niets Dutch · revision 37146

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 1100, Old Dutch}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /nits/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''niets''' (indefinite pronoun)^(Wiktionary)

+ The colloquial form is [[niks]], recorded from 1784.^(EWN)^(Van der Sijs 2001)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|dum|niets]], [[inh|odt|niewihts]], the partitive genitive of Old Dutch [[m|odt|niewiht|t=nothing]], the word that became [[niet]].^(EWN)^(Wiktionary)^(ONW) It is formed [[af|nl|niet|-s]].^(EWN)^(Wiktionary) The Old Dutch [[m|odt|niewiht]] was a noun, ⟨ni⟩ “not” + ⟨ie⟩ “ever” + [[m|odt|wiht|t=thing, creature]];^(ONW)^(VMNW) Gothic has a form without ⟨ie⟩, [[got|𐌽𐌹|tr=ni]] [[m|got|𐍅𐌰𐌹𐌷𐍄𐍃|tr=waihts|t=thing]].^(ONW)^(VMNW)

+

+ At first the genitive form was used only where the grammar required a genitive, for example with verbs such as [[lusten]] or with the adjective [[waard]].^(EWN)^(ONW) Middle Dutch also often had ⟨niets niet⟩ “nothing at all”.^(EWN)^(MNW) When the case system disappeared, ⟨niets⟩ became an independent word, and ⟨niets niet⟩ was reduced to it.^(EWN) [[gmh|nihtes niht]] and modern [[de|nichts]] are the same formation.^(EWN)^(Vercoullie 1925)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old Dutch ''nieuuehte'' “nothing” is in the Wachtendonck Psalms of the 10th century.^(ONW) The genitive ''niewehtes'' is in Williram's paraphrase of about 1100: ''mich nelustet niewehtes'', “nothing pleases me”.^(EWN) The Middle Dutch form ''niets'' first occurs in a Rhineland text of 1270–1290: ''die en sin niets weert'', “they are worth nothing”, still as a genitive after ''weert''.^(EWN)^(VMNW)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Middle Dutch ''niets'' was also an adverb, mostly to strengthen ''niet'': ''niets niet'' meant “nothing at all” or “not at all” (1384–1395).^(EWN)^(MNW) This was still used in the 16th and early 17th centuries, and in Belgium Vercoullie found ''hij en heeft niets niet'' still in daily use.^(WNT)^(Vercoullie 1925) In the 17th century ''niets'' stands alone in the modern way, as in ''waer niets te crijgen is'' (1651).^(EWN)

+

+ The spoken form [[niks]] is recorded from 1784; it was probably taken from German, where ''nix'' is a common dialect form, perhaps through soldiers.^(EWN)^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912)^(De Vries 1971) From it came [[niksen]] “to do nothing”, from 1951.^(EWN) The proverb ''waar niets is, verliest de keizer zijn recht'', “where there is nothing, the emperor loses his claim”, means that nothing can be recovered from someone who has nothing.^(Stoett 1923)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 901–1000 – Old Dutch ''nieuuehte'' “nothing” appears in the Wachtendonck Psalms.^(ONW)

+ * c. 1100 – The genitive ''niewehtes'' in Williram's paraphrase.^(EWN)

+ * 1270–1290 – Middle Dutch ''niets'' is first recorded.^(EWN)^(Van der Sijs 2001)

+ * 1384–1395 – ''Niets niet'' “nothing at all”.^(EWN)

+ * 1651 – ''Waer niets te crijgen is'', with ''niets'' used independently.^(EWN)

+ * 1784 – The colloquial form ''nix'' (''niks'' from 1789).^(EWN)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Pronoun===

+ # [[m|en|nothing]], not a single thing: ''Ik heb vandaag niets gegeten.''^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)^(WikiWoordenboek)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''het niets'': [[m|en|nothingness]], the void.^(Van Dale 2014)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[nietsbetekenend]]

+ * [[nietsdoen]]

+ * [[nietszeggend]]

+ * [[nietszeggendheid]]

+ * [[niksen]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[niet]]

+ * [[iets]]

+ * [[niks]]

+ * [[de|nichts]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}