paar Dutch · revision 37268

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1270, Middle Dutch (Bruges)|origins=la pār}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /paːr/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''paar''' ''n'' (plural paren, diminutive paartje n)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|dum|paer]], [[bor|la|pār|t=a pair; an equal]], the noun use of the adjective [[m|la|pār|alt=pār|t=equal]], whose further origin is unknown.^(EWN)^(VMNW)^(Wiktionary) The same loan is [[gml|pâr]], [[goh|pār|t=equal]] and [[gmh|pār|t=pair]] (modern [[de|Paar]]); the High German word shows that it was taken over after the High German consonant shift.^(De Vries 1971)^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912)^(De Vries & De Tollenaere 2004|277) [[non|par]] came from Middle Low German.^(De Vries 1971)^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912)

+

+ [[en|pair]] has a different source, [[fr|paire]], from [[la|pāria|t=equal things]], the neuter plural of the same adjective; a rare Middle Dutch ⟨pâre⟩ may come from the French word.^(De Vries 1971)^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912) The vowel was lengthened before ⟨r⟩, as usual in Middle Dutch.^(MNW) The adjective “even (in number)” was formed from the noun, after French [[m|fr|pair]] in ⟨pair ou impair⟩;^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912)^(De Vries & De Tollenaere 2004|277)^(Van Veen & Van der Sijs 1997) Van Veen and Van der Sijs compare Middle Dutch [[m|dum|pareren|t=to belong with]].^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912)^(De Vries & De Tollenaere 2004|277)^(Van Veen & Van der Sijs 1997)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The oldest record is from Bruges in 1270, in ''een par anscoen'' “a pair of gloves”: the first sense is two things that belong together.^(EWN)^(VMNW) In 1278 a Ghent text records 25 pairs of shoes owed at All Saints, and in 1287 the word is used of a male and a female vulture.^(VMNW)^(EWN)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Already in the 13th century ''paer'' could mean a set of more than two, as in ''drie paer'' of clothes (1286) or beams, and a row, as in ''drie par tande'' “three rows of teeth” (1285).^(EWN)^(VMNW) A team of two draught animals is recorded in 1291–1300, five yoke of oxen.^(EWN) Middle Dutch also used the word for one's equal or match, and for one of a mated couple, a man's wife or an animal's mate, senses the Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal calls obsolete.^(MNW)^(WNT) ''Een paer letteren'' was a single letter.^(MNW)

+

+ As an indefinite numeral, “a few”, ''paar'' appears in the 18th century: ''geen paar oortjes waard'', “not worth a couple of farthings”, in 1732, and ''een paar uur wandelen'' in 1784.^(EWN)^(Van der Sijs 2001) The verb [[paren]] “to join in pairs” dates from 1573, and “to mate” from 1634.^(EWN)

+

+ The noun was borrowed into Negerhollands, Sranan Tongo ([[srn|par]]), Saramaccan, Surinamese Javanese, Manado and Ambonese Malay, where ''par'' is also a couple dancing together.^(Van der Sijs 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1270 – Middle Dutch ''par'' in ''een par anscoen'' “a pair of gloves”, in Bruges.^(EWN)^(VMNW)

+ * 1285 – ''Drie par tande'' “three rows of teeth”.^(EWN)

+ * 1287 – ''Een par ghiere'', a male and a female vulture.^(EWN)^(VMNW)

+ * 1573 – The verb ''paren'' “to join in pairs”.^(EWN)

+ * 1632 – The adjective ''paer'' “equal”.^(WNT)

+ * 1732 – ''Paar'' as an indefinite numeral: ''geen paar oortjes waard''.^(EWN)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|pair]]: two things that belong together: ''twee paar sokken''.^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[m|en|couple]]: two people who belong together, such as lovers or a married couple: ''het bruidspaar''.^(Van Dale 2014)^(WikiWoordenboek)

+ # ''(een paar)'' A few, a small number: ''over een paar weken''.^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(predicative)'' [[m|en|even]], of a number divisible by two.^(Van Dale 2014)^(WNT)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[paren]]

+ * [[bruidspaar]]

+ * [[echtpaar]]

+ * [[danspaar]]

+ * [[paarsgewijs]]

+ * [[onpaar]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|pair]]

+ * [[de|Paar]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Dat is een ander paar mouwen'' means “that is a different matter”.^(Van Dale 2014) In Surinamese Dutch ''paar'' is also the person one walks beside in a row of twos.^(Van Donselaar 1989)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}