melken
Dutch
Etymology
From Middle Dutch melken, from Old Dutch *melkan, from Proto-West Germanic *melkan, from Proto-Germanic *melkaną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂melǵ-.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈmɛlkə(n)/
Audio (file) - Hyphenation: mel‧ken
- Rhymes: -ɛlkən
Verb
melken
- (transitive) To milk a (farm) animal.
- (intransitive) To play meekly, without risk, notably in duel ball sports like tennis.
Inflection
Conjugation of melken (strong class 3b) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
infinitive | melken | |||
past singular | molk | |||
past participle | gemolken | |||
infinitive | melken | |||
gerund | melken n | |||
present tense | past tense | |||
1st person singular | melk | molk | ||
2nd person sing. (jij) | melkt | molk | ||
2nd person sing. (u) | melkt | molk | ||
2nd person sing. (gij) | melkt | molkt | ||
3rd person singular | melkt | molk | ||
plural | melken | molken | ||
subjunctive sing.1 | melke | molke | ||
subjunctive plur.1 | melken | molken | ||
imperative sing. | melk | |||
imperative plur.1 | melkt | |||
participles | melkend | gemolken | ||
1) Archaic. |
Derived terms
- afmelken
- melkapparaat
- melkbaar
- melker
- melkmachine
- ontmelken
- robotmelken
- uitmelken
Related terms
Further reading
- “melken” in Woordenlijst Nederlandse Taal – Officiële Spelling, Nederlandse Taalunie. [the official spelling word list for the Dutch language]
German
Etymology 1
From Middle High German mëlken, from Old High German melchan, from Proto-West Germanic *melkan, from Proto-Germanic *melkaną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂melǵ-.
The consonantism -lk- is regular High German. The difference between melken and Milch is due to the fact that the latter used to have a short vowel after -l- (Old High German miluh). Compare Dutch melken, English milk, Danish malke, Norwegian mjølke.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈmɛlkən/, [ˈmɛlkən], [ˈmɛlkŋ̩]
Audio (file) Audio (file) Audio (file) - Hyphenation: mel‧ken
Verb
melken (class 3 strong or weak, third-person singular present milkt or melkt, past tense molk or melkte, past participle gemolken or (rare) gemelkt, past subjunctive mölke or melkte, auxiliary haben)
Usage notes
- Melken has full sets of both strong and weak forms, both being accepted as standard. The past participle gemolken is considerably more common than gemelkt. Otherwise there is possibly a tendency to prefer the strong forms in the northern half of the German Sprachraum and the weak forms in the southern half.
Conjugation
infinitive | melken | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
present participle | melkend | ||||
past participle | gemolken gemelkt1 | ||||
auxiliary | haben | ||||
indicative | subjunctive | ||||
singular | plural | singular | plural | ||
present | ich melke | wir melken | i | ich melke | wir melken |
du milkst du melkst |
ihr melkt | du melkest | ihr melket | ||
er milkt er melkt |
sie melken | er melke | sie melken | ||
preterite | ich molk ich melkte |
wir molken wir melkten |
ii | ich mölke2 ich melkte2 |
wir mölken2 wir melkten2 |
du molkst du melktest |
ihr molkt ihr melktet |
du mölkest2 du mölkst2 du melktest2 |
ihr mölket2 ihr mölkt2 ihr melktet2 | ||
er molk er melkte |
sie molken sie melkten |
er mölke2 er melkte2 |
sie mölken2 sie melkten2 | ||
imperative | milk (du) melk (du) melke (du) |
melkt (ihr) |
1Rare.
2Rare except in very formal contexts; alternative in würde normally preferred.
1Rare.
Derived terms
- Melker, Melkerei, Melkung
Related terms
- Melken
- abmelken, durchmelken
- Dauermelken, Mäusemelken, Weitermelken
- Melkeimer, Melkkuh, Melkmaschine, Melkschemel
Further reading
Adjective
melken
- inflection of melk:
- strong genitive masculine/neuter singular
- weak/mixed genitive/dative all-gender singular
- strong/weak/mixed accusative masculine singular
- strong dative plural
- weak/mixed all-case plural
Middle Dutch
Etymology
From Old Dutch *melkan, from Proto-West Germanic *melkan, from Proto-Germanic *melkaną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂melǵ-.
Inflection
Strong class 3 | ||
---|---|---|
Infinitive | melken | |
3rd sg. past | malc | |
3rd pl. past | molken | |
Past participle | gemolken | |
Infinitive | melken | |
In genitive | melkens | |
In dative | melkene | |
Indicative | Present | Past |
1st singular | melke | malc |
2nd singular | melcs, melkes | molcs, molkes |
3rd singular | melct, melket | malc |
1st plural | melken | molken |
2nd plural | melct, melket | molct, molket |
3rd plural | melken | molken |
Subjunctive | Present | Past |
1st singular | melke | molke |
2nd singular | melcs, melkes | molkes |
3rd singular | melke | molke |
1st plural | melken | molken |
2nd plural | melct, melket | molket |
3rd plural | melken | molken |
Imperative | Present | |
Singular | melc, melke | |
Plural | melct, melket | |
Present | Past | |
Participle | melkende | gemolken |
Descendants
- Dutch: melken
- Limburgish: mèlke
Further reading
- “melken”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
- Verwijs, E., Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “melken”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN