leuk Dutch · revision 37264

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|attested=1709}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /løːk/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''leuk''' (comparative leuker, superlative leukst)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The origin is unclear.^(EWN) The word is usually connected with [[lauw]] “lukewarm”, but the EWN finds the relation between the two in sound and formation unexplained.^(EWN)^(WNT)^(Van Veen & Van der Sijs 1997) Words with a long ⟨u⟩ in the neighbouring languages are probably related: [[nds|lūk|t=lukewarm, flat, calm]], obsolete [[fy|lûk|t=sly, clever]] and [[enm|leuke|t=lukewarm]], which survives in [[en|lukewarm]].^(EWN)^(De Vries 1971)^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912) Eastern Dutch dialect forms with the same vowel do not match the ⟨eu⟩ of the standard word regularly.^(EWN)

+

+ De Vries reconstructs the base as [[gem-pro|*hlūk-|alt=*hlū̆k(i)a-]], a derivative of the root [[m|ine-pro|*ḱlew-|alt=*ḱleu-]] that he also finds in that adjective and in [[lui]] “lazy”; he and Franck–Van Wijk compare [[nds|lȫks|t=lazybones]].^(De Vries 1971)^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912) From the related Germanic words the EWN concludes that the first meaning was probably “lukewarm, half warm”, a sense Dutch records only rarely.^(EWN)^(Van Veen & Van der Sijs 1997)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record, from 1709, is the phrase ''zich leuk houden'' “to keep quiet”: ''Wy houden ons gelijk een Muis Tot nog toe zoo leuk'', “so far we have kept as still as a mouse”.^(EWN)^(WNT)^(Van Veen & Van der Sijs 1997) The sense “lukewarm” appears in 1810, in a remedy for cattle of rubbing the skin with ''leuk water en zout'', lukewarm water and salt.^(EWN)^(WNT)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 18th and especially the 19th century ''leuk'' meant “calm, unruffled”, often with a hint of mockery at the way things are, a sense that survives in [[doodleuk]] and [[leukweg]] “coolly, as if nothing were the matter”.^(EWN)^(WNT)^(Wiktionary) Stoett explains ''zich leuk houden'', to act as if one knows nothing, from the old sense “lukewarm”, and points to Bredero's ''leuckerlaauwe'' “lukewarm” of the early 17th century; in parts of North and South Holland ''leuk'' still meant “lukewarm” or “warm” in his time.^(Stoett 1923)^(WNT)

+

+ From the calm, dry humour of such a person came “funny, amusing”: ''leuk en vermakelijk'' is recorded in 1886, and in 1897 Koenen's dictionary has ''een leuke vent'', a wag.^(EWN)^(Van der Sijs 2001) The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal still described this sense in 1915 as colloquial and typical of Holland.^(WNT) The modern senses “nice, pleasant” and “attractive, pretty” followed;^(EWN)^(WikiWoordenboek) Van Dale records the second in 1984.^(EWN)^(WikiWoordenboek) The EWN suggests that these meanings arose unpredictably in the speech of students or the young, as [[gaaf]] and [[onwijs]] did in the 20th century.^(EWN)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1709 – ''Zich leuk houden'' “to keep still” is first recorded.^(EWN)^(WNT)

+ * 1810 – ''Leuk water'' “lukewarm water” in a remedy for cattle.^(EWN)^(WNT)

+ * 1838 – The adverb ''leukweg'' “coolly” appears.^(WNT)

+ * 1886 – ''Leuk en vermakelijk'' “funny and amusing”.^(EWN)

+ * 1898 – The current sense “funny, nice” is dated to this year.^(Van der Sijs 2001)^(Van Veen & Van der Sijs 1997)

+ * 1984 – Van Dale records ''leuk'' “attractive, pretty”.^(EWN)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|funny]], [[m|en|amusing]], witty.^(Van Dale 2014)^(WikiWoordenboek)

+ # Attractive, [[m|en|pretty]], good-looking.^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)

+ # [[m|en|nice]], pleasant, enjoyable: ''een leuke avond'', a pleasant evening.^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(obsolete)'' Calm, unruffled.^(Wiktionary)^(WNT)

+ # ''(obsolete or regional)'' [[m|en|lukewarm]].^(Wiktionary)^(WNT)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[doodleuk]]

+ * [[leukweg]]

+ * [[leukjes]]

+ * [[leukerd]]

+ * [[leukheid]]

+ * [[opleuken]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[lauw]]

+ * [[lui]]

+ * [[en|lukewarm]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Dat is allemaal leuk en aardig, maar …'' introduces an objection to what someone has said.^(Van Dale 2014) A separate southern noun ''leuk'' meant the inspection of dykes and waterways; it survives in compounds and in ''geleuck'' (1558), which the Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal and De Vries derive from an unattested verb ''*leuken'' “to look at”, compared with Old English ''lōcian'' “to look”.^(WNT)^(De Vries 1971) Another ''leuke'', a hatch, belongs with [[luik]].^(WNT)^(De Vries 1971)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}