Grammatica, episode 7: afleidingen ================================== EN: Grammatica, episode seven. Afleidingen - derivations. Here is the single best return on effort in Dutch vocabulary. You take one verb stem you already know, and you bolt prefixes onto it. Each prefix colours the meaning in a way that is mostly, though not entirely, predictable. Learn the machine once and a dozen words fall out of it. EN: The demonstration verb is schrijven, to write. Regular enough to stay out of the way: schrijven, schreef, geschreven. Watch what happens. EN: Start with the prefixes that mean exactly what they say. Op is onto - lay it onto paper. Opschrijven is to write down. NL: Schrijf het op. EN: Write it down. Uit is out, to the end - uitschrijven, to write out in full. Over is across, moving text from one place to another - overschrijven, to copy out. Terug is back - terugschrijven, to write back. Bij is alongside - bijschrijven, to add a note. And af is off, done with - afschrijven, to write someone off. NL: Ik heb hem afgeschreven. EN: I've given up on him. Six prefixes, six verbs, and you have not learned a single new stem. EN: Now two you will need for the inburgering itself. In is into the ledger. Inschrijven is to register. NL: Ik schrijf me in bij de gemeente. EN: I register with the municipality. Note the reflexive me - you inscribe yourself. And its exact undo, uitschrijven, to deregister: ik schrijf me uit bij de gemeente. If you move house in the Netherlands you will do both of these, in that order, and a clerk will say them at you quickly. EN: The bank uses the same two directions for money. Afschrijven is to debit - the money goes off. Bijschrijven is to credit - it gets added alongside. NL: Het bedrag wordt afgeschreven. Het bedrag wordt bijgeschreven. EN: The amount is debited. The amount is credited. One syllable between money leaving and money arriving, so it is worth getting right on a bank statement. EN: And afschrijven has a third life in accounting - to depreciate. De auto is in vijf jaar afgeschreven, the car is written off over five years. Same off, three different fields. EN: Some prefixes don't separate, and they change register as well as meaning. Be- turns the verb transitive: beschrijven, to describe. NL: Beschrijf de man. EN: Describe the man. Om- is around - you draw a fence around the meaning. Omschrijven is to define, or to talk around something when the word escapes you. NL: Kun je het woord omschrijven? EN: Can you define the word? And onder- is under - you sign your name underneath it. Onderschrijven is to endorse a position. That one is formal; you'd meet it in a report, not a café. EN: A warning. The prefixes are helpful, not honest. Uitschrijven means to write out in full, to deregister, and to issue - een boete uitschrijven, to write a fine. Three senses, one form, and only context separates them. Treat the prefix as a strong hint about meaning, never as a guarantee. EN: And one more oddity: ver- in its mis-do mood. Zich verschrijven means to make a slip of the pen. NL: Sorry, ik heb me verschreven. EN: Sorry, that was a typo. The same ver- does the same job in zich verspreken, to misspeak. EN: Here is the practical instruction. When you meet a new Dutch verb, don't file it as a new word. Strip the prefix, find the stem, and ask what the prefix is doing. Nine times out of ten you already knew most of it. EN: And it runs far beyond schrijven. Try the same prefixes on komen, gaan, halen, zetten, nemen. The prefixes keep their meanings. That's the whole trick - Dutch has fewer roots than English and works them much harder. EN: Today's Brueghel proverb, staying with the ledger. NL: Bij iemand in het krijt staan. NL: Bij iemand in het krijt staan. EN: Literally: to stand in someone's chalk. Meaning: to be in someone's debt. From the days when the innkeeper kept your tab in chalk on a slate - which is also where the English expression chalk it up comes from. Still current Dutch. Example: NL: Na die verhuizing sta ik flink bij mijn broer in het krijt. EN: After that move I owe my brother a great deal. EN: That's episode seven. NL: Fijne dag nog!