kijken Dutch · revision 37177

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=14th century, Middle Dutch (Flanders)|origins=gmw-pro *kīkan}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈkɛi̯kə(n)/^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Forms==

+ '''kijken'''^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|dum|kiken]], which Wiktionary traces to [[gmw-pro|*kīkan|t=to look, peep]] and Proto-Germanic [[m|gem-pro|*kīkaną]].^(EWN)^(Wiktionary) Close relatives are found only on the North Sea coast: [[gml|kīken]], [[enm|kiken]] (whence the dialect word [[en|keek]]) and a reconstructed [[ofs|*kīkia]] behind obsolete West Frisian ⟨kytse⟩.^(EWN)^(De Vries 1971)^(Van Veen & Van der Sijs 1997)^(WNT) [[da|kige]] and [[sv|kika]] may have been borrowed from Low German.^(De Vries 1971)^(EWN)

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+ All the standard dictionaries call its origin unknown.^(EWN)^(Van Veen & Van der Sijs 1997)^(De Vries & De Tollenaere 2004|193)^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912) Lidén's link with [[non|keikr|t=bent backwards]], assuming a first sense “bend the head back to look”, is rejected as certainly wrong by De Vries and as unlikely by the EWN, and the EWN also doubts W. de Vries's connection with [[en|kick]] through a shared sense “turn towards something”.^(De Vries 1971)^(EWN)^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912) The verb probably belongs to an expressive group of similar words, such as [[m|en|peek]], [[m|en|peep]] and [[m|en|peer]], or [[m|sv|titta]] beside ⟨kika⟩, and a link with [[de|gucken]] is possible.^(EWN)^(De Vries 1971) De Vries suggests it may have been a nursery word, pointing to [[kiekeboe]] and [[m|en|bo-peep]].^(De Vries 1971) The EWN knows no relatives outside Germanic;^(EWN)^(Wiktionary) Wiktionary mentions a possible source in [[ine-pro|*kéh₂ikos]], which it calls formally problematic.^(EWN)^(Wiktionary)

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+ The long /iː/ became the diphthong written ⟨ij⟩, but the older vowel survives in dialect ⟨kieken⟩ and in common words such as [[rarekiek]].^(EWN)^(WNT)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The oldest quotation in the Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, from a Flemish text dated around 1340, has the past tense: ''ende keec duer die splete weder ende sach wat men daer binnen dede'', “and peered through the crack again and saw what was being done inside”.^(MNW)^(EWN) Around 1410 physicians are called ''die kieken in den orinael'', “those who look into the urine flask”.^(EWN)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The verb is strong in the standard language (''keek'', ''gekeken''), though some dialects inflect it weakly.^(WNT) Beside the plain sense “use one's eyes, look in some direction” it came to describe a facial expression, as in ''staan te kijken als een Klaas van Kloenen'' (1796), to stand gaping like a fool.^(WNT)^(Van Dale 2014) Used transitively, it means to watch a film or television, or to view something such as a house for sale.^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)

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+ Older idioms include ''op zijn neus kijken'' “to look ashamed”, found as ''op sijn neus sien'' in the 17th century.^(Stoett 1923) The curse ''laat naar je kijken!'' probably meant “go and have yourself examined” and weakened to “get lost”.^(Van Sterkenburg 2001)

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+ The verb spread to the Dutch creoles: Negerhollands ''ke'', ''kik'' or ''ki'', Berbice Dutch ''kiki'' and Skepi Dutch ''kika''.^(Van der Sijs 2010)^(Wiktionary) Sranan Tongo has ''kèk'' “to check”, and Afrikaans has [[m|af|kyk]].^(Van der Sijs 2010)^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1340 – Middle Dutch ''kiken'' is first quoted, in a Flemish text.^(MNW)

+ * 1350 – The date Van der Sijs gives for the first record of ''kijken'' “to look”.^(Van der Sijs 2001)

+ * c. 1410 – Physicians are called ''die kieken in den orinael''.^(EWN)

+ * 1648 – The undiphthongised ''kieken'' is still written, in a report of a tiger brought to a castle to be looked at.^(WNT)

+ * 1796 – ''Staan te kijken'' describes a gaping, foolish expression.^(WNT)

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+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|look]], to direct one's eyes (''naar'', at).^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)^(ANW) ''Ze keek uit het raam naar de regen.'' ''Kijken kost geen geld'': looking at goods places one under no obligation to buy.^(Van Dale 2014)

+ # To have a certain look on one's face.^(Van Dale 2014) ''Gek staan te kijken'' is to be utterly amazed.^(Van Dale 2014)

+ # ''(transitive)'' To [[m|en|watch]] (a film, television); to view (a house, for instance): ''We hebben gisteren een oude film gekeken.''^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Word family==

+ * [[kiekeboe]]

+ * [[rarekiek]]

+ * [[kijk]]

+ * [[kijkcijfer]]

+ * [[kijkdag]]

+ * [[kijkgat]]

+ * [[kijkhut]]

+ * [[aankijken]]

+ * [[achteromkijken]]

+ * [[afkijken]]

+ * [[bekijken]]

+ * [[doorkijken]]

+ * [[inkijken]]

+ * [[meekijken]]

+ * [[nakijken]]

+ * [[kijker]]

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|keek]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Kijk uit je doppen!'' is a warning to watch out.^(Van Dale 2014) In Groningen the undiphthongised ''kieken'' is used, as in ''zunig kieken'' “to look glum”.^(Stoett 1923)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}