kaketoe

Forms

kaketoe m (plural kaketoes, diminutive kaketoetje n)^[1] Wiktionary also lists the variant kakatoe.^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Malay kakatua (“cockatoo”), also recorded as kakaktua, the name of a parrot of the Moluccas; compare Indonesian kakatua.^[2][3][4][1] Van Veen and Van der Sijs add that the Malay word can also mean “pincers”.^[2] The bird, a large crested parrot of eastern Indonesia and Australia, was probably first brought to Western Europe by the Dutch.^[5]

The origin of the Malay name is unclear.^[6][7] Franck–Van Wijk think it most likely imitates the bird's cry, and find less likely an analysis as ⟨kaka⟩ “parrot” and ⟨tua⟩ “old”.^[6] Van Haeringen reports that Loewe argued for that analysis, but adds that the scarcity of the evidence makes certainty hard to reach.^[7] De Vries mentions another split, ⟨kakak⟩ “elder brother or sister” and ⟨toea⟩ “old”, in case the word is not imitative at all.^[3][5] Vercoullie held that Malay took the word from the languages of the Papuan islands.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record, of 1662, says that if monkeys or cacatouwen can be had in the meantime, he is to buy them and send them on when there is an opportunity.^[9][10] The sense is the bird.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Besides the bird, the WNT records kaketoe in 1726 as the name of a fish of Banda, like a large perch, and a compound kaketoevis.^[9] In modern colloquial use a person who only repeats what others say can be called an opgezette kaketoe, a puffed-up cockatoo.^[11]

Dutch passed the word on to other European languages.^[9][7][12] English cockatoo is dated to the 1610s and taken from Dutch kaketoe, its spelling bent towards cock;^[13] English cockatiel (1863) comes from the Dutch diminutive kaketielje (1850).^[13] German Kakadu is recorded from 1775 and was borrowed from Dutch.^[3][5] Danish, Norwegian and Swedish kakadu and Russian какаду (kakadú) also come from the Dutch word, and Polish, Serbian and Hungarian kakadu came through German.^[14][1] For French cacatoès, De Vries and the WNT also point to Dutch.^[3][9][14]

Timeline

• 1610s – English cockatoo is first recorded, taken from Dutch.^[13]
• 1662 – Dutch cacatouwen “cockatoos” is first recorded.^[9][10]
• 1726 – Cacatoeha is used as the name of a fish of Banda.^[9]
• 1775 – German Kakadu, from Dutch, is first recorded.^[3][5]
• 1850 – The diminutive kaketielje is recorded, the source of English cockatiel.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. A cockatoo, a crested parrot of the family Cacatuidae, from Australia and the Indonesian islands.^[15][16][1]
2. (colloquial, pejorative) A person who only repeats what others say, a parrot; often opgezette kaketoe.^[11]

Word family

• raafkaketoe
• kaketoevis

Related words

• English cockatoo
• German Kakadu

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Veen, P. A. F. van; Sijs, Nicoline van der (1997), Etymologisch woordenboek: de herkomst van onze woorden, 2nd ed., Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Lexicografie
3. ^ a b c d e Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
4. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2005), Groot leenwoordenboek, Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale
5. ^ a b c d Eigenhuis, K. J. (2004), Verklarend en etymologisch woordenboek van de Nederlandse vogelnamen, Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press
6. ^ a b Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
7. ^ a b c Haeringen, C. B. van (1936), Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal: Supplement, 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
8. ^ Vercoullie, Jozef (1925), Beknopt etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 3rd ed., 's-Gravenhage / Gent: Nijhoff / Van Rysselberghe & Rombaut
9. ^ 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
10. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
11. ^ a b Coster, Marc de (2007), Groot scheldwoordenboek: van apenkont tot zweefteef, Antwerpen: Standaard
12. ^ Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 183
13. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
14. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
15. ^ Algemeen Nederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; anw.ivdnt.org
16. ^ Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers