vraag Dutch · revision 37276

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1240, Middle Dutch (Limburg)|origins=ine-pro *preḱ-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /vraːx/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''vraag''' ''f'' (plural vragen, diminutive vraagje n)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|dum|vrâghe]], [[inh|odt|*frāga]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*frāgu]], [[inh|gem-pro|*frēgō|t=question]].^(Wiktionary)^(Kroonen 2013) The same noun is [[gml|vrāge]], [[goh|frāga]] (modern [[de|Frage]]) and [[ofs|frēge]].^(De Vries 1971)^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912)^(De Vries & De Tollenaere 2004)

+

+ De Vries, Franck–Van Wijk and the Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek treat the noun as belonging to the verb [[vragen]].^(De Vries 1971)^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912)^(VMNW) Kroonen sees it the other way round: the noun was formed from the lengthened grade of the strong verb [[m|gem-pro|*frehnaną|t=to ask]] and was itself the base of the weak verb [[m|goh|frāgēn]], [[osx|frāgon]].^(Kroonen 2013) The strong verb survives in [[m|osx|fregnan]], [[ang|frignan]] and [[non|fregna]], whose ⟨n⟩ first marked the present tense.^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912) The root is [[ine-pro|*preḱ-|t=to ask]], also found in [[la|precor|t=to pray]] and [[m|la|prex|t=prayer]] and [[lt|prašýti|t=to ask]];^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912)^(Kroonen 2013) Dutch [[vorsen]] belongs to the same root.^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912)^(Kroonen 2013)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Middle Dutch ''vrage'' is first recorded about 1240 in a Limburg glossary, where ''urage'' translates Latin ''questio'' “question”.^(VMNW)^(De Vries & De Tollenaere 2004|420) In 1276 a Brabant text says that Beatrijs asked the question she wished to have answered.^(VMNW)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Besides a request for information, Middle Dutch ''vrage'' already meant a problem or matter for discussion: in a 14th-century text the speaker tells the queen that her question is too hard for him.^(MNW) Early modern catechisms and dialogues are built on ''vraghe'' and ''antwoorde'', and in 1548 the word names the rhetorical figure of the question, after Latin ''interrogatio''.^(WNT) In economics ''vraag'' is “demand”.^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The sense “issue, social problem”, as in ''de vragen van de dag'', is a germanism after German ''Frage'', recorded in dictionaries from the 1950s.^(Theissen 1978)^(Van der Sijs 2005) The proverb ''met vragen komt men te Rome'', that asking gets one anywhere, goes back to the 16th century, when ''met vraghen gaetmen verre'' “by asking one goes far” is recorded.^(Stoett 1923)

+

+ Van der Sijs derives [[sv|fråga]] from Dutch or Low German, and the word went into Sranan Tongo ([[m|srn|frâg]]).^(Van der Sijs 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1240 – ''Urage'' glosses Latin ''questio'' in Limburg.^(VMNW)

+ * 1276 – A Brabant text tells of a question asked by Beatrijs.^(VMNW)

+ * 1340 – ''Vraghe'' in the sense “difficult problem”.^(MNW)

+ * 1548 – ''Interrogatie oft vraghe'', the rhetorical question.^(WNT)

+ * 1950s – ''Vraag'' “issue, problem” after German ''Frage'' enters the dictionaries.^(Theissen 1978)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|question]], something one asks to learn something: ''mag ik je iets vragen? Ik heb één vraag'', may I ask you something? I have one question.^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A question set as a task, in a test or quiz: ''een open vraag'', a question without suggested answers.^(Van Dale 2014)

+ # A matter, [[m|en|issue]] or problem: ''het is de vraag of …'', it is doubtful whether ….^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(economics)'' [[m|en|demand]] for goods and services.^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[vraagteken]]

+ * [[vraagstuk]]

+ * [[vraagbaak]]

+ * [[vraagzin]]

+ * [[vraagstelling]]

+ * [[hamvraag]]

+ * [[strikvraag]]

+ * [[hoofdvraag]]

+ * [[schuldvraag]]

+ * [[prijsvraag]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[navraag]]

+ * [[vragen]]

+ * [[de|Frage]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Door vragen wordt men wijs'', one learns by asking, is found in the 17th century in Vondel, and Cats has ''met vragen wort men wijs''.^(Stoett 1923)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}