Moin
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Moin, moi or mojn is a Low German, Frisian, High German (Template:Lang or Template:Lang),<ref>Duden: moin [moin], Moin, [Moin]</ref> Danish (Template:Lang)<ref>Den Danske Ordbog: mojn</ref> (Template:Lang) greeting from East Frisia, Northern Germany, the eastern and northern Netherlands, Southern Jutland in Denmark and parts of Kashubia in northern Poland. The greeting is also used in Finnish.
It means "hello" and, in some places, "goodbye" too.
Usage
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Moin is used at all times of day, not just in the morning (see Etymology section below).<ref name=Nordseefische>Template:Cite book</ref> The reduplicated form moin moin is often heard,<ref>Plattmaster.de, Moinmoin - wat heet dat?. Retrieved 2011-05-31.</ref> although some authors claim it is regarded by locals as tourists' usage.<ref name=Nordseekueste>Template:Cite book</ref>
Etymology
[edit]Template:Wiktionary Due to the similarity of the words one might think that moin derives from various regional pronunciations of Template:Lang ("good morning"), which tend to alter, vocalise, or skip rg. However, the word may actually also derive from the Dutch, Frisian, and Low German word Template:Lang, meaning "beautiful" or "good".<ref name=Nordseefische /><ref name=Nordseekueste /> Similar forms in Low Saxon are Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang. Possibly, as is common in etymology, one origin is correct (from Template:Lang or Template:Lang) but spread thanks to its oral assimilation with the other term.
The Luxembourgish cognate of the word is Template:Lang, which can mean either "hi" or "morning" (Template:Lang means "good morning!"). Interestingly, in the area of Germany bordering Luxembourg, it is common to use Template:Lang, instead of Template:Lang.
Unlike Template:Lang, Template:Lang can be used at any time of day. It is semantically equivalent to the Low Saxon (Plattdüütsch) greeting Template:Lang and replaced it in many areas. In Hessen, Template:Lang is used for hello and good bye, but Template:Lang is solely used for good bye. The double form Template:Lang is also used as an all day greeting in for example Flensburg that belonged to Denmark until 1864.
In Finland, a similar greeting Template:Lang (Template:IPA) is used for "hello", "hi" in the Finnish language. It may have been borrowed from German in the 19th century. The earliest records of the word occur in Southeast Finland, which had strong connection through Viipuri to partially German-speaking Estonia and Latvia.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> However, Template:Lang is 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. Template:Lang's use is identical to that of Template:Lang: diminutive forms Template:Lang and Template:Lang, and duplication as a good bye.
Template:Lang is found in some parts of Finland and has also been used in the same way as Template:Lang. It is theorised that it comes from Tampere due to its large number of foreign workers and like Template:Lang has been borrowed from morrow and abbreviated.
Template:Lang is also used in Dutch Low Saxon dialects in the eastern part of the provinces Groningen and Drenthe.