kijken

Forms

kijken^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch kiken, which Wiktionary traces to Proto-West Germanic *kīkan (“to look, peep”) and Proto-Germanic *kīkaną.^[2][1] Close relatives are found only on the North Sea coast: Middle Low German kīken, Middle English kiken (whence the dialect word English keek) and a reconstructed Old Frisian *kīkia behind obsolete West Frisian ⟨kytse⟩.^[2][3][4][5] Danish kige and Swedish kika may have been borrowed from Low German.^[3][2]

All the standard dictionaries call its origin unknown.^[2][4][6][7] Lidén's link with Old Norse keikr (“bent backwards”), assuming a first sense “bend the head back to look”, is rejected as certainly wrong by De Vries and as unlikely by the EWN, and the EWN also doubts W. de Vries's connection with English kick through a shared sense “turn towards something”.^[3][2][7] The verb probably belongs to an expressive group of similar words, such as peek, peep and peer, or titta beside ⟨kika⟩, and a link with German gucken is possible.^[2][3] De Vries suggests it may have been a nursery word, pointing to kiekeboe and bo-peep.^[3] The EWN knows no relatives outside Germanic;^[2][1] Wiktionary mentions a possible source in Proto-Indo-European *kéh₂ikos, which it calls formally problematic.^[2][1]

The long /iː/ became the diphthong written ⟨ij⟩, but the older vowel survives in dialect ⟨kieken⟩ and in common words such as rarekiek.^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The oldest quotation in the Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, from a Flemish text dated around 1340, has the past tense: ende keec duer die splete weder ende sach wat men daer binnen dede, “and peered through the crack again and saw what was being done inside”.^[8][2] Around 1410 physicians are called die kieken in den orinael, “those who look into the urine flask”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The verb is strong in the standard language (keek, gekeken), though some dialects inflect it weakly.^[5] Beside the plain sense “use one's eyes, look in some direction” it came to describe a facial expression, as in staan te kijken als een Klaas van Kloenen (1796), to stand gaping like a fool.^[5][9] Used transitively, it means to watch a film or television, or to view something such as a house for sale.^[9][1]

Older idioms include op zijn neus kijken “to look ashamed”, found as op sijn neus sien in the 17th century.^[10] The curse laat naar je kijken! probably meant “go and have yourself examined” and weakened to “get lost”.^[11]

The verb spread to the Dutch creoles: Negerhollands ke, kik or ki, Berbice Dutch kiki and Skepi Dutch kika.^[12][1] Sranan Tongo has kèk “to check”, and Afrikaans has kyk.^[12][1]

Timeline

• c. 1340 – Middle Dutch kiken is first quoted, in a Flemish text.^[8]
• 1350 – The date Van der Sijs gives for the first record of kijken “to look”.^[13]
• c. 1410 – Physicians are called die kieken in den orinael.^[2]
• 1648 – The undiphthongised kieken is still written, in a report of a tiger brought to a castle to be looked at.^[5]
• 1796 – Staan te kijken describes a gaping, foolish expression.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To look, to direct one's eyes (naar, at).^[9][1][14] Ze keek uit het raam naar de regen. Kijken kost geen geld: looking at goods places one under no obligation to buy.^[9]
2. To have a certain look on one's face.^[9] Gek staan te kijken is to be utterly amazed.^[9]
3. (transitive) To watch (a film, television); to view (a house, for instance): We hebben gisteren een oude film gekeken.^[9][1]

Word family

• kiekeboe
• rarekiek
• kijk
• kijkcijfer
• kijkdag
• kijkgat
• kijkhut
• aankijken
• achteromkijken
• afkijken
• bekijken
• doorkijken
• inkijken
• meekijken
• nakijken
• kijker

Related words

• English keek

Usage notes

Kijk uit je doppen! is a warning to watch out.^[9] In Groningen the undiphthongised kieken is used, as in zunig kieken “to look glum”.^[10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 d e Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d e f 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
6. ^ Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 193
7. ^ a b Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
8. ^ a b Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
9. ^ a b c d e f g h Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
10. ^ a b Stoett, F. A. (1923–1925), Nederlandsche spreekwoorden, spreekwijzen, uitdrukkingen en gezegden, 4th ed., 3 vols., Zutphen: Thieme
11. ^ Sterkenburg, P. G. J. van (2001), Vloeken: een cultuurbepaalde reactie op woede, irritatie en frustratie, 2nd ed., Den Haag: Sdu
12. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
13. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
14. ^ Algemeen Nederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; anw.ivdnt.org