iets Dutch · revision 37124

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited, derivation|attested=1340–1360, Middle Dutch|origins=odt iowiht}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /its/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''iets'''^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|dum|iets]], an extension of [[m|dum|iet|t=something]], which is a contraction of [[m|dum|iewet]], [[inh|odt|iowiht]].^(EWN)^(Wiktionary)^(Van Veen & Van der Sijs 1997) The Old Dutch word is a compound of ⟨ie-⟩ “anything at all”, the element also found in [[ieder]], and a noun corresponding to [[wicht]] “creature”, whose original meaning must have been “thing”.^(EWN)^(Wiktionary)^(De Vries 1971) The same compound is [[osx|ēowiht]], [[goh|iowiht]] (obsolete modern German ⟨icht⟩) and [[ang|āwiht]], contracted [[m|ang|āht]] (modern [[en|aught]]).^(EWN)^(De Vries 1971)^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912) The first part of [[de|etwas]] has a quite different origin.^(EWN)

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+ The final ⟨-s⟩ was added under the influence of [[niets]], in which it is the ending of an old partitive genitive.^(EWN)^(Van Veen & Van der Sijs 1997)^(Van Haeringen 1936) Franck and Van Wijk thought instead that ⟨iets⟩ was abstracted from phrases such as ⟨iet(e)s iet⟩ and ⟨iet(e)s wat⟩, in which ⟨ietes⟩ was the genitive of ⟨iet⟩;^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912) the WNT derived it from Middle Dutch [[m|dum|ietwes]], a compound of ⟨iet⟩ with the genitive ⟨wes⟩ of [[wat]], which Franck and Van Wijk found unlikely.^(WNT)^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912) Franck and Van Wijk also took the second part of ⟨iet⟩ to be the pronoun ⟨wat⟩ rather than ⟨wicht⟩;^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912)^(Van Haeringen 1936) Van Haeringen rejected this.^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912)^(Van Haeringen 1936)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old Dutch ''iowiht'' “something” is recorded in the Willeram of about 1100.^(EWN) The Middle Dutch form ''iet'' appears in 1201–1225 in ''Floyris ende Blantseflour'',^(EWN)^(Van Veen & Van der Sijs 1997) and the VMNW's oldest record, from the Lower Rhine in 1201, has it as the subject of an impersonal verb: ''in mîme hus n[e] iet gescîet. dat u misseualle'', “nothing happens in my house that displeases you”.^(VMNW) The form with ''-s'' is first found in 1340–1360, in ''dits iets groets'', “this is something great”.^(EWN)^(Van der Sijs 2001)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Middle Dutch used ''iet'' as a pronoun for “something, anything” and as an adverb for “to any degree, at all”, “a little” and “perhaps”.^(VMNW)^(Wiktionary) In mystical prose it could even be a noun for a being: ''God es dat eewighe yet'', “God is the eternal something” (1401).^(MNW) The longer ''iets'' gradually replaced ''iet'', which by the early 20th century survived only in dialect, in poetry and in a few fixed expressions.^(WNT) One of these is the proverb ''als niet komt tot iet, kent iet zichzelf niet'' “when nothing comes to something, something does not know itself”, said of an upstart, recorded in proverb collections since the 16th century.^(Stoett 1923)

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+ As an adverb meaning “somewhat”, as in ''iets achteruit'' “somewhat backwards”, ''iets'' appears in 1727.^(EWN)^(WNT) The compound ''ietwat'' “somewhat” goes back to Middle Dutch ''iet wat'' (1340–1360).^(EWN) In the 1980s ''iets moois'' “something beautiful” was used ironically for a love affair.^(Reinsma 1984) Afrikaans has ''iets'', and West Frisian borrowed ''yts'' from Dutch.^(Wiktionary)^(Van der Sijs 2010)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1100 – Old Dutch ''iowiht'' appears in the Willeram.^(EWN)

+ * 1201 – Middle Dutch ''iet'' is recorded on the Lower Rhine.^(VMNW)

+ * 1282 – The fuller form ''iewet'' is recorded.^(EWN)

+ * 1340–1360 – ''Iets'' and ''iet wat'' appear.^(EWN)^(Van der Sijs 2001)

+ * 1401 – ''Dat eewighe yet'' “the eternal something” is used of God.^(MNW)

+ * 1727 – ''Iets'' is used as an adverb, “somewhat”.^(EWN)^(WNT)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Pronoun===

+ # [[m|en|something]], an unspecified thing: ''Er ligt iets onder de bank.''^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)^(ANW)

+ # [[m|en|anything]], in questions and conditions: ''Heb je iets gehoord?''^(Wiktionary)

+ # Whatever fits the description given, as in ''iets anders'' “something else, another matter”.^(Van Dale 2014)

+ # Something of importance: ''Zij wil in het leven iets bereiken.''^(Van Dale 2014)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(het iets)'' A thing or notion that is hard to define: ''Die film heeft een zeker iets.''^(Van Dale 2014)

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+ ===Adverb===

+ # A little, [[m|en|somewhat]]: ''Het is vandaag iets warmer.''^(Wiktionary)^(EWN)

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+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ietsje]]

+ * [[ietwat]]

+ * [[ietsisme]]

+ * [[ietsist]]

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[niets]]

+ * [[ieder]]

+ * [[wicht]]

+ * [[en|aught]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Beter iets dan niets'' means that it is better to have a little than nothing at all.^(Van Dale 2014)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}