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<span class="fryas">THÀT</span>, <span class="fryas">THAT</span> or <span class="fryas">THET</span> are used as (neuter-singular) article, demonstrative, conjuntion or relative pronoun. It equates with English ''that'' and ''the'', Dutch 'dat' and ''het'' and German ''daß/dass''<ref>''daß'' is traditional, ''dass'' more modern spelling</ref> and ''das''. | <span class="fryas">THÀT</span>, <span class="fryas">THAT</span> or <span class="fryas">THET</span> are used as (neuter-singular) article, demonstrative, conjuntion or relative pronoun. It equates with English ''that'' and ''the'', Dutch ''dat'' and ''het'' and German ''daß/dass''<ref>''daß'' is traditional, ''dass'' more modern spelling</ref> and ''das''. | ||
Example: | Example: | ||
Revision as of 11:41, 30 January 2024
THÀT, THAT or THET are used as (neuter-singular) article, demonstrative, conjuntion or relative pronoun. It equates with English that and the, Dutch dat and het and German daß/dass[1] and das.
Example:
- IK WÉT ~ THÀT.ER[2] THÀT HUS [VRJET] ~ THÀT.ER BUWAD HETH.
- I wit ~ that(1) he [forgets] that(2) house ~ that(3) he has built.
- Ik weet ~ dat(1) hij dat(2) huis [vergeet] ~ dat(3) hij heeft gebouwd.
- Ich weiß ~ daß/dass(1) er das(2)[3] Haus [vergisst] ~ das(3) er gebaut hat.
| English | Dutch | German |
|---|---|---|
| (1) conjunction | voegwoord | Konjunktion |
| (2) demonstrative (pronoun) | aanwijzend voornaamwoord | Demonstrativum |
| (3) relative pronoun | betrekkelijk voornaamwoord | Relativpronomen |
Spelling variety
Whereas THET can easily be distinguished in the manuscript from THAT/THÀT, it's often hard to tell whether the copyist intended to write A or À. Therefore, the following distribution of frequency of use is an estimation (total n=955):
THÀT 53% ( n=506), THAT 36% (n=348), THET 11% (n=101).[4]
From other word studies it is known that À and E are often used interchangeably, which suggests that pronunciation will have been similar.
To gauge whether a certain spelling may have been preferred in particular combinations (of sounds?), a sample of common two-word combinations was made. Note that THET is used relatively often in the expression THET FORMA (at first): 6 times versus 8 times THÀT and the unaccented THAT seems to be more common in the combination THAT WI (that we): 17 times versus 11 times THÀT WI.
Consistency
Before one preferred spelling is chosen (perhaps differentiated by use as conjunction, demonstrative or relative pronoun), further research is desirable.
In certain texts that seem to have been copied with care, different spellings seem to have been used for different uses of the word, for example:
notes
- ↑ daß is traditional, dass more modern spelling
- ↑ Or: THÀT HI.
- ↑ In German demonstrative is the same as the article. To stress it in written language, da can be added: "Das Haus da." (In spoken language, one would simply point a finger.)
- ↑ Figures include compounds like THATSTE, NÉITHAT. The unedited varieties were counted.