Etymologically
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verkaufen

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Pronunciation

  • /fɛɐ̯ˈkaʊ̯fən/[1]

Forms

verkaufen (third-person singular present verkauft, past tense verkaufte, past participle verkauft, auxiliary haben)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German verkoufen, inherited from Old High German firkoufen (“to sell”), from Old High German fir- + koufen (“to buy, trade”).[2][1][3] The prefix gives the sense “to dispose of by trade”, while the simple verb mostly means acquiring; in the earliest times, when all trade was barter, both meant giving in exchange.[4]

The simple verb kaufen continues Proto-Germanic *kaupōną (“to trade”), also in Gothic 𐌺𐌰𐌿𐍀𐍉𐌽 (kaupōn, “to trade”), Old Norse kaupa, Old English cēapian and Old Saxon kōpon.[5][2] It is a very early borrowing: Kluge and Duden derive it from Latin caupōnor (“to haggle, trade”), itself from caupō (“innkeeper, small trader”), which was borrowed as Old High German koufo (“merchant”) and Old English cȳpa.[5][3][6] Pfeifer allows that the Germanic verbs were formed from the borrowed noun.[2] Duden explains that the innkeeper who followed the Roman legions was the Germans' small trader, above all for wine.[3] The Latin noun is usually connected with Ancient Greek κάπηλος (kápēlos, “retail dealer”), and both are thought to be loanwords.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German firkoufen “to sell” is recorded in glosses of the 8th century and in the Benediktinerregel, Tatian, Otfrid and Notker.[7][2][8]

Semantic evolution

Umlauted forms such as verkeufen appear in Middle High German, especially in Middle German, and still in Luther, but by the 16th century verkaufen had almost displaced them.[4] A strong past verkief written by a Frankfurt author of the early 19th century was a false analogy.[4]

Regionally, especially in the south-west, sich verkaufen means “to make a bad purchase” (Schiller, Hebel), recorded from about 1800.[9][2] The phrase verraten und verkauft goes back to Luther, and jemanden für dumm verkaufen “to take someone for a fool” is recorded in literature in 1939.[9] Colloquially people verkaufen sich gut, present themselves well.[9] The noun Verkauf is an Early New High German back-formation, and Verkaufspreis is recorded in 1780.[9][2]

Timeline

  • 8th century – Old High German firkoufen.[2][7]
  • 16th century – verkaufen displaces the umlauted forms; the noun Verkauf appears.[4][2]
  • 17th century – Verkäuferin is first recorded.[2][3]
  • 1780 – Verkaufspreis.[9]
  • c. 1800 – Reflexive sense “to make a bad purchase”.[2]
  • 1939 – jemanden für dumm verkaufen.[9]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To sell, hand over for money: Sie hat ihr altes Fahrrad einem Nachbarn verkauft.[10][1]
  2. sich verkaufen: to sell in a certain way: Das Buch verkauft sich gut.[10][1]
  3. (regional) sich verkaufen: to buy something that turns out poor or too dear.[10][11]
  4. sich verkaufen: to sell oneself, put one's services at someone's disposal for money or advantage: sich an den Feind verkaufen.[10][11]
  5. (colloquial) To promote a person or idea so that it finds approval;[10][9] jemanden für dumm verkaufen “to take someone for a fool”.[10][9]

Word family

  • Verkauf
  • Verkäufer
  • Verkäuferin
  • verkäuflich

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  3. ^ a b c d Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag
  4. ^ a b c d Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 25, 618
  5. ^ a b Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 483
  6. ^ a b Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 5, 727
  7. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  8. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 181
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  10. ^ a b c d e f Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  11. ^ a b Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org