Dutch query

[petrusplancius]

I wonder if anyone might be able to help out with a phrase in (rather archaic) Dutch which I am not sure about. The Portuguese are preparing their ships 'om ons als doot-vianden te verjagen uyt die eylanden, die haer niet aen en gaen, waerdoor wij ten laesten gedwongen sullen sijn haerlieden te beschaden na ons uyterste vermogen... ' How should one

Comments

[sonnekinde]

That's really really archaic, but if I were to interpret it, I'd think it means something along the lines of "which they do not own" or more literally "which are none of their business". It sounds a lot like the modern Dutch expression "het gaat je niets aan" ("die haar niet aangaan" if used in the above italic sentence), meaning "it's none of your business", so that's what I'd make of it.

[sonnekinde]

I googled a few more phrases with the expression aen en gaen, and I definetly think "none of their business" is the correct interpretation.

Examples:
Maer wacht u wel, myne lieve Sufters, dat ghy u noyt en bemoyt mes faken, die u niet aen-en-gaen [...]. = But wait, my dear Sufters, that you never mingle in affairs that are not your business [...].

Men sal oock wachten te spreecken van bruyloften, van ongelycke persoenen ende andere saecken, die ons niet aen en gaen, noch en behoeren. = One shall also wait to speak of weddings, of unequal persons and other things, that are not our business, nor belong to us.

[petrusplancius]

Thank you, I suspected that there was some idiom here that I was not familiar with.

[arthal]

Native Dutch speaker here, I agree with this comment. It sounds like "die haar niet aan en gaan," which would mean "die haar niet aangaan," if I understand it correctly. Meaning "which are none of her (Portugal's) business". The Portuguese are preparing to attack their arch enemies (the Dutch) to remove them from islands which are none of their (the Portuguese) business.

[blackbirdj2]

I'm a native Flemish speaker and I also read "haar niet aangaan" as "it's non of her business". :)

[petrusplancius]

Thank you.