Moin,moiormojnis aLow German,Frisian,High German (moin [moin]orMoin, [Moin]),[1]Danish(mojn)[2](mòjn) greeting fromEast Frisia,Northern Germany,the eastern and northern Netherlands,Southern Jutlandin Denmark and parts ofKashubiain northern Poland.
Usage
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Moinis used at all times of day, not just in the morning (see Etymology section below).[3]Thereduplicatedformmoin moinis often heard,[4]although some authors claim it is regarded by locals as tourists' usage.[5]
Etymology
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Due to the similarity of the words one might think thatmoinderives from various regional pronunciations of(Guten) Morgen( "good morning" ), which tend to alter, vocalise, or skiprg.However, the word may actually also derive from theDutch,Frisian, and Low German wordmo(o)i,meaning "beautiful" or "good".[3][5]Similar forms in Low Saxon aremooien Dag,mooien Abend,mooien Mor(g)en.Possibly, as is common in etymology, one origin is correct (either fromMorgenormooi) but spread thanks to its oral assimilation with the other term.
TheLuxembourgishcognateof the word ismoien,which can mean either "hi" or "morning" (gudde Moien!means "good morning!" ). Interestingly, in the area of Germany bordering Luxembourg, it is common to usemoin,instead ofmoien.
UnlikeGuten Morgen,moincan be used at any time of day. It is semantically equivalent to the Low Saxon (Plattdüütsch) greetingDaggand replaced it in many areas. In Hessen,mojnis used for hello and good bye, butmojn mojnis solely used for good bye. The double formMoin Moinis also used as an all day greeting in for exampleFlensburgthat belonged to Denmark until 1864.
Moi
editInFinland,a similar greetingmoi(pronounced[ˈmoi̯]) is used for "hello", "hi" in theFinnish language.However,moi moiis used as a good bye, similarly to "bye bye" in English, even with a similar intonation. Both are particularly typical of Southwestern Finnish, but through internal migration spread to the capital and with the help of TV to the rest of the language area.Moi's use is identical to that ofhei:diminutive formsheippaandmoikka,and duplication as a good bye.Southwest Finlandtraded with Hanseatic cities, so it is plausible that the greeting was borrowed from their dialects.
Morois found in some parts of Finland and has also been used in the same way asmoi.It is theorised that it comes fromTamperedue to its large number of foreign workers and likemoihas been borrowed frommorrowand abbreviated.
Moiis also used in DutchLow Saxondialects in the eastern part of the provincesGroningenandDrenthe.
See also
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- ^Duden:moin [moin], Moin, [Moin]
- ^Den Danske Ordbog:mojn
- ^abut Westerend, Volker (2004).Nordseefische gehen auf Wurm: Schöne Ferien an der Waterkant. Der lustigste Urlaubsratgeber am plattdeutschen Strand(in German). BoD – Books on Demand. pp. 11–12.ISBN3-8334-0025-0.Retrieved2011-05-31.
- ^Plattmaster.de,Moinmoin - wat heet dat?.Retrieved 2011-05-31.
- ^abBormann, Andreas (2005).Nordseeküste Schleswig-Holstein(in German) (2nd ed.). Mair Dumont Marco Polo. p. 15.ISBN3-8297-0302-3.Retrieved2011-05-31.