LL-L 'Morphology' 2006.09.02 (02) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
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L O W L A N D S - L * 02 September 2006 * Volume 02
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From: R. F. Hahn [sassisch at yahoo.com]
Subject: Morphology

Lowlanders,

This posting straddles both "Etymology" and "Morphology."  I'm choosing the
latter because I predict that this is the direction it will take if there are any
responses.

There are two derivation-related questions for me in the brief Dutch phrase _tot
ziens_ 'so long', '_au revoir_', etc.:

(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)
     _Må 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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