sijn

Sijn is a historical or archaic spelling of the Dutch verb zijn, meaning "to be." It appears in older Dutch texts from the medieval and early modern periods and is no longer used in standard contemporary Dutch.

Historical usage and context

In Middle Dutch and Early Modern Dutch, various spellings of the infinitive existed, including sīn and sijn. Over time, Dutch orthography was increasingly standardized, and the modern infinitive form became zijn. The shift reflects broader changes in Dutch spelling and type conventions that occurred from the 16th through the 18th centuries.

Orthography and standardization

The transition to the modern spelling system was influenced by efforts to regularize Dutch spelling and pronunciation. Sijn persisted in printed material for some time, especially in texts aiming to imitate older styles or in regional or manuscript traditions that retained historic forms. Today, sijn is recognized primarily as a linguistic or palaeographic variant rather than a living form in everyday Dutch.

Relation to other languages

Sijn is cognate with the modern Dutch zijn, the German sein, and the English be. These forms share a common Germanic origin, descending from Proto-Germanic roots linked to the concept of existence or being.

Contemporary status

In present-day Dutch, sijn is not used in standard writing. It may appear in scholarly discussions of historical Dutch orthography, in reproductions of historical texts, or in stylistic recreations that aim to evoke earlier periods.

See also

Zijn, Dutch orthography, Middle Dutch, Early Modern Dutch.