auto Dutch · revision 37235

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing, clipping|attested=1898|origins=fr automobile}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈɑu̯.toː/, /ˈoː.toː/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''auto''' ''m'' (plural auto's, diminutive autootje n)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|auto]], a shortening of [[m|fr|automobile]].^(EWN)^(Wiktionary)^(WNT) The French word was first an adjective “self-propelled” (1861) and was used as a noun only as a shortening of [[m|fr|voiture automobile|t=self-moving vehicle]] (1876); it is formed with the prefix [[m|fr|auto-|t=self-]] and [[m|fr|mobile|t=movable]] (see [[mobiel]]).^(EWN) The clipped French form dates from 1896 and caught on very quickly in Dutch.^(EWN)

+

+ The word is generally taken as a shortening of [[automobiel]], but both were borrowed from French, the clipped form probably directly, as in English and German.^(EWN)^(WNT)^(Van Veen & Van der Sijs 1997) The new invention found most support in France, and many Dutch words for car parts came from French, such as [[carburateur]], [[carrosserie]] and [[radiateur]].^(EWN)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The adjective ''automobiel'' “self-propelled” is found in 1886, the plural ''automobiles'' in 1897 and ''automobiel'' as a noun in 1898.^(EWN) A newspaper of 12 July 1898 has ''auto's''; the Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal's first quotation, of 1899, describes a man who came to the start of a race in pouring rain with a small open automobile carriage for two.^(EWN)^(WNT)^(Van der Sijs 2001)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In France ''auto'' later lost out to the older ''voiture'', used for a car from 1893; in Belgium its Dutch equivalent [[wagen]] is not unusual as a purism, though most Belgian dialects say ''auto'', like the Netherlands.^(EWN) The diminutive ''autootje'' is also used for toy cars and the small cars of a fairground ride.^(WNT) The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal lists dozens of compounds, from ''ziekenauto'' to ''vrachtauto''.^(WNT)

+

+ The word spread widely from Dutch: Indonesian ''auto'' and ''oto'', ''oto'' in Javanese, Madurese and many other languages of Indonesia, Papiamentu ''outo'', Sranan Tongo ''oto'' and Saramaccan ''otó''.^(Van der Sijs 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1886 – The adjective ''automobiel'' “self-propelled”.^(EWN)

+ * 1895 – ''Automobiele rijtuigen'' “automobile carriages”.^(EWN)

+ * 1897 – The plural noun ''automobiles''.^(EWN)

+ * 1898 – ''Auto's'' in a newspaper of 12 July.^(EWN)

+ * 1899 – The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal's first quotation for ''auto''.^(WNT)^(Van der Sijs 2001)

+ * 1953 – ''Autootje'' for a fairground car.^(WNT)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|car]], [[m|en|automobile]]: a motor vehicle with a body on three or more wheels.^(ANW)^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[personenauto]]

+ * [[vrachtauto]]

+ * [[bestelauto]]

+ * [[brandweerauto]]

+ * [[politieauto]]

+ * [[ziekenauto]]

+ * [[lijkauto]]

+ * [[huurauto]]

+ * [[sportauto]]

+ * [[raceauto]]

+ * [[autobaan]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[automobiel]]

+ * [[auto-]]

+ * [[mobiel]]

+ * [[wagen]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal noted in 1955 that the pronunciation of the first syllable as /oː/, at first the usual one, was going out of use;^(WNT)^(Wiktionary) Wiktionary gives /ˈɑu̯.toː/ beside /ˈoː.toː/.^(WNT)^(Wiktionary) ''Een auto van de zaak'' is a company car.^(Van Dale 2014)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}