erg Dutch · revision 37145

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ɛrx/, /ˈɛ.rəx/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''erg''' (comparative erger, superlative ergst)^(Wiktionary)

+ An older form ''arg'' was still common beside ''erg'' in the 17th century and survives in dialects of North Holland and Groningen.^(EWN) Regional pronunciations are written ''erreg'' and ''errug''.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|dum|arch]] or [[m|dum|erch]], [[inh|odt|arg|alt=arug]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*arg]], [[inh|gem-pro|*argaz|t=unmanly, cowardly]].^(EWN)^(Wiktionary)^(Kroonen 2013) The change of ⟨a⟩ to ⟨e⟩ is common in Dutch before ⟨r⟩ followed by a dental or velar consonant.^(EWN)^(WNT) The same word is [[goh|arg|t=cowardly, lazy, wicked, lewd]] (modern [[de|arg]]), [[ofs|erch|t=bad]], [[ang|earg|t=cowardly, sluggish]] and [[non|argr|t=unmanly, cowardly, depraved]].^(EWN)^(Kroonen 2013) Finnish [[m|fi|arka|t=cowardly]] is a loan from Germanic.^(EWN)

+

+ Calling someone ⟨arg⟩ was a grave insult in the oldest texts of all the Germanic languages; the word occurs in a Lombard law code of 642, the Edict of Rothari, and the sense “cowardly” was linked there with the passive role in homosexuality, as in Old Norse.^(EWN) Van Haeringen, following Weisweiler, took “lewd, perverse” as the oldest sense, from which came “unmanly” and “cowardly”, while “wicked” arose under Christian influence.^(Van Haeringen 1936)^(De Vries & De Tollenaere 2004|122)

+

+ Relatives outside Germanic are very uncertain.^(EWN)^(WNT) Bjorvand and Lindeman, cited by the EWN, derive it from [[ine-pro|*h₁orǵʰo-|t=mounted, covered]], from [[m|ine-pro|*h₁erǵʰ-|t=to mount]];^(EWN)^(Kroonen 2013)^(Wiktionary) Kroonen and Wiktionary set up [[m|ine-pro|*h₃orǵʰ-o-]] and compare [[lt|aržùs|t=lustful]].^(EWN)^(Kroonen 2013)^(Wiktionary) Links with Greek words for “testicle” and “to dance” have been proposed but are rejected or thought unlikely.^(EWN)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old Dutch ''arug'' glosses Latin ''perversa'' in the Wachtendonck Psalms of the 10th century.^(ONW)^(EWN)^(Van der Sijs 2001) The place name Archem near Ommen, ''Arachem'' in 947, may contain the same word.^(ONW) In early Middle Dutch the word is mostly found in the comparative: ''argre'' “worse” around 1240, ''argher'' “more depraved” of people in 1285.^(EWN)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Middle Dutch ''arch'' meant wicked, bad, worthless, and of things shameful or harmful; the comparative ''arger'' was more common than the plain form.^(MNW) The noun ''arch'' meant evil: ''verlose ons van arghe'', “deliver us from evil”, is in a Brabant Lord's Prayer of 1291.^(VMNW)^(MNW)

+

+ The moral sense “wicked” is now obsolete.^(WNT) The meaning has been generalised to “severe, dangerous”, and in the adverb weakened to “very”, at first only in unfavourable contexts, now in all.^(EWN) The adverb “very” is recorded from 1866–1867.^(Van der Sijs 2001)^(EWN) The noun survives in ''zonder erg'', once “without ill intent”, now “unawares, without thinking”.^(WNT)

+

+ The verb [[ergeren]] “to annoy, offend” is formed from the comparative, literally “to make worse”, and is recorded about 1240 as ''argren'' “to damage”.^(EWN) The word was taken into Surinamese Javanese as ''èreg'' “bad”.^(Van der Sijs 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

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

+ * c. 1240 – The comparative ''argre'' “worse” and the verb ''argren''.^(EWN)

+ * 1291 – ''Verlose ons van arghe'', “deliver us from evil”.^(VMNW)

+ * 1587 – The noun in ''erch dencken'' “to suspect evil”.^(WNT)

+ * 1866 – ''Erg'' as an adverb meaning “very”.^(Van der Sijs 2001)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Unpleasant, [[m|en|bad]]: ''Het is niet erg dat je te laat bent.''^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Shocking, disgraceful.^(Van Dale 2014)

+ # [[m|en|severe]], intense, serious: ''een erge verkoudheid''.^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)^(WikiWoordenboek)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # [[m|en|very]], to a high degree: ''Ik vond het erg gezellig.''^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)^(WikiWoordenboek)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ergeren]]

+ * [[ergernis]]

+ * [[verergeren]]

+ * [[allerergst]]

+ * [[argeloos]]

+ * [[arglist]]

+ * [[argwaan]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[de|arg]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Erg'' as the name of a unit of work in physics, from Greek ''ergon'' “work”, is a separate word, recorded from 1907.^(Van der Sijs 2001)^(Van Dale 2014)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}