sterven Dutch · revision 37218

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1100, Old Dutch (Egmond Williram)|origins=gem-pro *sterbaną}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈstɛrvə(n)/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sterven'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Seventeenth-century texts also have the past ''sturf'' and the past participle ''gesturven''.^(WNT)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|dum|sterven]], [[inh|odt|stervan]], [[inh|gem-pro|*sterbaną|t=to become stiff; to die]].^(Wiktionary)^(ONW)^(De Vries 1971) The same verb is [[osx|sterƀan]], [[goh|sterban]] (modern [[de|sterben]]), [[ofs|sterva]] and [[ang|steorfan]], whose modern descendant [[en|starve]] narrowed to “die of hunger”.^(De Vries 1971)^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912)^(MNW)^(Van Veen & Van der Sijs 1997) Related nouns are [[m|goh|sterbo|t=pestilence, death]] and [[m|ang|steorfa|t=dying; corpse]].^(De Vries 1971)^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912)

+

+ The original meaning was probably “to become stiff”: the related [[non|stjarfi|t=cramp that makes one rigid]], [[m|non|stirfinn|t=stubborn]] and [[m|non|starf|t=effort, toil]] point to it.^(De Vries 1971)^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912)^(De Vries & De Tollenaere 2004|367) Further back there are competing explanations.^(De Vries 1971)^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912) One starts from [[ine-pro|*sterbʰ-|t=to be stiff]], comparing [[grc|στέρφνιος|tr=stérphnios|t=stiff, firm]] and [[sga|ussarb|t=death]].^(De Vries 1971)^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912)^(Wiktionary)^(Orel 2003) The other starts from [[m|ine-pro|*(s)terp-|t=to become numb]], comparing [[la|torpeō|t=to be numb, motionless]] and [[lt|tirpti|t=to grow numb]].^(De Vries 1971)^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912)^(Wiktionary) Both would be enlargements of the root also found in [[star]] and [[staar]].^(De Vries 1971)^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912)^(WNT)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The verb is first recorded in the Egmond Williram of about 1100, which says of Christ ''thaz her gecruciget warth ande her starf'', “that he was crucified and died”.^(ONW)^(Van der Sijs 2001) The oldest Middle Dutch example is from the Lower Rhine region in 1201, ''ic sterue in ellende'', “I die in exile”, and a Limburg glossary of about 1240 renders Latin ''moribundus'' as ''de stiruet'', “who is dying”.^(VMNW)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Middle Dutch ''sterven'' was said of people, animals and also of trees and plants, of a natural death and of being killed.^(MNW) It took a genitive of cause, ''couts ende hongers sterven'' “to die of cold and hunger”, or the phrases ''van honghere'', ''van dorste'' and ''van rouwe sterven'', from hunger, thirst or grief, all recorded in the 13th century.^(MNW)^(VMNW) The infinitive was used as a noun, ''dat sterven'' “death”, as early as about 1200.^(VMNW)

+

+ In modern Dutch the verb is used mainly of people, while ''doodgaan'' is often preferred in the present and simple past, and ''gestorven'' in the perfect.^(WNT) The cause is given with ''aan'' (a disease, a wound), in the south usually with ''van''.^(WNT) The verb was taken into [[dcr|sterv]], and Afrikaans has [[m|af|sterf]] and [[m|af|sterwe]].^(Van der Sijs 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1100 – The Egmond Williram records the Old Dutch past ''starf'' “died”.^(ONW)^(Van der Sijs 2001)

+ * c. 1200 – The noun ''sterven'' “death” appears in Limburg.^(VMNW)

+ * 1201 – ''Ic sterue in ellende'' is the oldest Middle Dutch example of the verb.^(VMNW)

+ * 1265 – ''Van hongre … steruen'', to die of hunger, is recorded in Brabant.^(VMNW)

+ * 1633 – ''Sterven aan'' a wound is recorded.^(WNT)

+ * 1672 – The verb is still used of cattle dying in Zeeland.^(WNT)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(intransitive, with zijn)'' to [[m|en|die]], to stop living, chiefly of people: ''Haar grootvader stierf vorig jaar.''^(Van Dale 2014)^(ANW)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(intransitive)'' to die of something, with ''aan'' or ''van'': ''Hij stierf aan een longontsteking.''^(WNT)

+ # ''(transitive)'' to die a death of the stated kind: ''een eervolle dood sterven''.^(Van Dale 2014)^(MNW)

+ # ''(figurative)'' to fade away, die down.^(WikiWoordenboek)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[besterven]]

+ * [[sterfelijk]]

+ * [[sterveling]]

+ * [[versterven]]

+ * [[afsterven]]

+ * [[uitsterven]]

+ * [[wegsterven]]

+ * [[sterfbed]]

+ * [[sterfdag]]

+ * [[sterfgeval]]

+ * [[sterfhuis]]

+ * [[sterfjaar]]

+ * [[sterfte]]

+ * [[stervende]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[dood]]

+ * [[star]]

+ * [[en|starve]]

+ * [[de|sterben]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Op sterven na dood'' “all but dead” is said of someone or something in a very bad way, and ''duizend doden sterven'' means to be terrified.^(Van Dale 2014) ''Gedenk te sterven'', “remember that you must die”, is used on gravestones and in death notices.^(Van Dale 2014) A 19th-century oath ran ''ik mag sterven als het niet waar is'', and ''sterf!'' is a modern curse expressing fury.^(Van Sterkenburg 2001) ''Hij is niet in de wieg gestorven'' means that someone reached a great age.^(Stoett 1923)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}