2014) The sense “husband” is first dated in 1512.^(Van der Sijs 2001)^(WNT) On board ship a boy who had grown up ''voor man varen'', sailed as a full hand, Winschoten noted in 1681.^(Winschoten 1681) ''De man in de straat'' is a translation of English ''the man in the street'', and ''een man van veel verstand'' of French ''un homme d'esprit''.^(Van der Sijs 2005)

+

+ Negerhollands and Sranan Tongo took over ''man'' for “man” and “husband”, and Surinamese Javanese has ''mang'' as an exclamation, “hey!”.^(Van der Sijs 2010)^(Wiktionary) Through Negerhollands it reached the Creole English of the Virgin Islands, where an obsolete ''mani'' meant an effeminate man.^(Van der Sijs 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 901–1000 – Old Dutch ''man'' “human being” appears in the Wachtendonck Psalms.^(EWN)^(ONW)^(Van der Sijs 2001)

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

+ * 1240 – A Limburg glossary gives ''man'' for Latin ''homo''.^(VMNW)

+ * 1336 – ''Man ende stic'', person by person, appears in Flemish accounts.^(MNW)

+ * 1512 – ''Man'' “husband” is first recorded.^(Van der Sijs 2001)^(WNT)

+ * 1681 – Winschoten records the sailors' phrase ''voor man varen''.^(Winschoten 1681)

+ * 1787 – A preacher speaks ''op den man aan'', straight to the listener.^(WNT)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|man]], an adult male human being: ''Bij de bushalte stond een man met een hond.''^(Van Dale 2014)^(ANW)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A person, a human being, now mainly in set phrases: ''op de man af'', directly, without beating about the bush;^(Van Dale 2014)^(WNT) ''iets aan de man brengen'', to find buyers for something.^(Van Dale 2014)^(WNT)

+ # (uninflected after numerals) A member of a group or crew: ''Het schip had dertig man aan boord.''^(WNT)^(MNW)

+ # A [[m|en|husband]]: ''Haar man werkt in Antwerpen.''^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)^(Van der Sijs 2001)

+ # A male animal.^(WikiWoordenboek)^(VMNW)

+

+ ===Interjection===

+ # (colloquial) Expressing that something is bigger, stronger or more than usual: ''Man, wat een regen!''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[iemand]]

+ * [[niemand]]

+ * [[mannelijk]]

+ * [[manschap]]

+ * [[manhaftig]]

+ * [[mannetje]]

+ * [[mannetjesputter]]

+ * [[bemannen]]

+ * [[bemanning]]

+ * [[ontmannen]]

+ * [[overmannen]]

+ * [[alleman]]

+ * [[andermans]]

+ * [[koopman]]

+ * [[zeeman]]

+ * [[voorman]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[men]]

+ * [[mens]]

+ * [[manen]]

+ * [[en|man]]

+ * [[de|Mann]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The usual plural is ''mannen''; after a numeral the uninflected ''man'' is used for a number of people, a continuation of the Middle Dutch plural ''man''.^(WNT)^(MNW) ''Mans'' occurs beside it.^(WNT)^(Wiktionary) In Westerwolde and Drenthe a dialect word ''man'' means “only, but”;^(Weijnen 2003) Weijnen explains it as shortened from ''en ware (het) niet'', like ''maar''.^(Weijnen 2003)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}