Angabe

Forms

Angabe f (genitive Angabe, plural Angaben)^[1]

Etymology

It is from German angeben (“to state, indicate”), the noun of action of the verb, formed with the vowel of Gabe like Abgabe and Aufgabe, and recorded from the beginning of the 16th century.^[2][3][1][4] The verb, Middle High German anegeben (13th century), is formed from an and geben, and in German became fixed on speech: “to declare, betray, determine”, and “to brag”.^[5][2]

The base verb goes back to Old High German geban and Proto-Germanic *gebaną (“to give”), also found in Gothic 𐌲𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌽 (giban) and Old Norse gefa.^[6][2] Its further origin is uncertain: the nearest comparison is the root Proto-Indo-European *gʰabʰ- (“to take, hold”) of Latin habeō (“to have, hold”) and Old Irish gaibid (“takes, seizes”), though neither the vowel nor the meaning matches.^[6][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record, from 1514, uses angab for a statement that a court officer makes about a fine.^[3] Paul cites Luther for the word.^[7] In Kepler (1616) it is the statement of a weight taken from another author.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The main sense has always been “statement, information”, as in Bismarck's unwahre Angaben (1869).^[7][3] Older German also used it for a suggestion or instigation: in Schiller the nobles dress their servants in one livery auf Angabe des Grafen von Egmont “at the suggestion of Count Egmont”.^[7][8] In Early New High German angabe was also the earnest money paid on a deal, and Adelung records it for goods given in part payment and for the first design of a house or garden.^[9][8][10] The sense “down payment” lives on in Austria.^[11]

The colloquial sense “showing off” belongs to angeben “to brag” and is recent, as is Angeber in that sense, which earlier meant an informer.^[7][2]

Timeline

• 1514 – First record of angab “statement”.^[3]
• 1616 – Kepler uses the word for a statement of weight.^[3]
• First half of the 18th century – The adjective angeblich “alleged” is formed beside it.^[2]
• 1793 – Adelung records the senses “part payment in goods”, “first design” and “earnest money”.^[10]
• 1869 – Bismarck speaks of unwahre Angaben “false statements”.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A statement, a piece of information: nach Angaben der Polizei “according to the police”, ohne Angabe von Gründen “without giving reasons”.^[11][1]
2. (colloquial) boasting, showing off: das ist doch reine Angabe.^[11][1]
3. (sports) The serve in tennis, volleyball and similar games, and the ball served.^[11][1]
4. (Austria) A down payment.^[11][4]
5. (linguistics) An adjunct, a part of a clause that can be left out without making it ungrammatical.^[11][1]

Word family

• Quellenangabe
• Ortsangabe
• Zeitangabe

Related words

• Abgabe
• angeben
• Aufgabe
• Angeber
• angeblich
• Gabe
• geben

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
3. ^ a b c d e f g 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, 923
4. ^ a b Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
5. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 45
6. ^ a b Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 337
7. ^ a b c d Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
8. ^ 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, 336
9. ^ Anderson, Robert R.; Goebel, Ulrich; Reichmann, Oskar, eds. (1989–), Frühneuhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; FWB-online, fwb-online.de
10. ^ a b Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf
11. ^ a b c d e f Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag