harp

Forms

harp f or m (plural harpen, diminutive harpje n)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch harpe, inherited from Old Dutch harpa, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *harpā, inherited from Proto-Germanic *harpǭ.^[2][1][3] The same word is Old Saxon harpa, Old High German harpha (modern German Harfe), Old English hearpe, whence English harp, and Old Norse harpa.^[2] From Germanic it was borrowed into Late Latin harpa, described as a Germanic instrument by Venantius Fortunatus, whom the EWN places in the 6th century and De Vries and Franck–Van Wijk in the 5th.^[2][4][5] The Romance words French harpe, Spanish arpa and Italian arpa come from it.^[2][6]

Outside these loans the word has no clear relatives, and its origin is uncertain.^[2] It may be related to Latin corbis (“basket”) (see korf), from a root Proto-Indo-European *(s)kerb(ʰ)- (“to turn, bend”), the instrument being named for its curved shape or for the bent fingers that pluck it.^[2][5] A link with carpō (“to pluck”) and Lithuanian kirpti (“to cut off”) would need the /k/ but not the /p/ to have undergone the Germanic sound shift.^[2] Sperber started from a word for a harrow, comparing Old Norse harfr (“harrow”).^[4] The EWN thinks it was probably borrowed from a pre-Indo-European language, following Vennemann.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The oldest record is Old Dutch harpa in a derived sense, “rack, instrument of torture”, glossing Latin catasta in a text of 951 from the north-eastern Lower Rhine area.^[3][1] The Old Saxon word also had this sense.^[2] Middle Dutch harpe glosses Latin lira and cythara in Limburg around 1240.^[7][2]

Semantic evolution

Dutch harp has not always meant a triangular plucked instrument: the States Bible uses it for Hebrew kinnôr, probably closer to a zither, and poets apply it to the lyre of the ancients.^[6] The harp is David's attribute, and de harpe Davids could stand for the Psalms.^[6] In the south, op de Fransche harpe spelen meant to have nothing to eat (1892).^[6] From the likeness of shape, dialects of Dutch, English, German and Norse developed the sense “large grain sieve”.^[2][8] The nautical sense is a horseshoe-shaped shackle.^[9]

The word was borrowed into Indonesian as harpa.^[10]

Timeline

• 951 – Old Dutch harpa glosses Latin catasta “rack”.^[3]
• c. 1240 – Middle Dutch harpe glosses Latin lira and cythara.^[7][2][11]
• 1301 – Hi tymperde die harpe “he played the harp”.^[12]
• 1573 – A dictionary gives harp with French harpe and Latin cithara, lyra.^[6]
• 1892 – Op de Fransche harpe spelen “to go hungry” is recorded in the south.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A harp, a triangular plucked instrument with a separate string for each note.^[9][13][1]
2. (nautical) A horseshoe-shaped shackle closing a chain.^[9]

Word family

• harpist
• harpenist
• harpspeler
• harpmuziek
• mondharp

Related words

• English harp
• German Harfe

Usage notes

The older form herp (herpe) is now obsolete, and poets still used harpe.^[6][5]

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 k l Philippa, Marlies; Debrabandere, Frans; Quak, Arend; Schoonheim, Tanneke; Sijs, Nicoline van der (2003–2009), Etymologisch woordenboek van het Nederlands, 4 vols., Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press; online via etymologiebank.nl
3. ^ a b c Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org
4. ^ a b Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
5. ^ a b c Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
6. ^ a b c d e f g Vries, Matthias de; Winkel, L. A. te, et al. (1882–1998), Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal, 29 vols., 's-Gravenhage / Leiden: Nijhoff / Sijthoff / SDU; supplement 2001; gtb.ivdnt.org
7. ^ a b Pijnenburg, W. J. J., et al. (2001), Vroegmiddelnederlands woordenboek: woordenboek van het Nederlands van de dertiende eeuw in hoofdzaak op basis van het Corpus-Gysseling, Leiden: Instituut voor Nederlandse Lexicologie; gtb.ivdnt.org
8. ^ Veen, P. A. F. van; Sijs, Nicoline van der (1997), Etymologisch woordenboek: de herkomst van onze woorden, 2nd ed., Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Lexicografie
9. ^ a b c Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
10. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
11. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
12. ^ Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
13. ^ Algemeen Nederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; anw.ivdnt.org