Änderung

Forms

Änderung f (genitive Änderung, plural Änderungen)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German anderunge, also enderunge, a noun formed from German ändern + -ung.^[1][2][3][4] The verb ändern is derived from the adjective ander “other”.^[5][6] That adjective goes back to Proto-Germanic *anþeraz, also found in Gothic 𐌰𐌽𐌸𐌰𐍂 (anþar) and Old Norse annarr, and to Proto-Indo-European *antero-, as in Sanskrit अन्तर (ántara) and Lithuanian añtras (“second, other”), a contrastive formation on a pronominal stem.^[5][6] The umlaut of the verb and of this noun did not spread to the adjective.^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Middle High German anderunge is recorded about 1210 in Gottfried von Strassburg's Tristan and in other courtly and religious texts, with the senses “change, alteration, inconstancy, separation, difference”.^[3] A charter of 1279 speaks of a change happening in a fief: swenne ein andervnge geschiht, an .. dem lehen.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The revised Grimms' dictionary separates two senses from the beginning: “alteration, transformation” and “exchange, replacement”; in a Bavarian legal text of the late 13th century two officials hand their office over to two others every month, and this endrung is to take place monthly.^[4] A change of heart could mean amendment: a Weistum of 1530 names busze und änderung (penance and amendment) side by side, and Adelung still gives the sense “betterment”.^[7][8] In 1555 Johann Agricola writes of the change in religion,^[4] and the 18th century uses the word of corrections to a manuscript (1774) and, later, of alterations to clothes.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1210 – Middle High German anderunge in Gottfried's Tristan.^[3]
• 1279 – andervnge in a charter.^[4]
• 1530 – busze und änderung “penance and amendment” in a Weistum.^[7]
• 1555 – Used of a change of religion.^[4]
• 1774 – Used of alterations and corrections to a manuscript.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. An alteration, modification: eine Änderung des Fahrplans;^[9][1] Änderungen vorbehalten (“subject to change”).^[9][1]
2. A change, shift (of opinion, attitude, circumstances): eine Änderung der Lage.^[9][2]

Related words

• ändern
• ander
• Veränderung
• anders

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
3. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob Grimm und Wilhelm Grimm, Neubearbeitung (1965–2018), ed. Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften and Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, 9 vols. (A–F), Leipzig / Stuttgart: Hirzel, p. 2, 812
5. ^ a b c Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 43
6. ^ a b Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
7. ^ a b Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 1, 313
8. ^ Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf
9. ^ a b c Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag