gij
DutchEdit
Alternative formsEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Middle Dutch gī, ghi, from Old Dutch gī, from Proto-Germanic *jīz, Northwest Germanic variant of *jūz, from Proto-Indo-European *yū́. Doublet of jij.
Compare also Low German ji, jie, English ye, German ihr.
PronunciationEdit
PronounEdit
gij
- (dialectal, colloquial) you
- Motte gij nog een pilske?
- Do you want another beer?
- (archaic, literary, religious) thou
- Gij zult niet doden.
- Thou shalt not kill.
- 1947, J.A.A. van Doorn, quoting Simon Spoor, [untitled address to Dutch troops][1], quoted in Gevangen in de tijd. Over generaties en hun geschiedenis, Amsterdam: Boom, published 2002, →ISBN, page 28:
- Gij rukt niet op om aan dit land den oorlog te brengen, maar om het de vrede te hergeven.
- You are not advancing to bring war to this country, but to restore peace to it.
Usage notesEdit
- In most of the Netherlands, the personal pronoun gij and its variants are now mainly used in religious context and are otherwise considered archaic. In Belgium and the southern Netherlands, gij is still the go-to second-person singular in colloquial language; in formal written language it is not used unless the referred second person is "God" or the "king".
- The best translation when used in archaic contexts would be thou; when used in Belgium or the southern Netherlands, it would typically be a familiar you (singular), like tu in French. Unlike in English, gij usually takes the same verb form as jij except when there is inversion or with some irregular verbs or in the past tense. Compare heb jij dit gedaan? versus hebt gij dit gedaan? (have you / hast thou done this?). Also: jij zal versus gij zult (you shall/will / thou shalt/wilt), jij bent versus gij zijt (you are / thou art), jij vloog versus gij vloogt (you flew / thou flewest) etc.
InflectionEdit
| subject | object | possessive | reflexive | genitive5 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | full | unstr. | full | unstr. | full | unstr. | pred. | ||
| 1st person | ik | 'k1 | mij | me | mijn | m'n1 | mijne | me | mijner, mijns |
| 2nd person | jij | je | jou | je | jouw | je | jouwe | je | jouwer, jouws |
| 2nd person archaic or regiolectal | gij | ge | u | – | uw | – | uwe | u | uwer, uws |
| 2nd person formal | u | – | u | – | uw | – | uwe | zich | uwer, uws |
| 3rd person masculine | hij | ie1 | hem | 'm1 | zijn | z'n1 | zijne | zich | zijner, zijns |
| 3rd person feminine | zij | ze | haar | h'r1, 'r1, d'r1 | haar | h'r1, 'r1, d'r1 | hare | zich | harer, haars |
| 3rd person neuter | het | 't1 | het | 't1 | zijn | z'n1 | zijne | zich | zijner, zijns |
| plural | |||||||||
| 1st person | wij | we | ons | – | ons, onze2 | – | onze | ons | onzer, onzes |
| 2nd person | jullie | je | jullie | je | jullie | je | – | je | – |
| 2nd person archaic or regiolectal6 | gij | ge | u | – | uw | – | uwe | u | uwer, uws |
| 2nd person formal | u | – | u | – | uw | – | uwe | zich | uwer, uws |
| 3rd person | zij | ze | hen3, hun4 | ze | hun | – | hunne | zich | hunner, huns |
| 1) Not as common in written language. 2) Inflected as an adjective. 3) In prescriptivist use, used only as direct object (accusative). 4) In prescriptivist use, used only as indirect object (dative). |
5) Archaic. Nowadays used for formal, literary or poetic purposes, and in fixed expressions. 6) To differentiate from the singular gij, and in a similar vein to "you lot" or "you guys" in English, it is common to use gijlui ("you people") or gijlieden ("you people") or one of their contracted variants, and their corresponding objects, possessives and reflexives, in the plural. | ||||||||
Related termsEdit
ZhuangEdit
PronunciationEdit
- (Standard Zhuang) IPA(key): /ki˥/
- Tone numbers: gi3
- Hyphenation: gij
Etymology 1Edit
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “from 幾?”)
ClassifierEdit
gij (Sawndip forms 𰂌 or 几 or 其 or 鳮 or 启, 1957–1982 spelling giз)
- Classifier for abstract nouns.
- Classifier for a group of objects.
- Derives a noun from a verb.
Derived termsEdit
Etymology 2Edit
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “from Proto-Tai *C̬.qɯjꟲ (“excrement”)?”)
NounEdit
gij (1957–1982 spelling giз)
Etymology 3Edit
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “from 舉?”)
VerbEdit
gij (1957–1982 spelling giз)