plek Dutch · revision 37293

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1240, Middle Dutch (Limburg, as placke)|origins=gem-pro *plakjō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /plɛk/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''plek''' ''f'' (plural plekken, diminutive plekje n)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|dum|plecke]], [[inh|gem-pro|*plakjō|t=spot, stain|alt=*plakjo-]], a variant with a different vowel beside [[plak]], which also meant “spot, place” in Middle Dutch and still does in dialects.^(EWN)^(Wiktionary)^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912)^(Van Veen & Van der Sijs 1997) The same word is [[gml|plecke]] “place, stain”, and the dialect word [[m|en|pleck]] “place” in English, recorded from the 14th century, may come from Dutch.^(EWN)^(De Vries 1971)

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+ Its origin is unclear.^(EWN) The meaning suggests a link with [[vlek]]: if so, the ⟨p⟩ would come from a substrate language and would have escaped the Germanic sound shift, as Kuhn proposed in 1961.^(EWN)^(Wiktionary) The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal thought it perhaps an imitative word, like its variant with ⟨a⟩.^(WNT)

+

+ The first meaning was probably “stain, spot”.^(EWN) German [[m|de|Flecken]] “spot” also came to mean “hamlet, village”, and English [[m|en|spot]] went the same way, from a mark to a place.^(EWN)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The form ''placke'' glosses Latin ''labes'' and ''menda'' “stain, blemish” in a Limburg glossary of about 1240, beside ''vlacke'' and ''vlecke''.^(VMNW) The sense “place” appears in 1358, in ''omme plecke van mersche'', “for a piece of meadow”.^(EWN)^(Van der Sijs 2001)^(Van Veen & Van der Sijs 1997)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Middle Dutch ''plecke'' meant a stain or blemish, a mark on the skin, and also a place or a village, while the form ''placke'' kept the sense “stain, blot”.^(EWN)^(MNW) In 1599 Kiliaan still gave ''placke, plecke, vlecke'' both as “stain” and as “place, village”.^(EWN)

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+ In the Netherlands the sense “stain” became old-fashioned, but it lives on in Belgium, and in the ''blauwe plek'', a bruise, recorded in the plural in 1858.^(WNT)^(Van Dale 2014) The usual sense today is “place, spot”, which in the South is often simply the word for ''plaats''.^(De Vries 1971)^(Van Dale 2014) Phrases include ''de vinger op de zere plek leggen'', to point exactly to the problem, and ''witte plekken'', blank areas on a map.^(Stoett 1923)^(Van Dale 2014)

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+ Afrikaans [[m|af|plek]] means “place”, and South African English took the word from it.^(Wiktionary)^(Van der Sijs 2010) In Negerhollands ''wat plek'', “what place”, became the word for “where”.^(Van der Sijs 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1240 – ''Placke'' “stain” in a Limburg glossary.^(VMNW)

+ * 1358 – ''Plecke'' “piece of land, place” is recorded.^(EWN)^(Van der Sijs 2001)

+ * 1599 – Kiliaan lists ''plecke'' as both “stain” and “place”.^(EWN)

+ * 1858 – ''Blaauwe plekken'', bruises, are recorded.^(WNT)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|place]], a [[m|en|spot]], a particular point or area: ''Dit is een mooie plek om te picknicken.''^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)^(WikiWoordenboek)

+ # The right place for someone or something: ''Hij heeft zijn plek gevonden in het team.''^(Van Dale 2014)

+ # Room, space taken up or available: ''Is er nog plek in de auto?''^(Van Dale 2014)^(WikiWoordenboek)

+ # A small patch of a surface that looks different from its surroundings; a ''blauwe plek'' is a [[m|en|bruise]].^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Belgium)'' A stain.^(Van Dale 2014)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[werkplek]]

+ * [[parkeerplek]]

+ * [[slaapplek]]

+ * [[rustplek]]

+ * [[plekken]]

+ * [[plekkerig]]

+ * [[ter plekke]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[plak]]

+ * [[vlek]]

+ * [[plaats]]

+ * [[en|pleck]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Ter plekke'' means “on the spot”, and ''iets een plek geven'' is to come to terms with an emotion or event.^(Van Dale 2014)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}