Etymologically
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öffentlich

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈœfəntlɪç/, [ˈœfn̩tlɪç][1]

Forms

öffentlich (strong nominative masculine singular öffentlicher, comparative öffentlicher, superlative am öffentlichsten)[1] The older form offenlich survived in places into the 16th century, and Sebastian Brant wrote öfflich.[2] The form offentlich took the umlaut in the 16th century.[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German offenlich, inherited from Old High German offanlīh, formed from Old High German offan + -līh; the base is the adjective now offen.[3][4][1] The same formation is Old Saxon opanlīko (“openly”) and Old English openlīc.[3] The base Proto-Germanic *upanaz, also in Old Norse opinn and Old English open, is formed with an n-suffix and ablaut from the same root as auf;[3][4][5] Pfeifer suggests an original sense “drawn or lifted up”.[3][4][5]

The ⟨t⟩ is a glide sound that appeared between /n/ and /l/ around 1300, and the umlaut came in with Early New High German.[3][4][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The adverb offanlīhho “openly, publicly” is recorded from the 8th century and the adjective offanlīh from the 9th, in the Benedictine Rule and in glosses.[4][6] Middle High German offenlich meant “evident, perceptible to all, understandable” and “undisguised”.[4]

Semantic evolution

For a long time the word meant “plain, evident” (where offenbar is now used), as in Luther's es ist ein öffentlich Wunder, and “frank, undisguised”, as in Schupp's ein offentlicher zorniger Feind.[2] The meaning “before everyone's eyes, not secret” and “open to all”, as in öffentliche Gebäude, was usual by Adelung's time.[7] Kluge notes that the political sense, “made accessible to the public”, came late.[3]

The noun Öffentlichkeit was formed in the 18th century to replace Publizität, and the verb veröffentlichen “to publish” is from the 19th.[3][4] Öffentlichkeitsarbeit, from the second half of the 20th century, is a loan translation of English public relations.[8] The adjective was borrowed as Danish offentlig and Swedish offentlig.[1]

Timeline

  • 8th century – The adverb offanlīhho is recorded.[4]
  • 9th century – The adjective offanlīh is recorded.[4]
  • c. 1300 – The glide sound ⟨t⟩ appears in offentlich.[3]
  • 16th century – The umlauted öffentlich becomes established.[2]
  • 18th century – Öffentlichkeit appears.[4]
  • 19th century – veröffentlichen appears.[4]
  • Second half of the 20th century – Öffentlichkeitsarbeit translates English public relations.[8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. public, open to everyone's sight and hearing, not secret: eine öffentliche Anhörung.[9][1]
  2. Open to and usable by all: ein öffentlicher Park.[9][10]
  3. Concerning the community or the state, coming from it: die öffentliche Meinung “public opinion”, der öffentliche Dienst “the civil service”.[9]

Word family

Usage notes

Ein öffentliches Geheimnis is an open secret, something already widely known.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 13, 1180
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 666
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  5. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  6. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 244
  7. ^ Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf, p. 3, 586
  8. ^ a b Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2007), 4th ed., Duden vol. 7, Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  9. ^ a b c d 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