spelen Dutch · revision 37275

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1236, Middle Dutch (Ghent)|origins=gmw-pro *spil}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈspeːlə(n)/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''spelen''' (weak verb: ''speelde'', ''gespeeld'')^(VMNW)^(Van Donselaar 1989)

+ Middle Dutch also wrote ''spuelen'' and ''spoelen''.^(MNW) The dialect form ''speulen'' is still used.^(MNW)^(WNT)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|dum|spêlen]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*spilōn|t=to play; to dance]], a verb formed in West Germanic from the noun [[m|gmw-pro|*spil|t=play, game]], the ancestor of [[spel]].^(Wiktionary)^(Kroonen 2013)^(VMNW) The same verb is [[osx|spilon]], [[goh|spilōn]] (modern [[de|spielen]]) and [[ofs|spilia]].^(De Vries 1971)^(De Vries & De Tollenaere 2004) De Vries regards it as a continental West Germanic word, from which [[ang|spilian]] was borrowed.^(De Vries 1971)

+

+ The origin is unknown.^(Van Veen & Van der Sijs 1997)^(De Vries & De Tollenaere 2004)^(Kroonen 2013) Because the word is found in so few languages, De Vries finds any link outside Germanic very doubtful, and he and Kroonen reject a comparison with [[lv|spīlēt|t=to clamp, pinch]] as too remote in meaning.^(De Vries 1971)^(Kroonen 2013) Its oldest sense was probably “to dance”, as Old High German [[m|goh|spiliman|t=dancer]] and [[m|goh|spiliwīp|t=female dancer]] suggest.^(De Vries 1971)^(De Vries & De Tollenaere 2004)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Middle Dutch ''spelen'' is first recorded in Ghent in 1236, in a text about men who play at dice or other worldly games.^(VMNW)^(Van der Sijs 2001) The Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek dates its oldest record to the early 13th century in the Lower Rhine region, and around 1240 a Limburg glossary gives ''spelen'' for Latin ''ludere'' “to play” and ''spaciari'' “to walk for pleasure”.^(VMNW)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 13th century the verb meant “to amuse oneself”, “to frolic” (of animals), “to play a game” and “to play music”, and also, as a euphemism, “to have sex”.^(VMNW) The sense “to go out for pleasure” lived on into the 17th century with verbs of motion, as in ''uit spelen rijden'' “to ride out for pleasure”, and survives in [[spelevaren]] “to go boating”.^(WNT)^(MNW) The modern dictionaries also list acting a part or performing a play, and figurative uses such as ''de baas spelen'' “to act the boss”.^(Van Dale 2014)

+

+ ''Iemand in de kaart spelen'', to play a card so that another can win, and so to help someone unintentionally, is used by newspapers of 1913 and 1914.^(Stoett 1923)^(Van Dale 2014) In Surinamese Dutch ''spelen'' can also mean “to deceive”.^(Van Donselaar 1989) Van der Sijs derives [[da|spille]], [[no|spille]] and [[sv|spela]] from Dutch or Low German; the verb went into Negerhollands and Berbice Dutch;^(Van der Sijs 2010)^(Wiktionary) Afrikaans has [[m|af|speel]].^(Van der Sijs 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1236 – Middle Dutch ''spelen'' “to play (at dice)”, in Ghent.^(VMNW)^(Van der Sijs 2001)

+ * c. 1240 – ''Spelen'' glosses Latin ''ludere'' in Limburg.^(VMNW)

+ * 1270 – Young pelicans are said to play around their father's eyes, in a Lower Rhine text.^(VMNW)

+ * 1559 – ''Wt spelen gaen'', to go out for pleasure.^(WNT)

+ * 1913 – ''In de kaart spelen'' “to play into someone's hands” in newspapers.^(Stoett 1923)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|play]], to amuse oneself with games or toys: ''de kinderen spelen buiten'', the children are playing outside.^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)^(WikiWoordenboek)

+ # To play a game or sport: ''we spelen een potje schaak'', we play a game of chess.^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To play a musical [[m|en|instrument]] or perform a piece of music.^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To act a role or perform a play; to pretend to be: ''de baas spelen'', to act the boss.^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To be under way, to happen: ''het verhaal speelt in Gent'', the story is set in Ghent.^(Van Dale 2014)

+ # To handle something carelessly: ''met iemands gevoelens spelen'', to toy with someone's feelings.^(WikiWoordenboek)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[speler]]

+ * [[speling]]

+ * [[speels]]

+ * [[speelgoed]]

+ * [[speelman]]

+ * [[speeltuin]]

+ * [[speelkaart]]

+ * [[speelfilm]]

+ * [[speelruimte]]

+ * [[bespelen]]

+ * [[afspelen]]

+ * [[verspelen]]

+ * [[spelevaren]]

+ * [[spelemeien]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[spel]]

+ * [[de|spielen]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Spelen'' is also the plural of [[spel]] in the sense “games, contests”, as in ''de Olympische Spelen''.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}