slapen

Forms

slapen^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch slâpen, inherited from Old Dutch slāpan, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *slāpan, inherited from Proto-Germanic *slēpan- (“to sleep”).^[2][1][3] The same verb is Old Saxon slāpan, Old High German slāfan (modern German schlafen), Old Frisian slēpa (modern West Frisian sliepe), Old English slǣpan (modern English sleep) and Gothic 𐍃𐌻𐌴𐍀𐌰𐌽 (slēpan).^[2][4][3] The noun slaap “sleep” (Middle Dutch ⟨slaep⟩, 1240) is derived from the verb, like 𐍃𐌻𐌴𐍀𐍃 (slēps); the temple of the head, which has the same name, is said to be named after the side of the head one lies on.^[2]

The verb is probably an old derivative of the root of slap “slack”, so that sleeping was first “being slack, inactive”.^[2][4][5][6] Kroonen relates it to the verb ⟨*slapp-, *slabōn-⟩ “to be slack”, which has cognates in Balto-Slavic words for “weak” such as Old Church Slavonic слабъ (slabŭ) and Lithuanian slābnas, while Wiktionary calls the connection with the adjective possible but the origin unclear.^[3][1]

In West and East Germanic this verb replaced the Indo-European word for “sleep”, which survives in the stem ⟨*swef-⟩ of Swedish sova and Old English swefan, with isolated traces in Old Dutch and Old Saxon; see hypnose.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Wachtendonck Psalms of the 10th century have Ik sclip “I slept”, in Psalm 3: “I slept and fell into slumber and rose up, for God received me”.^[7][8] In Middle Dutch the verb appears on the Lower Rhine around 1220, where a woman sliep a short while before she began to snore, and in a Ghent rule of 1236 which forbids the brothers to sleep on feather beds, slapen op plumine bedden.^[9][2]

Semantic evolution

Already in Middle Dutch slapen bi someone meant to have sexual intercourse (1285), and a Limburg word list of 1240 renders Latin concumbere as te samene slapen.^[9] The verb could also mean “to stay overnight”, even of things: a text of 1360 warns that a hired servant's pay must not slapen with the master.^[10] Old documents that had lapsed were slapende brieven.^[10]

Plantijn records mijnen voet slaept “my foot has gone to sleep” in the 16th century, and the senses “to be inattentive” and, of plants, “to rest at night” belong to modern Dutch.^[10][11] The good-night wish slaap wel is quoted from 1839, and slapen als een os “to sleep like a log” from 1867.^[12] Men moet geen slapende honden wakker maken goes back to a medieval Latin line that a Middle Dutch book of manners imitated; it first meant that past trouble should not be stirred up, and later that one should not cause avoidable difficulties.^[13] In Surinamese Dutch things can “sleep” somewhere, for example a bus parked at the driver's home overnight.^[14]

Negerhollands had slaap, slap and slaep, Skepi Creole Dutch slapi, and French dialects of the north have aller chlop “to go to sleep”.^[15][1]

Timeline

• 901–1000 – Sclip “slept” in the Wachtendonck Psalms.^[7][8]
• c. 1220 – Middle Dutch sliep on the Lower Rhine.^[9]
• 1236 – Slapen op plumine bedden in a Ghent rule.^[2][9]
• 1240 – Te samene slapen glosses Latin concumbere.^[9]
• 1285 – Slapen bi “to sleep with”.^[9]
• 1360 – Slapen “to stay overnight”.^[10]
• 1839 – The wish Slaap wel!^[12]

Meanings

Verb

1. To sleep, to be asleep: De kinderen slapen al. Gaan slapen is to go to bed.^[11][1]
2. Of a limb: to tingle or be numb after the blood flow has been cut off: Mijn been slaapt.^[11][16]
3. To be inattentive, to have one's mind elsewhere.^[11][16]
4. Of plants: to appear to rest at night.^[11]
5. (dominoes) Of a piece: to be out of play.^[11]

Word family

• slaap
• beslapen
• ontslapen
• slaper
• slaperig
• verslapen
• doorslapen
• inslapen
• overslapen
• uitslapen
• slaapbank
• slaapkamer
• slaapwandelen

Related words

• slap
• English sleep
• German schlafen

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
5. ^ Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
6. ^ Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 342
7. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; 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 c d e f 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
10. ^ a b c d Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
11. ^ a b c d e f Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
12. ^ a b 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
13. ^ Stoett, F. A. (1923–1925), Nederlandsche spreekwoorden, spreekwijzen, uitdrukkingen en gezegden, 4th ed., 3 vols., Zutphen: Thieme
14. ^ Donselaar, J. van (1989), Woordenboek van het Surinaams-Nederlands, Muiderberg: Coutinho
15. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
16. ^ a b WikiWoordenboek (Dutch Wiktionary), nl.wiktionary.org