niemand Dutch · revision 37263

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1100, Old Dutch (Egmond Williram)}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈni.mɑnt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''niemand''' (genitive niemands)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|dum|nieman]], [[inh|odt|nieman]], formed from the Germanic negative particle [[m|gem-pro|*ne|t=not]] (see [[nee]]) and the word that became [[iemand]].^(EWN)^(ONW)^(VMNW)^(Wiktionary) The ONW and the older dictionaries analyse it as [[m|odt|ne]], [[m|odt|io|t=ever]] and [[m|odt|man|t=person]], literally “never a person”.^(ONW)^(MNW)^(WNT) The same compound is [[osx|neoman]], [[goh|nioman]] (modern [[de|niemand]]) and [[ofs|nammon]] (modern [[fy|nimmen]]).^(EWN)^(De Vries 1971)^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912)

+

+ The final ⟨d⟩ is secondary and came in during the Middle Dutch period, as in the positive pronoun: beside ⟨nieman⟩ and ⟨niemen⟩ the 13th century has ⟨niement⟩ (1271–1272) and ⟨niemant⟩ (1292).^(EWN)^(ONW)^(Van Veen & Van der Sijs 1997) Germanic [[m|gem-pro|*ne]] continues [[ine-pro|*ne|t=not]], the negation also found in [[sa|न|tr=ná|t=not]], [[lt|ne|alt=nè|t=not]] and the Latin prefix [[m|la|ne-]].^(Kroonen 2013)^(Orel 2003)^(Wiktionary) Middle Dutch also had a synonym [[m|dum|gieman]], used into the 17th century, which Heeroma explained from a form ⟨*nih-eo-man⟩.^(De Vries 1971)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The oldest record is in the Egmond Williram of about 1100: ''Thich neminnot nieman'', “nobody loves you”.^(EWN)^(ONW) Middle Dutch ''niman'' first appears around 1200 in Limburg, in ''so ne durste niman da bestan'', “so nobody dared to stand there”.^(VMNW)^(Van der Sijs 2001)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old and Middle Dutch put a second negative beside ''nieman'', first ''ne'' or ''en'', later ''niet''; the Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal noted in 1911 that the use of ''niet'' survived in only one construction.^(VMNW)^(MNW)^(WNT) The old object forms ''niemene'' and ''niemanden'' have gone, but the genitive lives on in ''niemands'' and in [[niemandsland]].^(WNT)^(MNW)

+

+ As early as the 16th century the word appears in proverbs: ''Niemandt hinckt van een ander mans zeerte'', “nobody limps from another man's sore” (1557).^(WNT) In jest it was used as a noun for a person without character of their own, as in an 1857 verse that ends ''hij was niemand''.^(WNT) ''Niemand minder dan'', “none other than”, is probably modelled on ''niets minder dan''.^(WNT)^(Van Dale 2014) Medieval Flanders even knew a comic ''Sente Niemant'', “Saint Nobody”, the culprit no one could find.^(MNW) The word lives on in Afrikaans [[m|af|niemand]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1100 – Old Dutch ''nieman'' in the Egmond Williram.^(EWN)^(ONW)

+ * c. 1200 – Middle Dutch ''niman'' in Limburg.^(VMNW)^(Van der Sijs 2001)

+ * 1254 – ''Niemene'' in a Middelburg town law.^(EWN)

+ * 1271–1272 – The form ''niement'' appears.^(EWN)^(Van Veen & Van der Sijs 1997)

+ * 1292 – The form ''niemant'', with final ⟨t⟩.^(EWN)

+ * 1557 – The proverb ''niemandt hinckt van een ander mans zeerte''.^(WNT)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Pronoun===

+ # [[m|en|nobody]], [[m|en|no one]], not a single person.^(Van Dale 2014)^(ANW)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Niemand minder dan'': none other than, that very person.^(Van Dale 2014)^(WNT)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[niemandsland]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[iemand]]

+ * [[niets]]

+ * [[nee]]

+ * [[de|niemand]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Niemand is onvervangbaar'', “nobody is irreplaceable”, is said of someone who thinks they cannot be done without.^(Van Dale 2014)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}