Etymologically
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Bahnhof

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈbaːnˌhoːf/[1]

Forms

Bahnhof m (genitive Bahnhofs or Bahnhofes, plural Bahnhöfe)[1]

Etymology

It is shortened from Eisenbahnhof, a compound from German Eisenbahn (“railway”) + Hof (“yard, court”), in which the second part has the sense of a large group of working buildings.[2] Around 1840 the short form gradually took the place of the longer one.[3]

The first part is Bahn, Middle High German ban “way, track”, a word missing from the oldest period.[2][3] Kluge takes it for an old technical term, comparing Sanskrit घन (ghaná, “hammer”), and derives it from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰen- (“to strike”).[2] Pfeifer and the EWA start from a path beaten or cut through a forest and connect it with Old High German bano (“killer”) and Gothic 𐌱𐌰𐌽𐌾𐌰 (banja, “wound”), from a root *bʰen- (“to strike, wound”).[3][4] The second part is Hof, Old High German hof, from Proto-Germanic *hufą.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Pfeifer dates Bahnhof to about 1840.[3] The revised Grimm dictionary's first quotation is from a letter of the poet Georg Herwegh in 1842, who asks to be met im Bahnhofe.[6] The first edition of the Grimms' dictionary defines it as the yard with the working buildings of a railway.[7]

Semantic evolution

The word was coined with the railways, and its partner Bahnsteig (1886) in the same way pushed out the French Perron.[3] It names both the whole station with its tracks and the station building.[8]

Nur Bahnhof verstehen “to understand nothing” was fashionable in the 1920s, especially in Berlin; its origin is unclear, and one guess is that a person who thinks only of the station where the journey starts no longer listens to anything else, another that soldiers at the end of the First World War wanted to hear of nothing but the trip home.[9][8] The revised Grimm dictionary quotes Fallada in 1934.[6] Großer Bahnhof, a grand reception for an important visitor, is recorded from 1955.[6]

Silesian Polish borrowed the word as banhof (1844), and Danish banegård is a loan translation.[10][1]

Timeline

  • About 1840 – Bahnhof begins to replace Eisenbahnhof.[3]
  • 1842 – Herwegh writes of meeting im Bahnhofe.[6]
  • 1844 – Silesian Polish banhof is recorded.[10]
  • 1886 – Bahnsteig is coined beside it.[3]
  • 1920s – nur Bahnhof verstehen becomes fashionable in Berlin.[9]
  • 1955 – First record of großer Bahnhof “grand reception”.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A railway station, with its tracks and buildings: Der Schnellzug hält an diesem Bahnhof nicht.[8][1]
  2. The station building, with its hall, ticket offices and shops: Wir trafen uns im Bahnhof am Kiosk.[8]
  3. (colloquial) nur Bahnhof verstehen: to understand nothing at all;[8][6] großer Bahnhof: a grand reception.[8][6]

Word family

  • Hauptbahnhof
  • Güterbahnhof
  • Bahnhofshalle

Usage notes

Nur Bahnhof verstehen “not to understand a word” is colloquial; the Duden dictionaries call its origin unexplained.[9][8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 83
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  4. ^ Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de
  5. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 420
  6. ^ 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. 4, 72
  7. ^ Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 1, 1079
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  9. ^ a b c Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 122
  10. ^ a b Lehnwortportal Deutsch (2012–), Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache, Mannheim, lwp.ids-mannheim.de