spreken Dutch · revision 37256

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=901–1000, Wachtendonck Psalms|origins=gem-pro *sprekaną}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈspreːkə(n)/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''spreken'''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|dum|spreken]], [[inh|odt|sprecan]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*sprekan]], [[inh|gem-pro|*sprekaną|t=to speak]].^(EWN)^(Wiktionary)^(Kroonen 2013) The same verb is [[osx|sprekan]], [[goh|sprehhan]] (modern [[de|sprechen]]), [[ofs|spreka]] (modern [[fy|sprekke]]) and [[ang|sprecan]], all meaning “to speak”.^(EWN)^(De Vries 1971)^(Kroonen 2013) It is a strong verb found only in the West Germanic languages.^(EWN)^(De Vries 1971)

+

+ Beside it stand forms without ⟨r⟩: [[m|dum|speken]], [[m|goh|spehhan]] and [[m|ang|specan]], the source of [[en|speak]].^(Van Veen & Van der Sijs 1997)^(EWN)^(De Vries 1971) The Philippa dictionary calls their relation to ⟨spreken⟩ unclear.^(EWN) Van Haeringen took the shorter form to have come out of the longer one,^(Van Haeringen 1936) while De Vries thought the form with ⟨r⟩ the younger, strengthened by an emphatic ⟨r⟩.^(De Vries 1971)^(De Vries & De Tollenaere 2004|361) Kroonen explains the variation by an old alternation in the past tense of the verb.^(Kroonen 2013)

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+ Its further origin is uncertain.^(EWN) The verb may first have meant “to crackle, rustle” and then “to talk”, as an Old Church Slavonic verb meaning “to make a noise” became the ordinary word for speaking in the Slavic languages; it would then belong with [[non|spraka|t=to crackle, rustle]] and [[lt|spragėti|t=to crackle]], from [[ine-pro|*spreg-]].^(EWN)^(Kroonen 2013)^(Wiktionary) Others compare [[cy|ffraeth|t=eloquent]] or [[sq|shpreh|t=to express]].^(EWN)^(Van Veen & Van der Sijs 1997)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old Dutch ''sprecan'' is first recorded in the Wachtendonck Psalms of the 10th century, in ''than sprecan sal ce hin in abulge sinro'' “then he shall speak to them in his wrath”.^(EWN)^(ONW)^(Van der Sijs 2001) Middle Dutch ''spreken'' appears in Limburg around 1200, and a text from the Lower Rhine of 1201 says ''gir sprekit alse ein gron kint'', “you speak like a green child”.^(EWN)^(VMNW)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 13th century the verb already covered the power of speech itself, talking, speaking in court, and a document's wording: ''dus spraken die brieue'', “thus the letters said” (1201).^(VMNW) Middle Dutch ''spreken met'' meant to converse, and also to keep company with a woman.^(MNW) The infinitive was used as a noun from 1236 on, when a Ghent rule bids the brothers eat ''sonder spreken'', “without speaking”.^(VMNW)

+

+ The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal records the verb for a telephone that “speaks” in 1881.^(WNT) ''Spreken als een boek'' is said of stiff, bookish talk, or of a thing that is plain and beyond doubt; in the South it means simply to speak well.^(Stoett 1923)^(WNT) The proverb ''spreken is zilver, zwijgen is goud'' replaced an older '''t is een goed spreken, dat een goed zwijgen verbetert'', recorded by Tuinman in 1727.^(WNT) The compound [[spreekwoord]] (Middle Dutch ''sprecwort'', 1290–1310) was probably modelled on German [[m|de|Sprichwort]].^(EWN)

+

+ Afrikaans has [[m|af|spreek]], and Negerhollands ''spreek''.^(Wiktionary)^(Van der Sijs 2010) French dialects near the border took the verb as ''espreker'' “to babble, speak gibberish, speak Flemish”, and in Indonesian ''holand spréken'' mocks speaking Dutch.^(Van der Sijs 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 901–1000 – Old Dutch ''sprecan'' in the Wachtendonck Psalms.^(EWN)^(Van der Sijs 2001)

+ * c. 1200 – Middle Dutch ''spreken'' is first recorded, in Limburg.^(EWN)^(VMNW)

+ * 1236 – The noun ''spreken'' “speaking” in a Ghent rule.^(VMNW)

+ * 1290–1310 – ''Sprecwort'' “proverb” appears.^(EWN)

+ * 1727 – Tuinman records '''t is een goed spreken, dat een goed zwijgen verbetert''.^(WNT)

+ * 1881 – A telephone is said to ''spreken''.^(WNT)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(intransitive)'' To [[m|en|speak]], to produce the sounds of speech: ''Het kind kon nog niet spreken.''^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(intransitive)'' To put thoughts into words, to say something, to [[m|en|talk]] about a subject.^(Van Dale 2014)^(WikiWoordenboek)

+ # ''(intransitive)'' Of things: to be convincing, to show itself plainly;^(Van Dale 2014) ''dat spreekt'', that goes without saying.^(Van Dale 2014)

+ # ''(transitive)'' To say, to utter: ''het machtswoord spreken'', to settle a matter with one's authority.^(Van Dale 2014)

+ # ''(transitive)'' To talk with someone, to see someone for a talk: ''Kan ik de directeur even spreken?''^(Van Dale 2014)^(De Vreese 1899)

+ # ''(transitive)'' To speak a language: ''Zij spreekt vloeiend Spaans.''^(Van Dale 2014)^(WikiWoordenboek)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[gesprek]]

+ * [[spraak]]

+ * [[spreuk]]

+ * [[spreekwoord]]

+ * [[bespreken]]

+ * [[spreker]]

+ * [[sprookje]]

+ * [[verspreken]]

+ * [[aanspreken]]

+ * [[afspreken]]

+ * [[inspreken]]

+ * [[toespreken]]

+ * [[uitspreken]]

+ * [[vrijspreken]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|speak]]

+ * [[de|sprechen]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ De Vreese distinguishes ''iemand spreken'', to meet someone in order to talk, from ''met iemand spreken'', to hold a conversation with someone; he notes that Southern writers used ''iemand spreken'' where only ''met'' fits, after French ''parler à''.^(De Vreese 1899) A Middle Dutch weak verb ''spreken'' “to throw sparks” (1450), a form of ''sperken'', is a separate word.^(MNW)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}