baby Dutch · revision 37384

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1852|origins=en baby}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈbeːbi/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''baby''' ''m'' (plural baby's, diminutive baby'tje n)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|en|baby|t=infant, small child]].^(EWN)^(Wiktionary)^(Van Veen & Van der Sijs 1997)^(Van der Sijs 2005) The English word is a pet form of [[m|en|babe]], probably shortened from [[enm|baban]], a babbling word of the same kind as ⟨baba⟩, ⟨dada⟩, [[mama]] and [[papa]]; the forms in /i/ are diminutives used as names of endearment.^(EWN)^(Van Veen & Van der Sijs 1997) The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal notes that French also took the English word, and German in the 1840s.^(WNT)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The earliest Dutch record found so far is from a Curaçao newspaper of 1852, where ''de “babies”'' are mentioned in quotation marks as a foreign word; a newspaper of 1869 already writes ''mijnheer de baby''.^(EWN) The EWN's own first date is 1875, from the supplement of the Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal, while Van Veen and Van der Sijs date the word to the first quarter of the 20th century.^(EWN)^(Van der Sijs 2001)^(Van Veen & Van der Sijs 1997)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal defines a baby as a child from birth until it can walk and talk, when it becomes a ''peuter'' “toddler”; a dictionary of 1914 also gives ''baby'' for a loose child's dress and an apron with sleeves, uses for which no further evidence was found.^(WNT) Posthumus finds the word in Koenen's dictionary of 1940 and lists compounds such as ''babyfoon'' “baby monitor” and ''babyvoeding'' “baby food”.^(Posthumus 1986) The ANW also uses it for the young of an animal and for an unborn child.^(ANW)

+

+ From English came the compounds ''babysitter'' (1948), formed in American English in 1937, and the verb ''babysitten'' (1948), as well as ''babyboomer'' (1987), from the post-war ''baby boom''.^(EWN) As a first element ''baby-'' can also mean “small”.^(Van der Sijs 2005)^(WikiWoordenboek) Indonesian ''bébi'' “infant” may come from Dutch or from English.^(Van der Sijs 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1852 – ''Babies'' appears in a Curaçao newspaper.^(EWN)

+ * 1869 – A Zwolle newspaper writes ''mijnheer de baby''.^(EWN)

+ * 1875 – The word is recorded in the supplement of the Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal.^(EWN)^(Van der Sijs 2001)

+ * 1914 – A dictionary also gives it as the name of a child's dress.^(WNT)

+ * 1948 – ''Baby-sitter'' and ''baby-sitten'' appear in a Leiden newspaper.^(EWN)

+ * 1987 – ''Babyboomer'' is first recorded.^(EWN)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|baby]], an [[m|en|infant]] from birth to about one year old: ''De baby slaapt eindelijk.''^(Van Dale 2014)^(ANW)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The young of an animal.^(ANW)

+ # An unborn child, a [[m|en|foetus]].^(ANW)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[babykleding]]

+ * [[babyvoedsel]]

+ * [[babysitter]]

+ * [[babysitten]]

+ * [[babyboomer]]

+ * [[babyfoon]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|baby]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The plural is ''baby's'', with an apostrophe, and the diminutive ''baby'tje''; older texts also have the English plural ''babies''.^(Wiktionary)^(WNT)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}