sloep

Forms

sloep f (plural sloepen, diminutive sloepje n)^[1] Until the middle of the 18th century Dutch texts also have the French or half-adapted forms chaloupe, saloup and saloep.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is probably borrowed from French chaloupe, older chaloppe (1522), which lost the unstressed first vowel in Dutch, as in klant, krant and pruik;^[2][4] Dutch ⟨s⟩ for French /ʃ/ is typical of loans of the 15th and 16th centuries.^[2][4] The French word is a figurative use of Middle French chaloppe (“nutshell”), a variant of Old French eschalope (“shell, husk”), which is eschale (“shell, eggshell”) with the ending of enveloppe; ⟨eschale⟩ is a Frankish loan from the source of schaal.^[2][1]

Some take the borrowing the other way: Franck–Van Wijk and De Vries derive the word from sluipen (“to sneak, glide”), perhaps through Low German slūp, noting that ⟨saloupe⟩ is used of a Dutch ship in Flanders in 1554, and the WNT thought of a link with slopen, since boats were carried taken apart.^[5][6][3][7] The EWN finds neither form nor sense convincing, and notes that the /a/ of the French word would be left unexplained.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Kiliaan's dictionary of 1588 has sloepe and sloepken “small boat”.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The sloep was usually a boat carried on the deck of a larger ship, used to reach the shore in shallow water or in rescues: in 1602 a general sends out the great sloep to look for missing ships, and in the same year boats are carried in pieces to be assembled on land.^[2][3] Later the name was also given to independent small vessels, such as fishing boats on the South Holland river mouths and at Ostend, and today to pleasure boats.^[2][3][8]

The Dutch form went into English as sloop (1629) and into Danish and Swedish as slup; through English it gave German Slup and French sloop, a loan back into French, so that English, French and German each have two words for different boats.^[2][6][4][9]

Timeline

• 1588 – Kiliaan records sloepe and sloepken.^[2][10]
• 1600 – A chaloupe is sent inland.^[2]
• 1602 – The great sloep is sent out to look for ships.^[3]
• 1629 – English sloop is first recorded.^[6][4]
• 1681 – Winschoten praises the Greenland sloepen as swift rowing boats.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A light open boat, rowed and sometimes with a small mast, carried by a larger ship as a lifeboat, or used for pleasure.^[8][12][1]
2. A fishing boat, of a model that differs from place to place.^[8][3]
3. An open sloop-rigged yacht with one mast, jib and mainsail.^[8]

Word family

• reddingssloep
• sloeproeier

Related words

• English sloop
• English shallop

Usage notes

De sloepen strijken is to lower the boats of a large ship into the water in an emergency.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 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 d e Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 344
5. ^ Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
6. ^ a b c Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ Veen, P. A. F. van; Sijs, Nicoline van der (1997), Etymologisch woordenboek: de herkomst van onze woorden, 2nd ed., Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Lexicografie
8. ^ a b c d e Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
9. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
10. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
11. ^ Winschoten, Wigardus à (1681), Seeman: behelsende een grondige uitlegging van de Neederlandse konst- en spreekwoorden, voor soo veel die uit de seevaart sijn ontleend, Leiden
12. ^ Algemeen Nederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; anw.ivdnt.org