LL-L 'Morphology' 2006.09.04 (01) [E]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 04 September 2006 * Volume 01
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From: 'Elsie Zinsser' [ezinsser at icon.co.za]
Subject: LL-L 'Morphology' 2006.09.02 (02) [E]

Hi all,

Ron, I think it is safe to assume that the Afrikaans "totsiens" is derived
from the Middle Dutch
"tote het sien/s" (E. til the seeing/s").

I'm wondering whether the "s" -ending is not simply a plural?

Regards,
Elsie Zinsser
(1)
Am I correctly assuming that Dutch and Afrikaans _tot_ 'till', 'until' is an
old
contraction of (*_to't_ <) *_to het_ 'to the' (neuter) and perhaps (*_to d'_
<)
*_to de_ 'to the' (masculine/feminine)? If so, I further assume that Modern
Dutch _te_ 'to' is derived from *_to_ (cf. English "to," Low Saxon _tou_,
etc.,
also "te" for "to" in various English dialects, as well as Scots _tae_
which,
however, is consistent with _stane_ 'stone', _ane_ 'one', _bane_ 'bone'
etc., cf.
Low Saxon _steyn_, _eyn_, _beyn_ respectively).

(2)
While _ziens_ -- assumedly a frozen derivative from _zien_ 'to see' -- seems
to
be nominal within this context (after _tot_), I wonder if the suffix _-s_ is
a
relic relative of Scandinavian middle voice _-s_.
This voice can be used both as a passive marker and as an active
reciprocal
marker.
Consider Danish, for instance:
_Der findes mange grunde_ "There (_finde_ 'to find') are found many
reasons"
= 'Many reasons can be found', 'There (exist =) are many (possible) reasons'
(passive)
_MÃ¥ ikke forstyrres_ "Must not be disturbed" = 'Do not disturb'
(passive)
_Tallerkenerne ryddes venligst af vejen_ "The plates are moved kindly
out
off the way" = 'Kindly put away the plates' (passive)
_Der kæmpes om pladserne_ "There was fought/struggled about the
places/seats" = 'People struggled for the seats', 'There was a
struggle/scramble
for the seats' (passive/reciprocal) [~ simple passive _Der bliver kæmpet om
pladserne_]
_Gitte og Jørgen mødtes på gaden_ 'Gitte and Jørgen (_møde_ 'to meet')
met
(each other) on the street' (reciprocal)
_I må ikke slås_ 'You mustn't (_slå_) hit each other', 'You mustn't
fight'
(reciprocal)
_Vi ses på onsdag_ 'We (_se_ 'to see') see each other on Wednesday'
(reciprocal)
NB: Many other Indo-European languages use reflexive pronouns with the
reciprocal voice, such as German _Ihr dürft EUCH nicht schlagen_ 'You
mustn't
fight (with each other)', _Man schlägt SICH nicht_ 'One doesn't fight (with
each
other)', 'Fighting isn't the done thing'.

Any thought and ideas?

Does Dutch _ziens_ have company? If so, this may reveal more about its
history.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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