| There is a word for "love" in dutch; it's the noun "liefde" (of which lieve is an adjective).
However you cannot use "liefde" as a verb, hence my question if this is the case in Deitsch as they are related languages within the Germanic language family. Usually in dutch we use
"houden van" -> To hold (dearly). But with our grammar the word "houden" may also literally mean to hold. "Ik hou een hamer vast (in mijn hand)." -> "I hold a hammer (fastened in my hand)".
In dutch this is considered a different word though, as vast + houden even when written apart in a sentence is considered a compound verb vasthouden.
(Like how babysitting in English is not the same verb as sitting). In German you use the word Lieben as a verb and a noun, so in German you can say Ich liebe dich (I love you) but also like a noun "Die Liebe" (lit: the love) In Dutch you cannot say: Ik liefde jou, in the same way in English you cannot say: I feelings you. But you can if use the word Liefde as a noun or adjective to make it something like:
- Mijn liefde is alleen voor jou. (lit: My love is only for you). (romantic)
- Jij bent mijn ware liefde (lit: You are my true love). (romantic)
- Mijn lieve vriend (lit: My lovely friend) (platonic or romantic)
- Onze lieve vrouw (lit: Our lovely lady) (exclusively used in reference to Maria AFAIK)
- Dat was lief van hem (lit: That was lovely of him). (platonic) In contemporary Dutch, people use a lot of code switching with English words, so you could hear someone say "love you" romantically, or even just the word "love" mixed in dutch like this: - Love you, schat (I love you honey) (lit: Love you, treasure)
- Ik ben in love (I am in love) Language purist and language prescriptive Dutch teachers do not like this and would not consider it to be correct dutch. (Which personally I think is absolutely hilarious, as dutch to me is very much a "bastard language" and the notion that we should cling prescriptively to the current version of our language as some sort of canonical form is absurd). But that's also why I was wondering if _that_ is why the author in the original article was using Liebe instead of Liewe, as code switching with a cognate might allow the loanword to be used as a "verb" while the original word cannot be as it is in contemporary dutch with Liefde/Love. (And I doubt the author would not be aware that Liebe could become something like Liewe in Deitsch as the B in standard high German words when near the end of a word often shifts in dialects and related languages). Gelb (SHG) -> Geel (NL)
Dieb (SHG)-> Dief (NL)
Lieb (SHG) -> Lief (NL) |