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

On Saturday 03 November 2001 09:34, Matt wrote:

> --- Lars Henrik Mathiesen <thorinn@...> wrote:
> > > 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?
No, of the merchant man; it's cognate with Dutch "kopen" (to buy) and
English place-names like "... Chipping". Also with "cheap", but the
meaning of that ("costing little") is a later development. Cheapside,
a street in London, used to be a market-place, not necessarily to get
bargains, just to buy things.

   Irina

--
irina@valdyas.org                        http://www.valdyas.org/irina
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