sonder
English
Etymology
Coined by American author and neologist John Koenig in 2012, whose project, The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, aims to come up with new words for emotions that currently lack words.[1][2] Inspired by German sonder- (“special”) and French sonder (“to probe”).[3][4]
Pronunciation
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈsɑndɚ/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈsɒndə/
- Rhymes: -ɒndə(ɹ)
- Hyphenation: son‧der
Noun
sonder (uncountable)
- (neologism) The profound feeling of realizing that everyone, including strangers passing in the street, has a life as complex as one's own, which they are constantly living despite one's personal lack of awareness of it.
- 2012 December, John Buysse, “On 2nd thought, we do have linked lives”, in The Daily Illini, volume 142, number 68,5, University of Illinois, page 4A:
- I had a sonder, a realization that the random girl sitting next to me inside of Starbucks might have a fantastic life or she might be dealing with a very ill family member.
- 2013, Annie Cohen, "A Deeper Understanding", Panorama (Ladue Horton Watkins High School, St. Louis, Missouri), Volume 62, Issue 3, 14 October 2013, page 14:
- We need to have a "sonder" moment, where we realize that we aren't the only ones with feelings, dreams, regrets and hopes.
- For more quotations using this term, see Citations:sonder.
References
- Powers, Maggie (2014 November 12) “On Searching For A Word In Kenmore Square”, in The Heights, volume 95, number 44, Boston, MA, page B7
- Koenig, John (2012 July 22) “sonder”, in The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows Tumblr
- Koenig, John (2012 June 19) “sonder”, in The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows Facebook
- Koenig, John (2021) “sonder”, in The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, New York: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 123
Afrikaans
Etymology
From Dutch zonder, from Middle Dutch sonder, from Old Dutch sunder, from Proto-Germanic *sundraz. Cognate with English sunder.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈsɔn.dər/
Audio (file)
French
Etymology
Inherited from Middle French sonder, from Old French sonder (“to plumb”), from sonde (“sounding line”), from Old English sund- (“sounding”), as in sundġierd (“sounding-rod”), sundlīne (“sounding-line, lead”), sundrāp (“sounding-rope, lead”), from Old English sund (“ocean, sea”), from Proto-West Germanic *sund, from Proto-Germanic *sundą (“a swim, body of water, sound”), from Proto-Indo-European *swem(bʰ)- (“to be unsteady, swim”). Cognate with Old Norse sund (“swimming; strait, sound”). More at sound.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /sɔ̃.de/
Audio (file)
Verb
sonder
- (transitive) to probe (test with a probe)
- (transitive) to probe (test the depth of something)
- to sound (use sound waves to establish the depth)
- (transitive) to probe (look carefully around)
- (transitive) to probe (ask someone many questions, in order to find something out)
- (meteorology) to survey and take measurements using a weather balloon
- to survey (carry out a survey or poll)
- (intransitive) to dive down
Conjugation
infinitive | simple | sonder | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
present participle or gerund1 | simple | sondant /sɔ̃.dɑ̃/ | |||||
compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
past participle | sondé /sɔ̃.de/ | ||||||
singular | plural | ||||||
first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
(simple tenses) |
present | sonde /sɔ̃d/ |
sondes /sɔ̃d/ |
sonde /sɔ̃d/ |
sondons /sɔ̃.dɔ̃/ |
sondez /sɔ̃.de/ |
sondent /sɔ̃d/ |
imperfect | sondais /sɔ̃.dɛ/ |
sondais /sɔ̃.dɛ/ |
sondait /sɔ̃.dɛ/ |
sondions /sɔ̃.djɔ̃/ |
sondiez /sɔ̃.dje/ |
sondaient /sɔ̃.dɛ/ | |
past historic2 | sondai /sɔ̃.de/ |
sondas /sɔ̃.da/ |
sonda /sɔ̃.da/ |
sondâmes /sɔ̃.dam/ |
sondâtes /sɔ̃.dat/ |
sondèrent /sɔ̃.dɛʁ/ | |
future | sonderai /sɔ̃.dʁe/ |
sonderas /sɔ̃.dʁa/ |
sondera /sɔ̃.dʁa/ |
sonderons /sɔ̃.dʁɔ̃/ |
sonderez /sɔ̃.dʁe/ |
sonderont /sɔ̃.dʁɔ̃/ | |
conditional | sonderais /sɔ̃.dʁɛ/ |
sonderais /sɔ̃.dʁɛ/ |
sonderait /sɔ̃.dʁɛ/ |
sonderions /sɔ̃.də.ʁjɔ̃/ |
sonderiez /sɔ̃.də.ʁje/ |
sonderaient /sɔ̃.dʁɛ/ | |
(compound tenses) |
present perfect | present indicative of avoir + past participle | |||||
pluperfect | imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle | ||||||
past anterior2 | past historic of avoir + past participle | ||||||
future perfect | future of avoir + past participle | ||||||
conditional perfect | conditional of avoir + past participle | ||||||
subjunctive | que je (j’) | que tu | qu’il, qu’elle | que nous | que vous | qu’ils, qu’elles | |
(simple tenses) |
present | sonde /sɔ̃d/ |
sondes /sɔ̃d/ |
sonde /sɔ̃d/ |
sondions /sɔ̃.djɔ̃/ |
sondiez /sɔ̃.dje/ |
sondent /sɔ̃d/ |
imperfect2 | sondasse /sɔ̃.das/ |
sondasses /sɔ̃.das/ |
sondât /sɔ̃.da/ |
sondassions /sɔ̃.da.sjɔ̃/ |
sondassiez /sɔ̃.da.sje/ |
sondassent /sɔ̃.das/ | |
(compound tenses) |
past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
imperative | – | – | – | ||||
simple | — | sonde /sɔ̃d/ |
— | sondons /sɔ̃.dɔ̃/ |
sondez /sɔ̃.de/ |
— | |
compound | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | |
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en. | |||||||
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way:
(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). |
Descendants
- → German: sondieren
- → Russian: зонди́ровать (zondírovatʹ)
Further reading
- “sonder”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
German
Etymology
From Proto-Germanic *sundraz (“isolated, particular, alone”), from Proto-Indo-European *snter-, *seni-, *senu-, *san- (“apart, without, for oneself”). Cognate to Latin sine (“without”), English sunder (“separate, different”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈzɔndɐ/
Audio (file)
Preposition
sonder (governs the accusative)
Derived terms
Related terms
Malay
Etymology
From Dutch zonder, from Middle Dutch sonder, from Old Dutch sunder, from Proto-Germanic *sundraz.
Middle Dutch
Etymology
From Old Dutch sunder, from Proto-Germanic *sundraz.
Descendants
Further reading
- “sonder (I)”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
- Verwijs, E., Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “sonder (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page I
Norman
Etymology
From Old French sonder, from sonde (“sounding line”), from Old English [Term?], from Proto-Germanic *sundą (“a swim, body of water, sound”), from Proto-Indo-European *swem(bh)- (“to be unsteady, swim”).