lijken Dutch · revision 37246

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1450|origins=gem-pro *galīkaz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈlɛi̯kə(n)/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''lijken'''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|dum|liken]], a form without the prefix of [[m|dum|geliken|t=to resemble]], the verb that survives as [[gelijken]].^(EWN)^(Van Veen & Van der Sijs 1997)^(Wiktionary) That verb is [[inh|odt|*gilīkon]], [[inh|gem-pro|*galīkōną|t=to be like]], made from the adjective [[m|gem-pro|*galīkaz|t=like]], the ancestor of [[gelijk]].^(Wiktionary)^(EWN)

+

+ Why the prefix was lost is disputed.^(EWN)^(WNT) Van Veen and De Vries see a Frisian-coloured Holland form, from dialects that tended to drop ⟨ge-⟩.^(Van Veen & Van der Sijs 1997)^(EWN) The Etymologisch woordenboek van het Nederlands notes that the prefix also fell away in other dialects, so that the verb may instead have been made from, or shaped by, the adjective and adverb [[lijk]] “like”; a strong verb is then unexpected, but weak verbs often became strong.^(EWN) The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal also prefers derivation from that adjective.^(WNT)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The verb with the prefix, Middle Dutch ''geliken'' “to resemble”, is recorded in 1240, and ''ghelijct'' “resembles” in 1277.^(EWN) The short form ''liken'' in this sense first appears around 1450, and ''lijcken'' “to look like” in a text of 1470–1490.^(Van der Sijs 2001)^(EWN)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ At first the verb took a dative: the person or thing resembled stood in that case, as with German [[m|de|gleichen]] today, and Vondel could still write ''wien lijckt dat'' “whom does that resemble” in 1640.^(EWN)^(WNT) When the case endings wore away, the dative could be taken for a subject, and the verb came to mean “to seem”: Vondel's ''Hy lijckt een sant'' (1630) is “he seems a saint”.^(EWN)^(WNT) With an adjective it became a linking verb, as early as 1591 in ''Hy lijckt wel rijck'' “he looks rich indeed”.^(EWN) The old sense “to resemble” is now expressed with ''lijken op''.^(EWN)^(Van Dale 2014)

+

+ Seventeenth-century Dutch said that something ''lijkt wat'' when it looked important, usually with a hint of deception (1663), and in 1784 ''het lijkt wel niets'' meant “it is no good at all”.^(WNT) The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal noted in 1918 that the verb was little used in the popular speech of the southern Netherlands.^(WNT) In Surinamese Dutch ''lijken'' can mean “to show off”.^(Van Donselaar 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1240 – Middle Dutch ''geliken'' “to resemble”.^(EWN)

+ * 1277 – ''Ghelijct'' “resembles”.^(EWN)

+ * c. 1450 – The short form ''liken'' “to resemble”.^(Van der Sijs 2001)

+ * 1591 – ''Hy lijckt wel rijck'', the linking use with an adjective.^(EWN)

+ * 1630 – Vondel's ''Hy lijckt een sant'' “he seems a saint”.^(EWN)

+ * 1663 – ''Iets lijken'' “to look like something of importance”.^(WNT)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|resemble]], to look like, usually with ''op'': ''Ze lijkt sprekend op haar moeder.''^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To [[m|en|seem]], to appear: ''Het lijkt hier wel een bouwplaats.''^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To appeal to, to suit: ''Dat lijkt me een goed plan.''^(Van Dale 2014)^(WikiWoordenboek)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[gelijk]]

+ * [[gelijken]]

+ * [[de|gleichen]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ An archaic ''lijken'' “to please” is a separate verb: Middle Dutch [[m|dum|liken]] in this sense is found in Brabant in 1265, Old Dutch [[m|odt|līcon]] in the Wachtendonck Psalms, from [[gem-pro|*līkāną]], the same verb as [[en|like]] and [[got|𐌻𐌴𐌹𐌺𐌰𐌽|tr=leikan]].^(VMNW)^(ONW)^(Wiktionary)^(Vercoullie 1925) Sailors use a transitive ''lijken'' “to sew a bolt rope to a sail”, from [[lijk]] in the sense of that rope, and Russian borrowed it.^(Van Dale 2014)^(Van der Sijs 2010) A weak ''lijken'' “to make even”, used of dikes and of stones, and by West Flemish cobblers for polishing, is recorded too.^(WNT)^(Debrabandere 2002)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}