Moin

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For other uses, see Moin (disambiguation).

Moin (pronounced [ˈmɔɪn]) is a Frisian and Low German greeting from East Frisia, Southern Schleswig (including North Frisia and Flensburg), Bremen, Hamburg, Kiel, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the eastern and northern Netherlands and Southern Jutland in Denmark, meaning "hello" and in some places "goodbye".

Usage

Its use spread during the first half of the 20th century over the whole of northern Schleswig-Holstein; it is also used in the Danish dialect Southern Jutish and some Finland Swedish dialects, where it is spelled "mojn".

Moin is used at all times of day, not just in the morning.[1] The reduplicated form moin moin is often heard,[2] although some authors claim it is regarded by locals as tourists' usage.[3]

The German comic character Werner always greets with Moin.

Etymology

Look up moin in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Although many people think that moin derives from (Guten) Morgen ("Good Morning"), the word actually derives from the Dutch, Frisian, and Low German word mo(o)i, meaning "beautiful" or "good".[1][3] Similar forms in Low Saxon are mooien Dag, mooien Abend, mooien Mor(g)en. Moin is semantically equivalent to the Low Saxon (Plattdüütsch) greeting Dagg and replaced it in many areas. Therefore, unlike Guten Morgen, moin can be used 24 hours a day. In Southern Jutish, mojn is used for hello and good bye, but mojn mojn is solely used for good bye. The double form is also used as a greeting in the Swedish region of Scania that belonged to Denmark until 1658.

Moi

In Finland, a similar greeting moi (pronounced [ˈmoi]) is used for "hello", "hi" in the Finnish language. However, "moi moi" is used as a good bye, similarly as "bye bye" in English, even with a similar intonation. Both are particularly typical of Southwestern Finnish, but through internal migration to capital from there with the help of TV spread to rest of the language area. Moi's use is identical to hei: diminutive form of heippa & moikka, and the duplication as a good bye. Finland Proper made commerce with Hanseatic cities, so it is plausible that the greeting was borrowed from their dialects.

"Moi" is also used in Frisian Gronings dialect.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 ut 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. ISBN 3-8334-0025-0. Retrieved 2011-05-31. 
  2. ↑ Plattmaster.de, Moinmoin - wat heet dat?. Retrieved 2011-05-31.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Bormann, Andreas (2005). Nordseeküste Schleswig-Holstein (in German) (2nd ed.). Mair Dumont Marco Polo. p. 15. ISBN 3-8297-0302-3. Retrieved 2011-05-31. 

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