wie

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See also: Wie, wië, and wîe

Acehnese

Pronunciation

Noun

wie

  1. left (direction)

References

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch wie.

Pronunciation

  • Audio:(file)

Pronoun

wie

  1. (interrogative, personal) who, whom (object use predominantly with vir)
    Coordinate term: (non-personal) wat
    Wie het jou gesien? ― Who saw you?
    (Vir) wie het jy gesien? ― Whom did you see?
  2. (relative, personal, after prepositions) whom
    Synonyms: (also non-personal) waar-, (with stranded preposition) wat
    die man met wie ek gespreek het ― the man with whom I spoke
  3. (relative, personal, before se) whose
    Coordinate term: (non-personal) wat
    die man wie se vrou dood is ― the man whose wife died

Usage notes

  • For speakers of Dutch there is a rather simple rule for the use of Afrikaans relative pronouns: Where Dutch uses wie, use the same. Where Dutch uses die, dat, wat, waar, use wat. In possessive constructions use wie se with persons and wat se with things.
  • Relative wie with a personal referent in contexts other than the above-mentioned does occasionally occur. However, this is considered nonstandard and an anglicism.

See also

    Afrikaans interrogative and relative pronouns
interrogative relative
personal other personal other
subject / object wie wat wat
possessive wie se wat se wie se wat se
with
preposition 		prepositioned met wie met wat met wie —
stranded wat ... mee wat … mee
adverbial waarmee waarmee

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch wie, from Old Dutch wie, from Proto-West Germanic *hwaʀ, from Proto-Germanic *hwaz, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷos.

Pronunciation

Pronoun

wie

  1. (interrogative, subjective or objective) who, whom
    Wie is daar?
    Who’s there?
    Wie heb jij gezien?
    Whom did you see?
  2. (relative, subjective or objective) who, whom; the one who, whoever
    Wie dit leest is geletterd.
    The one who reads this is literate.
    De receptionist aan wie ik het pakket heb afgegeven, werkte er pas net.
    The receptionist to whom I handed over the parcel had only recently started working there.

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Afrikaans: wie
  • Berbice Creole Dutch: wi
  • Jersey Dutch: wî
  • Negerhollands: wie, awi, awidi, widi

Anagrams

German

Etymology

From Middle High German wie, a merger of two interrelated forms: 1.) Old High German hwio, from older hwēo, from Proto-Germanic *hwaiwa; cognate with Gothic 𐍈𐌰𐌹𐍅𐌰 (ƕaiwa). 2.) Old High German hwē, hwie, from Proto-Germanic *hwē; cognate with Gothic 𐍈𐌴 (ƕē). The latter is a variant of Proto-Germanic *hwī, whence English why, and is further a fossilized instrumental case of *hwaz, *hwat (“who, what”). Form 1 is also related to this stem.

Pronunciation

Adverb

wie

  1. how
    Wie groß bist du?
    How tall are you?
    Ich weiß nicht, wie die Katze hereingekommen ist.
    I don't know how the cat got in.
    Wie wunderbar!
    How wonderful!

Conjunction

wie

  1. like
    Freunde sind wie Sterne in der Nacht.
    Friends are like stars in the night.
  2. as
    Wie ihr wisst, bin ich in Dortmund aufgewachsen.
    As you know, I grew up in Dortmund.
    Ich bin so schnell wie du.
    I’m as fast as you are.
  3. (colloquial, nonstandard) than
    Der Junge ist größer wie sein Vater.
    The boy is taller than his father.
  4. (chiefly colloquial) when (referring to the past)
    Ich hab ihn gesehen, wie ich in Köln war.
    I saw him when I was in Cologne.
    Wie ich zur Tür herauskomme, steht da mein alter Schulfreund.
    When I came out the door, my old school-day friend was standing in front of me.

Synonyms

  • (when, than): als (more properly standard)

Further reading

Hunsrik

Alternative forms

  • wii (Wiesemann spelling system)

Etymology

From Middle High German wie, a merger of two interrelated forms: 1.) Old High German hwio, from older hwēo, from Proto-Germanic *hwaiwa; cognate with Gothic 𐍈𐌰𐌹𐍅𐌰 (ƕaiwa). 2.) Old High German hwē, hwie, from Proto-Germanic *hwē; cognate with Gothic 𐍈𐌴 (ƕē). The latter is a variant of Proto-Germanic *hwī, whence English why, and is further a fossilized instrumental case of *hwaz, *hwat (“who, what”). Form 1 is also related to this stem.

Pronunciation

Adverb

wie

  1. how
    Wie schreibd-ma das?
    How do you spell that?

Conjunction

wie

  1. like
    Sie brilld wie en Kind.
    She cries like a child.
  2. as
  3. than
    Er is schun greser wie ich.
    He's already bigger than me.
  4. when (referring to the past)
    Wie-ich en Kind waar
    When I was a child

Synonyms

  • (when, than): als

Further reading

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch wie, from earlier wē, *hwē, from Proto-West Germanic *hwaʀ, from Proto-Germanic *hwaz.

Pronunciation

Pronoun

wie

  1. who

Descendants

Further reading

Middle Low German

Pronunciation

Pronoun

wie

  1. (interrogative pronoun) Alternative form of wê.
  2. (personal pronoun) Alternative form of wî.

Old Dutch

Etymology

From earlier wē, *hwē, from Proto-West Germanic *hwaʀ, from Proto-Germanic *hwaz.

Pronoun

wie

  1. who

Alternative forms

Descendants

Further reading

  • “wie (I)”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012

Pennsylvania German

Etymology

From Middle High German wie, a merger of two interrelated forms: 1.) Old High German hwio, from older hwēo, from Proto-Germanic *hwaiwa; cognate with Gothic 𐍈𐌰𐌹𐍅𐌰 (ƕaiwa). 2.) Old High German hwē, hwie, from Proto-Germanic *hwē; cognate with Gothic 𐍈𐌴 (ƕē). The latter is a variant of Proto-Germanic *hwī, whence English why, and is further a fossiled instrumental case of *hwaz, *hwat (“who, what”). Form 1 is also related to this stem. Compare German wie.

Adverb

wie

  1. (interrogatory) how
    Wie weess mer as es warricklich Friehyaahr iss?
    How do we know that it really is spring?

Plautdietsch

Etymology

From German Low German wi, from Middle Low German wi.

Pronoun

wie

  1. we
    Wäa wie sent.
    Who we are.

Antonyms

See also

Further reading

Polish

Pronunciation

Verb

wie

  1. third-person singular present of wiedzieć

Saterland Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian wī, from Proto-West Germanic *wiʀ. Cognates include West Frisian wy and German wir.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /vi/
  • Hyphenation: wie
  • Rhymes: -i

Pronoun

wie (oblique uus)

  1. we

See also

Saterland Frisian personal pronouns
singular plural
1st 2nd 3rd m 3rd f 3rd n 1st 2nd 3rd
stressed iek du hie ju dät wie jie jo
unstressed er ze et ze
objective mie die him hier dät uus jou hier

References

  • Marron C. Fort (2015) “wie”, in Saterfriesisches Wörterbuch mit einer phonologischen und grammatischen Übersicht, Buske, →ISBN

Yola

Preposition

wie

  1. Alternative form of wee (“with”)
    • 1867, “A YOLA ZONG”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 12, page 88:
      Than stalket, an gandelt, wie o! an gridane.
      Then stalked and wondered, with oh! and with grief.

References

  • Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 88
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