Etymologically
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äußern

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈɔʏ̯sɐn/, [ˈʔɔʏ̯sɐn][1]

Forms

äußern (third-person singular present äußert, past tense äußerte, past participle geäußert, auxiliary haben)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German ūȥern (“to give out of one's hands, (reflexive) to renounce”), a verb formed from Middle High German ūȥer (“outside; outer”), the source of außer and äußere.[2][3][4][5] Verbs were made from aus and its derivatives from late Old High German on: the earliest is Old High German ūzōn (“to reject, (reflexive) to renounce”), and Middle High German had ūzen and ūzenen beside the new verb, which Kluge sees as a clarifying adaptation rather than a fresh formation.[2][3] Pfeifer leaves open whether it was formed from the adverb or from the adjective.[3] Wiktionary reconstructs an older Proto-West Germanic *ūtiʀōn (“to place outward”).[1]

The same formation is Middle Low German ūteren, Dutch uiten and English utter.[2][5][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German ūzōn is found in glosses of the 10th century and in Notker, meaning “to reject, exclude” and, reflexively with the genitive, “to renounce”.[6][7] Paul dates äußern itself to the 14th century, when it meant “to give out of one's hand or possession”.[5]

Semantic evolution

In medieval and Early New High German the verb was much wider than today, and mostly legal: “to hand over, sell off, make known, expel, exclude”; reflexively “to rid oneself of, give up”.[3][5] Luther wrote of Christ Sondern eussert sich selbs / vnd nam Knechts gestalt an (“but emptied himself and took the form of a servant”, Philippians 2:7).[5] These senses now belong to veräußern and entäußern.[3][5]

In the 18th century the main sense became “to let something be seen, show”, properly “to let it come outside”, as in Goethe's Wahlverwandtschaften: indem er seine ganze Tätigkeit äußert.[3][5] Reflexively it meant “to appear, show itself”;[5][8] Steinbach in 1734 notes that no game äußerte sich on a hunt.[5][8] Since the Classical period the transitive verb has been limited to expressing opinions and feelings in speech or writing.[3][5]

Timeline

  • 10th century – Old High German ūzōn “to reject” appears in glosses.[6]
  • 14th century – äußern is recorded, at first “to give out of one's possession”.[5][2]
  • 1734 – Steinbach records reflexive sich äußern “to show itself”.[5]
  • 18th century – The sense “to show, display” prevails.[3][5]
  • Late 18th century – Äußerung is used in the modern senses.[5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To express, utter, voice: Sie äußerte Zweifel an dem Plan.[9][1]
  2. (reflexive) To give one's opinion, comment: Der Minister wollte sich dazu nicht äußern.[9][10]
  3. (reflexive) To show itself, manifest itself: Seine Nervosität äußerte sich in einem Zucken der Lider.[9]

Word family

  • Äußerung
  • entäußern
  • veräußern

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 77
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  4. ^ a b Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2007), 4th ed., Duden vol. 7, Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  7. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 366
  8. ^ a b 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
  10. ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org