ding Dutch · revision 37296

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=901–1000, Wachtendonck Psalms|origins=gem-pro *þingą}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /dɪŋ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ding''' ''n'' (plural dingen, diminutive dingetje n)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|dum|dinc]], [[inh|odt|thing]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*þing]], [[inh|gem-pro|*þingą|alt=*þinga-|t=meeting, case, thing]].^(EWN)^(Wiktionary)^(Kroonen 2013) The same word is [[osx|thing|t=lawsuit, matter]], [[goh|ding|t=court, lawsuit, thing]] (modern [[de|Ding]]), [[ofs|thing|t=lawsuit, charge, thing]] (modern [[fy|ding]]), [[ang|þing|t=assembly, thing]] (modern [[en|thing]]) and [[non|þing|t=court, place of assembly]] (modern [[sv|ting]]).^(EWN)^(De Vries 1971)^(Kroonen 2013) With an ⟨s⟩ suffix there are [[lng|thinx|t=legal grant]] and the name of the god Mars Thingsus, which is connected with [[dinsdag]].^(EWN)^(De Vries 1971)^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912)

+

+ The original sense was probably “appointed time”: with a change of consonant the word is related to [[got|𐌸𐌴𐌹𐌷𐍃|tr=þeihs|t=time]], so that the meaning would have run from “fixed time” to “meeting held at a fixed time”, the popular assembly and court, then to “lawsuit”, “matter” and “thing”.^(EWN)^(Kroonen 2013)^(Van Veen & Van der Sijs 1997)^(De Vries & De Tollenaere 2004|104) In the same way [[fr|chose|t=thing]] comes from [[la-med|causa|t=lawsuit, matter]], and [[zaak]] went through the same development.^(EWN)^(MNW) De Vries argued the other way round, that the assembly came first and its fixed time later, and mentioned Trier's view that the word first meant an enclosed sacred place.^(De Vries 1971)

+

+ The Germanic forms are traced to [[ine-pro|*tenk-]].^(EWN)^(Kroonen 2013) The EWN takes this as an extension, found only in Germanic, of the root ⟨*ten-⟩ “to stretch”, of [[dun]], with time seen as a span;^(EWN)^(Kroonen 2013)^(Wiktionary) Kroonen and Wiktionary derive the word from the verb [[gem-pro|*þinhaną|t=to be suitable, to succeed]], so that the first sense was “suitable time”.^(EWN)^(Kroonen 2013)^(Wiktionary) Vercoullie compared [[la|tempus|t=time]].^(Vercoullie 1925)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The plural ''thing'' appears in the Wachtendonck Psalms of the 10th century, for instance ''idele thing'' “vain things” for Latin ''inania''; in a text of about 1100 from Egmond a writer asks the prophets and apostles for counsel in ''mines thingas'', “my affair”.^(ONW)^(EWN)^(Van der Sijs 2001) In Middle Dutch ''alle dinc'' “all things, everything” is found in Limburg around 1200.^(EWN)^(VMNW)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Middle Dutch used the word for matters and affairs (1236), property (1237), lawsuits (1290) and work (1300), and also for a court of law, about 1350;^(EWN)^(VMNW)^(MNW) ''te dinghe'' was “at the court session”.^(EWN)^(VMNW)^(MNW) The legal sense was rare in Middle Dutch, though common in Middle Low German; the Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal quotes it from 1522 and calls it obsolete, but it lives on in [[geding]] “lawsuit” and in [[dingen]] “to haggle”.^(MNW)^(WNT)^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912) Already in Middle Dutch the word could be used of a living being, as it still is of a girl.^(MNW)^(Van Dale 2014)

+

+ By the 18th century ''ding'' named an object one has no name for (1714) or speaks of with contempt (1865).^(WNT) ''Alle goede dingen bestaan in drieën'' “all good things come in threes” has been connected with the role of three in old law: there were three regular court sessions, and a proper session lasted three days.^(Stoett 1923)^(Van Veen & Van der Sijs 1997) ''Je eigen ding doen'' is a translation of English “to do your own thing”.^(Van der Sijs 2005)

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+ The word passed through Afrikaans into South African English ''ding'', and Berbice Creole Dutch has ''dinggi''.^(Van der Sijs 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 901–1000 – ''Thing'' “things” in the Wachtendonck Psalms.^(ONW)^(EWN)^(Van der Sijs 2001)

+ * c. 1200 – Middle Dutch ''alle dinc'' “everything”.^(EWN)^(VMNW)

+ * 1236 – ''Dingen'' “matters”.^(EWN)

+ * 1290 – ''Dinc'' “lawsuits”.^(EWN)

+ * c. 1350 – ''Dinc'' “court of justice”.^(EWN)

+ * 1522 – Dingen “legal proceedings” in a legal text.^(WNT)

+ * 1714 – An object one cannot name.^(WNT)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|thing]], an [[m|en|object]]: ''Wat is dat voor een raar ding?''^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A matter, fact or circumstance: ''Er zijn dingen die je niet kunt uitleggen.'' ''Zijn ding doen'' is to do what one is good at or expected to do.^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(informal)'' A young person, usually a girl: ''een lekker ding''.^(Van Dale 2014)^(WikiWoordenboek)

+ # ''(informal)'' The [[m|en|penis]].^(Van Dale 2014)^(WikiWoordenboek)

+ # ''(historical)'' The [[m|en|assembly]] of free men among the early Germanic peoples, which also served as a court.^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[dinges]]

+ * [[dingen]]

+ * [[dingspel]]

+ * [[dingwoord]]

+ * [[onding]]

+ * [[dingdag]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[geding]]

+ * [[dinsdag]]

+ * [[en|thing]]

+ * [[de|Ding]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In Flanders ''ding'' is also a predicative adjective, “friendly” (1911), and ''ding van iets zijn'' is to be in some mood about something that one cannot or will not name.^(WNT)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}