Aussage

Forms

Aussage f (genitive Aussage, plural Aussagen)^[1]

Etymology

It is a noun formed on the verb aussagen “to state, testify”,^[2][1][3] which is inherited from Middle High German ūʒsagen (“to pronounce, recite”) (late Middle High German), from ūʒ (“out”) and sagen (“to say”).^[4][5]

The verb sagen is Old High German sagēn, from Proto-Germanic *sagēn (“to say”); beside it stands *sagjaną, seen in Old Saxon seggian, Old English secgan, English say and Old Norse segja.^[4][6][7] Pfeifer connects it with Lithuanian sakýti (“to say, tell”) and Ancient Greek ἐννέπω (ennépō, “to tell”), and sets up a root Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- whose first sense was perhaps “to scent, track”, as a hound does;^[4][5] Duden relates it to the root of sehen.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record, from 1347, uses auzsag for a legal provision laid down in a document; in 1474 ussage is the statement of witnesses.^[2] Early New High German has both “statement” and “testimony of a witness, confession of the accused”.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The word became frequent only from the 17th century, mostly of formal statements in court or an inquiry, in phrases such as eine Aussage machen and die Aussage verweigern.^[2] Adelung notes that the simple noun Sage had once been used for testimony in court, and that in Lower Saxony Aussage also meant a promise and a share settled on a future heir.^[9]

Modern uses include an opinion or finding stated by someone, a proposition in logic and mathematics, and the message of a work of art.^[10][1][3] The legal set phrase Aussage steht gegen Aussage describes two contradictory statements, neither of which can be given more weight.^[2]

Timeline

• 1347 – First record, auzsag “legal provision”.^[2]
• 1474 – ussage is used of witnesses' statements.^[2]
• 1525 – In Luther's letters, the aussag of witnesses is read out to them.^[2]
• 17th century – The word becomes frequent.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A statement: an opinion, finding or judgement that someone expresses: Die Aussagen der Experten widersprechen sich.^[10][1]
2. testimony: a statement made to the police or in court: Der Zeuge hat seine Aussage zurückgezogen.;^[10][3] die Aussage verweigern, to refuse to testify.^[10][3]
3. The message or content that a work expresses: die Aussage des Films.^[10][3]
4. (logic) A proposition: a statement that is either true or false.^[1][3]

Word family

• Aussagenlogik
• Zeugenaussage

Related words

• Sage

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. 3, 1315
3. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
4. ^ a b c d 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 c Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2007), 4th ed., Duden vol. 7, Mannheim: Dudenverlag
6. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
7. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
8. ^ Anderson, Robert R.; Goebel, Ulrich; Reichmann, Oskar, eds. (1989–), Frühneuhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; FWB-online, fwb-online.de
9. ^ Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf
10. ^ a b c d e Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag