boven Dutch · revision 37374

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1151–1200, Old Dutch (Rhyming Bible fragments, Werden)|origins=gem-pro *ufana-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈboː.və(n)/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''boven'''^(Wiktionary)

+ It is rarely written ''bove'', after the Holland pronunciation, and Van Mander once has ''boof'' for the metre (1597).^(WNT)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|dum|bōven]], [[inh|odt|bovan]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*biobanā]].^(Wiktionary)^(ONW)^(EWN) It was formed with the prefix [[gem-pro|*bi-]] (see [[be-]]) on an adverb “above”, still found without the prefix in Old Dutch [[m|odt|ouene]] (about 1100).^(EWN) With the prefix the word is found only in the North Sea Germanic dialects: [[osx|bioƀan]], [[gml|bōven]], [[ofs|bova]] and [[ang|beufan]], also [[m|ang|bufan]] (modern [[en|above]]).^(EWN)^(De Vries 1971)^(WNT)

+

+ Without the prefix it is [[m|osx|oƀana]], [[goh|obana]] (modern [[de|oben]]), [[m|ofs|ova]], [[m|ang|ufan]] and [[non|ofan]], from [[m|gem-pro|*ufana-|t=(from) above]].^(EWN)^(Wiktionary) This adverb was derived from ⟨*uf-⟩ “above” (as in [[got|𐌿𐍆|tr=uf]]) with the suffix ⟨*-ana⟩, which first marked direction away from a place, so that the word at first meant “from above”.^(EWN)^(WNT) With another suffix the same base gave [[over]].^(EWN)^(De Vries 1971) The formation is like that of [[binnen]], [[buiten]] and [[beneden]].^(De Vries 1971)^(Van Veen & Van der Sijs 1997)^(WNT)

+

+ The WNT rules out a direct link with [[op]], although [[m|ofs|boppa]], formed from that word, matches ⟨boven⟩ in formation and meaning.^(WNT)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The oldest records are in the Old Dutch Rhyming Bible fragments from Werden of the second half of the 12th century, as a preposition with the dative: ''bouon ther burg porten'', “above the town gate”, and ''Bôuon themo saz Cosdras'', “above it sat Chosroes”.^(EWN)^(ONW) Middle Dutch ''bouen'' is found as a preposition in ''Aiol'' (1220–1240), and as an adverb of place in the Rhyming Bible of 1285.^(EWN)^(Van der Sijs 2001)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The adverb at first meant “from a higher place”, but the WNT treats the preposition as the main use.^(WNT) It once took the dative, which survives in [[bovendien]]; in Middle Dutch and Middle Low German the accusative came in beside it, and it is the rule in modern Dutch.^(WNT) Middle Dutch could use ''boven'' where modern Dutch has ''op'': ''hi sit boven een pert'' meant “he sits on a horse”.^(MNW) In the modern language ''boven'' excludes contact while ''op'' implies it: a rider sits on his horse, a cyclist above his wheel.^(WNT)

+

+ From the 13th century the adverb also meant “higher up on the page, above in this text”, a use of charters.^(VMNW) The figurative senses, “higher in rank” and “more than”, are as old as the Rhyming Bible fragments, which speak of one who was above all the angels and so fell the deeper.^(ONW) Van Veen and Van der Sijs take ''te boven komen'' “to overcome” from sailing, where a ship ''komt een hoek te boven'' when it clears a headland.^(Van Veen & Van der Sijs 1997) In Suriname ''boven'' means upstream, and ''naar boven'' up the river, from 1684.^(Van Donselaar 1989)

+

+ Danish and Norwegian sailors took the word as a prefix for the upper parts of masts and sails.^(Van der Sijs 2010) It went into Indonesian and Javindo as ''bofen'', into Ambonese Malay, and into Negerhollands (''boven'', ''bo'') and Berbice Dutch (''bofu'').^(Van der Sijs 2010)^(Wiktionary) Afrikaans has [[m|af|bo]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1100 – Old Dutch ''ouene'' “above”, without the prefix.^(EWN)

+ * 1151–1200 – ''Bouon ther burg porten'' in the Rhyming Bible fragments.^(EWN)^(ONW)

+ * 1220–1240 – Middle Dutch ''bouen'' as a preposition in ''Aiol''.^(EWN)^(Van der Sijs 2001)

+ * 1236 – ''Boven'' in a charter from Ghent.^(VMNW)

+ * 1285 – ''Boven'' as an adverb of place in the Rhyming Bible.^(Van der Sijs 2001)

+ * 1597 – Van Mander writes ''boof'' for the metre.^(WNT)

+ * 1684 – ''Nae boven'' “upstream” in Suriname.^(Van Donselaar 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # [[m|en|above]], in a higher place: ''kijk eens naar boven''.^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)

+ # [[m|en|upstairs]], on an upper floor: ''de kinderen slapen boven''.^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)

+ # At the top: ''de naam staat boven op het formulier''.^(Van Dale 2014)

+ # At the surface: ''boven komen drijven'', to come to the surface.^(Van Dale 2014)

+ # Higher up on the page, earlier in a text: ''zoals boven vermeld''.^(Van Dale 2014)^(VMNW)

+

+ ===Preposition===

+ # Above, higher than: ''er hangt een lamp boven de tafel''.^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)

+ # More than, beyond: ''kinderen boven de twaalf jaar'';^(Van Dale 2014) ''boven zijn stand leven'', to live beyond one's means.^(Van Dale 2014)

+ # In addition to, besides.^(Van Dale 2014)

+ # ''(geography)'' [[m|en|upstream]] of.^(Van Dale 2014)

+ # ''(informal)'' North of: ''boven de rivieren''.^(Van Dale 2014)

+ # ''(nautical)'' To [[m|en|windward]] of.^(Van Dale 2014)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bovenaan]]

+ * [[bovenop]]

+ * [[bovendien]]

+ * [[bovenal]]

+ * [[bovenkant]]

+ * [[bovenste]]

+ * [[bovenverdieping]]

+ * [[daarboven]]

+ * [[hierboven]]

+ * [[bovengrens]]

+ * [[bovenleiding]]

+ * [[bovennatuurlijk]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[over]]

+ * [[binnen]]

+ * [[buiten]]

+ * [[beneden]]

+ * [[be-]]

+ * [[en|above]]

+ * [[de|oben]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Oranje boven!'' is a cheer in honour of the Dutch royal house.^(Van Dale 2014) ''Wonder boven wonder'' means “against all expectation”.^(Van Dale 2014)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}