zich Dutch · revision 37184

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=901–1000, Wachtendonck Psalms|origins=ine-pro *se-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /zɪx/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''zich'''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|dum|sich]], [[bor|gmh|sich]]: the word is not native to most of Dutch but spread into the standard language from the east under High German influence.^(EWN)^(Van Veen & Van der Sijs 1997)^(De Vries 1971)^(WNT)^(Wiktionary) The MNW thinks it came from a Middle Franconian dialect.^(MNW) The Old Dutch texts that have [[m|odt|sig]] are strongly coloured by High German and say nothing about the general language.^(EWN)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The pronoun was originally the accusative of the reflexive pronoun of the third person, from the stem [[ine-pro|*se-]].^(EWN)^(De Vries 1971)^(De Vries & De Tollenaere 2004|455) Germanic gave it the ending ⟨-k⟩ after the accusative of the first person, ⟨*mik⟩, which in turn took it from the nominative [[ik]].^(EWN) The same word is [[osx|sik]], [[goh|sih]] (modern [[de|sich]]), [[ofs|sik]], [[non|sik]] and [[got|𐍃𐌹𐌺|tr=sik]], from [[gem-pro|*sek|alt=*sik]].^(EWN)^(Wiktionary)^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912) Outside Germanic the stem is in [[la|sē]] and [[m|la|sibi|t=to oneself]], [[grc|σφι|tr=sphi|t=themselves, them]] and [[lt|-si]].^(De Vries 1971)^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912)^(WNT)

+

+ Middle Dutch had no reflexive pronoun of its own and used the personal pronoun, [[m|dum|hem]] or [[m|dum|haer]], strengthened if need be with [[m|dum|selven]].^(EWN)^(MNW) The native West Low Franconian accusative [[m|dum|si]] is rare and eastern, and the Low German form [[m|dum|sik]] is found in the north-east and survives around Meppel in ⟨be-sik⟩ “apart”.^(MNW)^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912)^(De Vries 1971)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The Wachtendonck Psalms of the 10th century have ''bergin salun sig'' “they shall hide themselves”, and ''noh ne ist the sig geberge fan hitte sinro'' “nor is there any who hides himself from his heat”.^(EWN)^(ONW) In Middle Dutch the pronoun appears in Limburg in 1200 and around 1201–1225 in the romance of Floyris, where a young lord ''deckete sic'', covered himself, with flowers.^(VMNW)^(EWN)^(De Vries & De Tollenaere 2004|455)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In charters ''sich'' appears in the south-east in the 13th century, in Gelderland in the 14th and in Utrecht in the 15th; from the second half of the 14th century north-eastern texts have it too, later also in the Low German form ''sick''.^(EWN)^(WNT) In the 16th century it spread west, above all through Reformation writings, and in the 17th century leading authors, Bible translators and grammarians chose ''sich'', later ''zich''.^(EWN)^(WNT)^(De Vries 1971) The States Bible still shows the old state of things: ''sich'' is used for the masculine and neuter singular, but beside ''haer'' it is the minority form in the masculine plural and it is almost absent from the feminine.^(WNT) The EWN suggests that large-scale immigration of Germans and eastern Dutch into Holland also played a part.^(EWN)

+

+ In the dialects ''zich'' is much less widespread, and the people of West Flanders did not know it in the 19th century.^(EWN)^(MNW) Spoken Dutch still uses ''hem'' and the younger ''z'n eigen'' in its place.^(EWN)^(Van Veen & Van der Sijs 1997)^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912) With polite ''u'' as its antecedent, ''zich'' also serves as a reflexive of the second person, as in a quotation of 1901, ''Heeft u zich gisteren nog al geamuzeerd, tante Constance?''^(WNT)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 901–1000 – Old Dutch ''sig'' in the Wachtendonck Psalms.^(EWN)^(Van der Sijs 2001)

+ * c. 1100 – ''Sich'' in the Leiden Willeram.^(EWN)^(ONW)

+ * 1201–1225 – Middle Dutch ''sic'' in Floyris, from the Lower Rhine.^(EWN)^(VMNW)

+ * 13th century – ''Sich'' in south-eastern charters.^(EWN)^(WNT)

+ * 14th century – ''Sich'' in Gelderland charters.^(EWN)^(WNT)

+ * 15th century – ''Sich'' in Utrecht.^(EWN)^(WNT)

+ * 1552 – ''Wie sich steelens troost'', the WNT's first modern quotation.^(WNT)

+ * 17th century – ''Zich'' becomes part of the general language.^(EWN)^(WNT)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Pronoun===

+ # Reflexive pronoun of the third person, singular and plural: [[m|en|himself]], herself, itself, themselves, [[m|en|oneself]]: ''Ze kleedde zich snel aan.''^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)^(WikiWoordenboek)

+ # Reflexive pronoun with polite ''u'': yourself, yourselves: ''Heeft u zich al aangemeld?''^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)^(WNT)

+ # With verbs that are always or usually reflexive, marking that the action stays with the subject: ''Hij vergist zich.''^(WNT)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[zichzelf]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[hem]]

+ * [[zijn#2]]

+ * [[de|sich]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}