Etymologically
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kopen

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈkoːpə(n)/[1]

Forms

kopen[1] The past tense is kocht and the past participle gekocht.[2][3] Forms with ⟨ft⟩, kofte and gekoft, were still written in the early 17th century.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch côpen, inherited from Old Dutch cōpon, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *kaupōn, inherited from Proto-Germanic *kaupōną (“to trade, buy”).[2][1] The Germanic verb was formed from a noun for a trader, Proto-Germanic *kaupô (“merchant”), which Germanic speakers took very early from Latin caupō (“small trader, pedlar, innkeeper”); that Latin word may itself come from a non-Indo-European language, as may Ancient Greek κάπηλος (kápēlos, “retailer, huckster”).[2][1] De Vries places the loan on the Rhine in the first century AD, where the Germanic tribes met Roman traders following the legions.[4][5] The borrowed noun survives as Old High German koufo (“trader”) and Old English cȳpa.[2][4] Kluge instead derives the verb directly from the Latin verb caupōnor (“to trade, haggle”), but the EWN objects that the Latin verb was rare and had a different meaning.[2]

The same verb is Old Saxon kōpian, koufōn (modern German kaufen), Old Frisian kāpia, cēapian, Old Norse kaupa and Gothic 𐌺𐌰𐌿𐍀𐍉𐌽 (kaupōn), all meaning “to buy”.[2] De Vries distinguishes two Germanic formations, one in *-ōn and one in *-jan, both continued in Old Saxon, Old High German and Old English.[4][1] The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal notes that the western Dutch form could continue either, but that eastern dialects lack the umlaut a *-jan- verb would show, which points to the first type.[3] From the verb comes the noun koop, whose cognates include cēap, the source of English cheap.[2]

The past tense cochte shows the very old change of /pt/ to /ft/ and the later Dutch change of /ft/ to /xt/: the EWN takes it as proof that the loanword is very old.[2] De Vries and De Tollenaere note that the conjugation looks native, but still hold to the Latin source.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old Dutch has the verb first in a 9th- or 10th-century gloss, through its derivative *kōpink “merchandise”; the compound kōpman “merchant” appears in a name of 1150, and the Reimbibel of 1151–1200 uses koufen of Christ, who would “buy us free with his blood”.[2][6] In Middle Dutch the verb is first recorded in Aiol (1220–1240): cocht ic uiif “I bought five”.[7][2][8]

Semantic evolution

The older and wider sense was “to trade”, buying and selling alike, and it shows through in the noun koop and in compounds such as koopman and koophandel.[9][3][5] In Middle Dutch, however, copen already usually meant “to buy”, both goods and rights; the seller was introduced by jegen or tegen, and een wijf copen could mean simply to marry.[9][7] A text of 1548 still uses the verb once in the sense “to sell”.[3]

From the New Testament came the figurative use of the redemption of mankind, as in a translation of 1557: ghy sijt duer ghekocht “you are bought at a price”.[3] In the 17th century koop je geen glas?, literally “won't you buy glasses?”, meant “do you get it?”.[3] Stoett explains zijn kost is gekocht as having bought oneself into an almshouse, and so being free of worries about one's living.[10] In recent Dutch kopen has also taken the sense “to accept, believe” from English to buy: dat koop ik is “I'll go along with that”.[11]

The Dutch verb was borrowed into English and Scots as the now obsolete cope “to buy, barter”, into Menadonese, Negerhollands, Berbice Dutch and Skepi Dutch, and the agent noun koper gave English coper, a floating liquor shop.[12][1]

Timeline

  • 9th–10th century – An Old Dutch gloss contains the derivative *kōpink “merchandise”.[2][6]
  • 1151–1200 – The Reimbibel uses koufen “to buy free, redeem”.[2][6]
  • 1220–1240 – Middle Dutch copen is first recorded, in Aiol.[7][8]
  • 1240 – A Limburg glossary gives copen for Latin negotiari “to trade”.[7]
  • 1548 – The verb is used once in the sense “to sell”.[3]
  • 1557 – Ghy sijt duer ghekocht renders the biblical “you are bought at a price”.[3]
  • Early 17th century – The past forms kofte and gekoft are last in use.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (transitive, also absolute) to buy, to purchase: get something in exchange for money: Ze kocht een fiets voor haar zoon.[13][14][1]
  2. (colloquial) to accept, believe what someone proposes or claims: Dat verhaal koop ik niet.[11]

Word family

  • koop
  • koper
  • verkopen
  • bekopen
  • koopman
  • koopwaar
  • koopsom
  • koopkracht

Usage notes

Iets op afbetaling kopen is to buy something in instalments.[13] Stoett records zijn kost is gekocht “his keep is bought”, said of someone whose living is secure.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 f g h i 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
  4. ^ a b c Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
  5. ^ a b c Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 206
  6. ^ a b c Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org
  7. ^ a b c d 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. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
  9. ^ a b Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
  10. ^ a b Stoett, F. A. (1923–1925), Nederlandsche spreekwoorden, spreekwijzen, uitdrukkingen en gezegden, 4th ed., 3 vols., Zutphen: Thieme
  11. ^ a b Reinsma, R. (1999), Neologismen, Den Haag: Sdu
  12. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
  13. ^ a b Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
  14. ^ Algemeen Nederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; anw.ivdnt.org