Moin

<h2 id="usage">Usage</h2>

Moin is used at all times of day, not just in the morning (see Etymology section below).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3">3</a> The <a href="/facts/Reduplicated/m6CxqyE4">reduplicated</a> form moin moin is often heard,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4">4</a> although some authors claim it is regarded by locals as tourists' usage.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5">5</a>

<h2 id="etymology">Etymology</h2>

Look up moin in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Due to the similarity of the words one might think that moin derives from various regional pronunciations of (Guten) Morgen ("good morning"), which tend to alter, vocalise, or skip rg. However, the word may actually also derive from the <a href="/facts/Dutch_language/yIB5lbsx">Dutch</a>, Frisian, and Low German word mo(o)i, meaning "beautiful" or "good".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6">6</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7">7</a> Similar forms in Low Saxon are mooien Dag, mooien Abend, mooien Mor(g)en. Possibly, as is common in etymology, one origin is correct (from Morgen or mooi) but spread thanks to its oral assimilation with the other term.
The <a href="/facts/Luxembourgish/HsVzn2YA">Luxembourgish</a> <a href="/facts/Cognate/nXETf5Y4">cognate</a> of the word is moien, which can mean either "hi" or "morning" (gudde Moien! means "good morning!"). Interestingly, in the area of Germany bordering Luxembourg, it is common to use moin, instead of moien.
Unlike Guten Morgen, moin can be used at any time of day. It is semantically equivalent to the Low Saxon (<a href="/facts/Plattd%25C3%25BC%25C3%25BCtsch/BPxhrjlB">Plattdüütsch</a>) greeting Dagg and replaced it in many areas. In Hessen, mojn is used for hello and good bye, but mojn mojn is solely used for good bye. The double form Moin Moin is also used as an all day greeting in for example <a href="/facts/Flensburg/8U80cor9">Flensburg</a> that belonged to Denmark until 1864.

<h2 id="moi">Moi</h2>
In <a href="/facts/Finland/G5Ak6T91">Finland</a>, a similar greeting moi (pronounced [ˈmoi̯]) is used for "hello", "hi" in the <a href="/facts/Finnish_language/lBuEIgs0">Finnish language</a>. 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 <a href="/facts/Viipuri/RHNuSPsA">Viipuri</a> to partially German-speaking Estonia and Latvia.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8">8</a> However, moi moi 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. Moi's use is identical to that of hei: diminutive forms heippa and moikka, and duplication as a good bye.
Moro is found in some parts of Finland and has also been used in the same way as moi. It is theorised that it comes from <a href="/facts/Tampere/2nnkIHSj">Tampere</a> due to its large number of foreign workers and like moi has been borrowed from morrow and abbreviated.
Moi is also used in Dutch <a href="/facts/West_Low_German/H3WNPe9u">Low Saxon</a> dialects in the eastern part of the provinces <a href="/facts/Groningen/NN8RGePD">Groningen</a> and <a href="/facts/Drenthe/hCIgll2M">Drenthe</a>.

<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/MoinMoin/YNmWGMsJ">MoinMoin</a> (<a href="/facts/Wiki/uCKCEzqb">wiki</a> software named after the greeting)</li></ul>

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Moin.

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1">Duden: moin [moin], Moin, [Moin] <a href="https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/moin__moin_" target="_blank">https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/moin__moin_</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:2">Den Danske Ordbog: mojn <a href="https://ordnet.dk/ddo/ordbog?query=mojn" target="_blank">https://ordnet.dk/ddo/ordbog?query=mojn</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:3">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. <a href="3-8334-0025-0" target="_blank">3-8334-0025-0</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:4">Plattmaster.de, Moinmoin - wat heet dat?. Retrieved 2011-05-31. <a href="http://www.plattmaster.de/moinmoin.htm" target="_blank">http://www.plattmaster.de/moinmoin.htm</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:5">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. <a href="3-8297-0302-3" target="_blank">3-8297-0302-3</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:6">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. <a href="3-8334-0025-0" target="_blank">3-8334-0025-0</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:7">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. <a href="3-8297-0302-3" target="_blank">3-8297-0302-3</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:8">"Uutta tietoa suomen kielen tutkimuksesta – "moro" ei tulekaan Tampereelta". Yle Uutiset (in Finnish). 2023-11-22. Retrieved 2025-02-02. <a href="https://yle.fi/a/74-20061118" target="_blank">https://yle.fi/a/74-20061118</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
</ol>

Moin open-in-new

Moin