𐌺𐌰𐌿𐍀𐍉𐌽

Forms

𐌺𐌰𐌿𐍀𐍉𐌽 (kaupōn), a weak verb of the second class.^[1][2][3] The only recorded form is the imperative plural 𐌺𐌰𐌿𐍀𐍉𐌸 (kaupōþ).^[4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *kaupōną (“to buy; to trade”),^[6][2] which is from Latin caupō (“innkeeper, petty trader”).^[6][7][8][9] The cognates are Old Norse kaupa, Old English cēapian, Old Frisian kāpia, Old Saxon kōpon and Old High German koufōn, beside verbs with another suffix in cȳpan, kōpian and koufen.^[7][8][5] Lehmann places it in the oldest layer of Germanic borrowings from Latin, beside the verb caupōnor (“to haggle”).^[5] Feist and Uhlenbeck compare the parallel case of mangon (“to trade”), from mangō (“dealer”).^[7][9] Pronk-Tiethoff reports that Kluge derives the Germanic verb from that Latin verb, while Green, because it hardly occurred in Gaul, takes the Germanic verb as a new formation from a borrowed noun meaning 'trader'.^[10] Lehmann cites Benveniste's suggestion that the word gave Gothic a term for trading in goods beside 𐍃𐌰𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽 (saljan), whose basic sense was the selling of slaves and captives.^[5]

Attestation

The verb is a hapax: one token, the imperative kaupoþ at Luke 19:13 in manuscript CA, in the Wulfila project's and PROIEL's counts.^[4][11] It renders Ancient Greek πραγματεύομαι (pragmateúomai).^[11][2] Luke 19:13 reads jah qaþ du im kaupoþ unte ik qimau, "and said to them: do business until I come".^[12]

Meanings

1. To trade, do business, for πραγματεύεσθαι.^[1][3][2]

Borrowings into other languages

• Proto-Slavic: *kupiti (“to buy”), a Common Slavic loan from Gothic *kaupjan beside kaupōn according to Kiparsky;^[13][5] Wiktionary has it from Proto-Germanic *kaupijaną, probably through Gothic.^[6]

Related words

• 𐌺𐌰𐌿𐍀𐌰𐍄𐌾𐌰𐌽 (kaupatjan, “to buffet, slap”)

References

1. ^ a b Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. kaupon
2. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. kaupōn* 1
3. ^ a b Regan, Brian T. (1974), Dictionary of the Biblical Gothic Language, Phoenix: Wulfila House, p. 95
4. ^ a b De Herdt, Tom (2004–2026), Project Wulfila: digital edition of the Gothic Bible with lemma and morphological annotation, data release 2026-09-03, wulfila.be
5. ^ a b c d e Lehmann, Winfred P. (1986), A Gothic Etymological Dictionary, based on the third edition of Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache by Sigmund Feist, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. *kaupon
6. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐌺𐌰𐌿𐍀𐍉𐌽
7. ^ a b c Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. kaupon
8. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Gotisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. 56
9. ^ a b Uhlenbeck, C. C. (1900), Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 2nd ed., Amsterdam: Müller, p. 94
10. ^ Pronk-Tiethoff, Saskia (2013), The Germanic Loanwords in Proto-Slavic, Leiden Studies in Indo-European 20, Amsterdam / New York: Rodopi, p. s.v. *kupiti
11. ^ a b Haug, Dag T. T. et al., PROIEL Treebank: The Gothic Bible (gothic-nt), 2023 release, Pragmatic Resources in Old Indo-European Languages, University of Oslo
12. ^ De Herdt, Tom (2004–2026), Project Wulfila: digital edition of the Gothic Bible with lemma and morphological annotation, data release 2026-09-03, wulfila.be, p. Lk 19:13
13. ^ Kiparsky, Valentin (1934), Die gemeinslavischen Lehnwörter aus dem Germanischen, Annales Academiae Scientiarum Fennicae B XXXII,2, Helsinki, p. s.v. *kupiti