ooit Dutch · revision 37269

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=compound|attested=1265–1270, Middle Dutch (Brabant)|origins=gem-pro *aiwaz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /oːi̯t/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ooit'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Middle Dutch also had ''ooint'' and ''oint'', and ''ooint'' and ''oont'' were still used in the south in the 16th and 17th centuries.^(MNW)^(WNT) Flemish dialects mostly say ''oont''.^(WNT)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|dum|oit]], a word found only in Dutch, whose origin is not settled.^(EWN)^(WNT)^(De Vries 1971) It is usually explained as a compound whose first part is [[gem-pro|*aiwaz|alt=*aiw-|t=always, ever]], which gave [[odt|io]] and [[m|dum|ie]] (see [[ieder]]).^(EWN)^(De Vries 1971)^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912) The second part would be a particle that is the same as [[fy|jit|t=still, yet]], [[ofs|ieta]] and [[ang|ġiet]] (modern [[en|yet]]); the Old English construction ⟨æfre giet⟩ “ever yet” is syntactically exactly parallel.^(EWN)^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912)^(De Vries 1971) The metre of the Life of Saint Lutgard shows that Middle Dutch still pronounced the word in two syllables, from an older ⟨*ôjit⟩.^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912)^(MNW)^(Van Veen & Van der Sijs 1997)

+

+ The ⟨oo-⟩ is the difficulty: it may come from a simplified vowel cluster in Old Dutch ⟨*io-(j)it⟩.^(EWN)^(De Vries 1971) The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal calls the origin unknown and allows that the forms with ⟨n⟩ may be the original ones.^(WNT) Middle Dutch ⟨oit⟩ was a strengthened form of ⟨ie⟩, which later went out of use and was fully replaced by the modern word in Early Modern Dutch.^(EWN)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The word is first recorded in 1265–1270 in the Life of Saint Lutgard from Brabant, in the sense “always”: ''nv ende oit'' “now and for ever”.^(EWN)^(VMNW)^(Van der Sijs 2001) In 1285 it already means “at some time (in the past)”, in ''leet dat mi oit gheviel'' “sorrow that ever befell me”.^(EWN)^(VMNW)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The meaning moved from “always” to “at some time”.^(EWN) The old sense survived into the 16th and 17th centuries (''ick hebbe v oyt gheacht'', “I have always held you”, 1555), together with the reinforced pairs ''ooit en ooit'' and ''ooit en nog'', but is now obsolete.^(WNT)^(MNW) The usual modern sense “at any time” is found of the past from 1539 (''dat ic oyt geboren was'', “that I was ever born”) and of the future by 1635.^(WNT) In the second half of the 20th century ''ooit'' began to take over from [[eens]] in sentences about a single moment.^(EWN)

+

+ In the late 20th century journalists began to use ''ooit'' after a superlative, ''de warmste zomer ooit'', a translation of English ''the … ever''.^(Van der Sijs 2005) Dutch took the word abroad to West Frisian ([[fy|oait]]), Negerhollands, Berbice Creole Dutch and Sranan Tongo ([[srn|oiti]]).^(Van der Sijs 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1265–1270 – Middle Dutch ''oit'' “always” in the Life of Saint Lutgard.^(EWN)^(Van der Sijs 2001)

+ * 1285 – ''Oit'' “at some time in the past”.^(EWN)^(VMNW)

+ * 1539 – ''Oyt'' “ever” in a question about the past.^(WNT)

+ * 1635 – ''Oyt'' of the future: ''indien ick oyt sal komen tot de trou'', “if I ever marry”.^(WNT)

+ * late 20th century – ''Ooit'' after a superlative, after English ''ever''.^(Van der Sijs 2005)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # [[m|en|ever]], at any time: ''heb jij ooit zoiets meegemaakt?''^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)

+ # At some time in the future, [[m|en|someday]]: ''ooit wil ik daar wonen''.^(Wiktionary)^(WikiWoordenboek)

+ # Once, at some time in the past.^(Wiktionary)^(WikiWoordenboek)

+ # After a superlative: of all time: ''de beste plaat ooit''.^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[nooit]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ieder]]

+ * [[en|yet]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Heb je ooit zoiets gezien?'' expresses surprise.^(Van Dale 2014) The use after a superlative is a loan translation of English ''the … ever''.^(Van der Sijs 2005)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}