kaufen German · revision 35485

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=8th century, Old High German glosses|origins=la caupō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * [ˈkaʊ̯fn̩], [ˈkaʊ̯fən]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''kaufen''' (third-person singular present kauft, past tense kaufte, past participle gekauft, auxiliary haben)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|koufen]], [[inh|goh|koufōn]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*kaupōn]], [[inh|gem-pro|*kaupōną|t=to trade, buy]].^(Kluge 2011|483)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary) The same verb is [[got|𐌺𐌰𐌿𐍀𐍉𐌽|tr=kaupōn|t=to trade]], [[non|kaupa]], [[ang|ċēapian]], [[osx|kōpian]] and [[nl|kopen]].^(Kluge 2011|483)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ The Germanic verb rests on a very early borrowing from Latin: behind it stands [[la|caupō|t=innkeeper, petty trader]], which was also taken over as [[goh|koufo|t=merchant]] and [[ang|cȳpa]].^(Kluge 2011|483)^(EWA|5, 727) Kluge and Duden think that the verbs were borrowed from the Latin derivative [[m|la|caupōnor|t=to haggle, huckster]] rather than formed in Germanic from the borrowed noun.^(Kluge 2011|483)^(Duden 7 2020|427) Pfeifer and Wiktionary prefer the other way, a Germanic verb formed from the noun [[gem-pro|*kaupô|t=merchant, innkeeper]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary) According to Pfeifer the Latin word reached the Germans around the beginning of the Christian era through Roman soldiers on the middle and lower Rhine,^(Pfeifer 1993) and Duden points out that the innkeeper who followed the legions sold the wine the Germans prized and was the small trader of the frontier.^(Duden 7 2020|427) The Latin noun is usually compared with [[grc|κάπηλος|tr=kápēlos|t=retail dealer]]; neither word has a secure etymology, and both are usually taken to be loanwords.^(EWA|5, 727)

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+ The noun [[Kauf]] is an early back-formation from the verb, and a related English word is [[m|en|cheap]].^(Kluge 2011|483)^(Pfeifer 1993)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''koufen'' is recorded from the 8th century, first in glosses, then in the Benedictine Rule, the Tatian, Otfrid and Notker.^(Kluge 2011|483)^(Köbler AHD)^(Schützeichel 2012|181) It meant “to buy, acquire”, but also “to redeem”, “to sell” and “to trade”.^(EWA|5, 724)^(Köbler AHD)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The verb first covered the whole of trading, both buying and selling, and Middle High German ''koufen'' could still mean “to barter” and “to sell”.^(Duden 7 2020|427)^(Pfeifer 1993) The same breadth shows in the derivatives: [[Käufer]] meant both buyer and seller, and until the 16th century also merchant, and [[Kaufmann]] meant the buyer as well as the seller into the 18th century.^(Pfeifer 1993) Adelung, around 1800, still knew ''mit jemandem kaufen'' “to deal with someone” from everyday speech, but otherwise the meaning had narrowed to “to buy”.^(Adelung 1793)

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+ In Early New High German ''kaufen'' could also mean “to win someone with money, to bribe” and “to win a spouse by a marriage contract”.^(FWB) The bribing sense survives in colloquial German, as does ''sich jemanden kaufen'' “to take someone to task”.^(Duden GWDS 1999) Regional forms are umlauted ''käufen'' and Low German ''köpen''.^(Kluge 2011|483)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 8th century – Old High German ''koufen'' appears in glosses.^(Kluge 2011|483)^(Köbler AHD)

+ * 8th century – ''firkoufen'', the ancestor of [[verkaufen]], is recorded.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 9th century – ''koufāri'' “buyer, seller, merchant” and ''koufman'' are recorded.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 10th–11th century – ''kouflīh'', the ancestor of [[käuflich]], appears.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 16th century – ''Käufer'' is restricted to the buyer.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 17th century – ''käuflich'' means only “that can be bought”.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|buy]], to [[m|en|purchase]]: ''Wir haben das Fahrrad gebraucht gekauft.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To [[m|en|shop]], to buy one's goods somewhere: ''Sie kauft nur auf dem Wochenmarkt.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' To [[m|en|bribe]]: ''Der Zeuge war gekauft.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' ''sich jemanden kaufen'': to take someone to task: ''Den kaufe ich mir nach dem Spiel!''^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Käufer]]

+ * [[käuflich]]

+ * [[Kaufmann]]

+ * [[verkaufen]]

+ * [[Kauf]]

+ * [[abkaufen]]

+ * [[ankaufen]]

+ * [[einkaufen]]

+ * [[erkaufen]]

+ * [[freikaufen]]

+ * [[Kauffrau]]

+ * [[Kaufhaus]]

+ * [[loskaufen]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|cheap]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Die Katze im Sack kaufen'' (“to buy the cat in the sack”) is to buy something without examining it, like English “to buy a pig in a poke”.^(Wiktionary) ''Dafür kann ich mir nichts kaufen'' means “that is no use to me”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}