valk

Forms

valk f or m (plural valken, diminutive valkje n)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch valke, inherited from Old Dutch falko, inherited from Proto-Germanic *falkan-, probably a native Germanic word, though some hold that it was borrowed from Latin.^[2][1][3] Old Dutch has it only in place names: Ualcanaburg (Valkenburg in South Holland, 918–48), Falcoberg (Fauquembergues, 961) and Falchenberch (Valkenburg in Limburg, 1041).^[2][4] The same word is Old Saxon falko (later Middle Low German valke), Old High German falko (German Falke) and West Frisian falk; Old Norse falki and Swedish falk were borrowed from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German, with falconry.^[2][3][5]

The EWN, following De Vries, derives it from the root of vaal (“fallow, greyish”), with the Germanic ⟨k⟩ suffix of alk and havik, so that the falcon is named for its colour;^[2][3][5][1] Late Latin falcō, found from the 4th century and the source of French faucon and the English word falcon, would then come from Germanic.^[2][3][5][1] De Vries notes that the Germanic peoples prized the falcon as a model of courage long before falconry reached them, as the personal name Falco among the Lombards, Visigoths and Franks shows.^[3] Kroonen calls the link with ⟨vaal⟩ possible but uncertain and prefers one with Old Prussian pele (“harrier”).^[5] Wiktionary traces the root to Proto-Indo-European *pelH- (“pale, grey”).^[1]

The other view, held by Franck–Van Wijk, Vercoullie and Van Veen, takes the Germanic word from Latin, and explains falcō as a derivative of falx (“sickle”), after the bird's hooked claws or beak.^{[6][7][8][9][10]} In its favour, the WNT notes that the word is missing from the old Germanic law codes and that in Old English the bird was called wealh-hafoc (“foreign hawk”).^[10][6][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first records are place names: Ualcanaburg, Valkenburg in South Holland, in a document of 918–48 known from an 11th-century copy.^[4][2][11] As a common noun Middle Dutch valke appears in Flanders in 1228, in a text on gloves for the falcons, and in a Limburg glossary of 1240.^[12][13][2]

Semantic evolution

The falcon was the bird of the hunt and of the nobility.^[10][14] Its sharp sight gave hij ziet als een valk “he sees very sharply” (1582).^[10] In medieval imagery the falcon was the courtly lover, as in a song of 1539 in which the falcon comes down from the high country to a tame dove, and a text of 1543 calls the devil den valck der duysternisse “the falcon of darkness”.^[10] In falconers' language valk means the female bird.^[10][15]

Valke was a byname and a first name from the 13th century, as in a Ghent list of 1270;^[13][1] Valk is still a surname.^[13][1] The word is also the name of a small racing sailboat and to the cockatiel (valkparkiet).^[14][16][1] Danish and Norwegian falk come from Dutch or Low German, and Papiamentu falki from Dutch.^[17]

Timeline

• 918–948 – The place name Ualcanaburg (Valkenburg, South Holland) is recorded.^[4][2][11]
• 961 – Falcoberg (Fauquembergues) is recorded.^[4][2]
• 1228 – Middle Dutch valke appears in a Flemish text on falconers' gloves.^[12]
• 1240 – Valke glosses Latin herodius in a Limburg glossary.^[13][2]
• 1270 – Iohannes valke is named in a Ghent membership list.^[13]
• 1287 – A West Flemish text says Falco dats de ualke in latijn.^[13]
• 1543 – The devil is called den valck der duysternisse.^[10]
• 1582 – Als een valck zien “to see sharply” is recorded.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A falcon, a bird of prey of the genus Falco, with long pointed wings.^[16][14][1]
2. (falconry) A female falcon.^[10][15]
3. A picture of a falcon, as a sign of nobility in heraldry and art.^[14]
4. A small open racing sailboat.^[16][14][1]

Word family

• valkenier
• valkerij
• valkenjacht
• valkparkiet
• slechtvalk
• torenvalk
• boomvalk
• giervalk
• dwergvalk
• jachtvalk

Related words

• German Falke

Usage notes

The proverb elk meent zijn uil een valk te zijn, “everyone takes his owl for a falcon”, says that everyone thinks his own children the cleverest.^[16][10] De Rode Valken is a socialist youth movement.^[16]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 c d Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org
5. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
7. ^ Vercoullie, Jozef (1925), Beknopt etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 3rd ed., 's-Gravenhage / Gent: Nijhoff / Van Rysselberghe & Rombaut
8. ^ Veen, P. A. F. van; Sijs, Nicoline van der (1997), Etymologisch woordenboek: de herkomst van onze woorden, 2nd ed., Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Lexicografie
9. ^ a b Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 398
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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
11. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
12. ^ a b Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
13. ^ 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
14. ^ a b c d e Algemeen Nederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; anw.ivdnt.org
15. ^ a b WikiWoordenboek (Dutch Wiktionary), nl.wiktionary.org
16. ^ a b c d e Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
17. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)