Re: And in Denmark too? (was: Conlang meeting in Nederlands (Irina/Boud, Rob, Maarten, Christophe))

SuomenkieliMaa scripsit:

> > > That would be Cheapinghaven, er, Copenhagen.>
> > That's Cheapmanhaven to you, my friend. Mercatorum
> > portus, old style.
>
> Sorry, but I'm not sure if you are being sarcastic or
> not.  From the looks, Cheapmanhaven - town of the
> cheap man??  Or is it truly an old Danish word?
Not sarcastic, just lingweenie humor.   Copenhagen (proper Danish
form København, where ø = o-slash) means "port/haven of the
merchants", as the Latin form "portus mercatorum" shows.
Cognates of this "køben" are Dutch "koopman", German "Kaufmann",
and older English "cheapman", all derived from the verb meaning
"trade" whose English form is "cheap".  The English adjective
"cheap" is derived from this now-obsolete verb.  "Cheaping",
which I had used before, means "market", place where people
cheap.

--
John Cowan           http://www.ccil.org/~cowan              cowan@ccil.org
Please leave your values        |       Check your assumptions.  In fact,
   at the front desk.           |          check your assumptions at the door.
     --sign in Paris hotel      |            --Miles Vorkosigan