Kopf German · revision 35112

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=end of the 8th century, Old High German glosses|origins=la cūpa}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /kɔpf/, [kɔp͡f], [kɔp͡ɸ]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Kopf''' ''m'' (genitive Kopfes or Kopfs, plural Köpfe, diminutive Köpfchen n or Köpflein n or Kopferl n)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|kopf|t=drinking vessel, skull, head]], [[inh|goh|kopf|t=cup, bowl]], which Kluge, Pfeifer and the Duden dictionary take as an early loan, [[bor|la-lat|cuppa|t=cup]], a by-form of [[la|cūpa|t=tub, cask]].^(Kluge 2011|530)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2014|479) The same borrowing is found in [[ang|cuppe]] (whence [[en|cup]]), [[non|koppr|t=cup-shaped vessel, small boat]], [[gml|kop]] and [[nl|kop]].^(Kluge 2011|530)^(Pfeifer 1993) Paul explains the masculine gender by the Old High German word [[m|goh|gebal|t=head]].^(Paul 2002)

+

+ Kluge sees the change of meaning as an expressive image, to smash someone's “cup” being to smash their head, just as [[fr|tête|t=head]] comes from [[m|la|testa|t=earthenware vessel, shard]] and replaced [[m|la|caput]].^(Kluge 2011|530)^(Duden 7 2020)^(Duden 7 2014|479) Pfeifer, Paul and the Duden dictionary see the link in the sense “skull” of Middle High German [[m|gmh|hirnkopf|t=skull]], the vessel of the brain.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002)^(Duden 7 2014|479)

+

+ Wiktionary instead treats the word as native, [[gmw-pro|*kopp]], [[gem-pro|*kuppaz|t=round object, bowl, crown of the head]], perhaps from [[ine-pro|*gew-|t=to bend, curve]], and gives the Latin source as an alternative that form and gender make less likely.^(Wiktionary) Orel likewise compares [[lv|gubt|t=to bend]] and [[sla-pro|*gъbnǫti|t=to bend]].^(Orel 2003)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''kopf'' is recorded from the end of the 8th century in glosses, and in Notker, meaning “cup, goblet, bowl”.^(EWA|5, 692)^(Köbler AHD)^(Schützeichel 2012|180) The sense “back of the head” (Latin ''occiput'') appears in glosses which the Grimms date to the 12th or even the 11th century, and Pfeifer to a manuscript of the 13th.^(DWB|11, 1747)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Middle High German ''kopf'' meant a drinking vessel, the skull and the head, but the sense “head” was still rare, and Luther mostly writes [[Haupt]].^(Paul 2002)^(Köbler MHD) From the 16th century ''Kopf'' pushed ''Haupt'' into elevated language.^(Pfeifer 1993) The old sense “cup” remained in full use in the 16th century and lasted into the 17th, and it survives in ''Schröpfkopf'' “cupping glass” and ''Pfeifenkopf''.^(DWB|11, 1744)^(Paul 2002) Early New High German also used the word as a measure of liquid or grain.^(FWB)

+

+ Only ''Kopf'', never ''Haupt'', is used for the seat of thought, as in ''ein kluger Kopf'' and in ''er hat seinen Kopf für sich'' for the seat of the will.^(Paul 2002) It also names parts of things by shape or position, as in ''Nagelkopf'', ''Brückenkopf'' and ''Kohlkopf''.^(Paul 2002) ''Köpfchen'' “brains” and the boast ''Köpfchen, Köpfchen!'' date from the beginning of the 20th century.^(Paul 2002) Hebrew has borrowed ''Dummkopf''.^(LWP)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * End of the 8th century – Old High German ''kopf'' “cup” appears in glosses.^(EWA|5, 692)^(Köbler AHD)

+ * 12th century – ''chopf'' glosses Latin ''occiput'' “back of the head”.^(DWB|11, 1747)

+ * 14th century – ''köpfen'' “to behead” is recorded.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 16th century – ''Kopf'' replaces ''Haupt'' as the everyday word;^(Pfeifer 1993) ''Kopfweh'' is recorded.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 17th century – ''Kopfschmerz'' is recorded.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * Early 20th century – ''Köpfchen'' is used for “brains”.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|head]] of a person or animal: ''Mir tut der Kopf weh.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A person of particular (intellectual) abilities: ''Sie ist ein heller Kopf.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The [[m|en|leader]] or head of a group or organization: ''der Kopf der Bande''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # The [[m|en|mind]], thinking or will: ''Das will mir nicht aus dem Kopf.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # An individual within a larger number of people, a head: ''zehn Euro pro Kopf''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # The round upper part of something, as of a nail or a pin.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # The edible round head of cabbage or lettuce: ''zwei Köpfe Salat''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # The top or front part of something, such as the [[m|en|heading]] of a letter or the head of a train.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(numismatics)'' The heads side of a coin, in ''Kopf oder Zahl'' “heads or tails”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(regional)'' A measure of capacity of varying size.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[köpfen]]

+ * [[Köpfchen]]

+ * [[Kopfschmerz]]

+ * [[Kopfweh]]

+ * [[Kopfhörer]]

+ * [[Dummkopf]]

+ * [[Dickkopf]]

+ * [[Hitzkopf]]

+ * [[Kehlkopf]]

+ * [[Kohlkopf]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Kübel]]

+ * [[Kuppe]]

+ * [[en|cup]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Wie vor den Kopf geschlagen'' “thunderstruck” is recorded from Lessing, and ''jemandem den Kopf waschen'' “to give someone a dressing-down” from Early New High German.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}