Einwohner
Pronunciation
- /ˈaɪ̯nˌvoːnər/, [ˈʔaɪ̯nˌvoː.nɐ], [-ˌʋoː-][1]
Forms
Einwohner m (genitive Einwohners, plural Einwohner, feminine Einwohnerin)[1] Until the 15th century the form was mostly inwoner; in the 16th century einwohner prevailed in writing, while Inwohner lasted into the 19th century.[2] Adelung notes that the form should strictly be Inwohner, because the preposition in with the dative is not ein in compounds, but that usage had made Einwohner almost general.[3]
Etymology
It is inherited from Middle High German inwoner, beside innewoner, formed with -er from the verb einwohnen, innewonen “to dwell in”, from wohnen.[2][1][4] Paul takes it as a loan translation of Latin incola (“inhabitant”).[5][6] The same word is Middle Low German inwōner, Middle Dutch inwoonre and Dutch inwoner, and Swedish invånare was borrowed from German.[2][7] The modern ⟨ein-⟩ replaced ⟨in-⟩, the form of the preposition with the dative, by the form used with the accusative.[3][2]
Earliest recorded meaning
The first record, in the romance Wigamur of the middle of the 13th century, names the occupants of a castle.[2] Nikolaus von Jeroschin (1331–1341) has innewoner, and a theological text of after 1323 einwoner.[4][7]
Semantic evolution
Luther's Bible made the word common: ich stincke fur den Einwonern dieses Lands “I stink before the inhabitants of this land” (Genesis 34:30).[5][7] From the 15th century it also meant a person who lived in someone else's house for rent or in service, a lodger, where Upper German had Inmann and northern German Einlieger.[2] Austrian Inwohner “occupant, tenant” survives.[2]
Adelung records the narrower use in which the Einwohner of a place are opposed to its citizens, the resident aliens without full civic rights.[3][1] He and the Grimms also describe the division that usage made between Einwohner, the settled resident of a country, town or village, and Bewohner, the occupant of a house or room, or the animals of a forest.[3][7] The verb einwohnen was still used by Schiller and Tieck.[5]
Timeline
- Mid-13th century – Wigamur names the occupants of a castle inwoner.[2]
- 1331–1341 – Nikolaus von Jeroschin uses innewoner.[4]
- 1526 – Luther writes einwoner for the occupant of a house.[2]
- 1586 – A record from Transylvania uses einwoner for a tenant on a farm.[2]
- 16th century – Einwohner prevails over inwoner in writing.[2]
Meanings
Noun
- An inhabitant, someone whose permanent residence is in a given municipality, region or country: Die Insel hat kaum 2000 Einwohner.[8][1]
- (rare) The occupant of a house.[8][2]
- (historical, also Inwohner) A resident without the full rights of a citizen.[1][3]
Word family
- Einwohnerin
- Einwohnerzahl
- einwohnerreich
- einwohnerarm
- Einwohnermeldeamt
Related words
References
- ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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. 7, 1140
- ^ a b c d e Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf
- ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
- ^ a b c Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
- ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 3, 345
- ^ a b Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag