Insel

Forms

Insel f (genitive Insel, plural Inseln, diminutive Inselchen n)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German insel, borrowed from Latin īnsula (“island”).^[2][3][4] The earlier form, Old High German īsila (9th century) and early īsele, rests on the Romance form without the nasal, which also gave Italian isola and Old French isle.^[3][4][5] The Grimms took the Old High German form as a sign that the word came from the south by contact with Romance speakers through the Alemannic area, not from books.^[6] The form with ⟨n⟩, recorded from the 13th century, is a new borrowing straight from Latin, and Latin influence also produced insul, in use from the end of the 13th century until the 18th.^[2][3] The older loan survives in the place name Isel.^[2]

The origin of the Latin word is disputed.^[2] Köbler mentions a derivation from the phrase Ancient Greek ἐν ἁλί (en halí, “in the sea”), “the one lying in the salt sea”, and the Duden dictionary gives this as its literal meaning.^[7][8] The same Latin word is English isle and French île.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German īsila is found in glosses and in Notker (about 1000), who explains that land separated from the mainland in the sea or in lakes is called insula, īsila.^[7][6][9] Middle High German insel appears from the Rolandslied (about 1170) on.^[10]

Semantic evolution

Insel won out over the older native words for an island, ouwe (modern Aue) and wert (modern Werder), and over Eiland, borrowed from Old Frisian.^[3][1] Adelung records an obsolete sense “anything lying by itself”, still seen in the name of the Inselberg near Eisenach, which stands alone in a plain.^[11] Figurative uses for a place cut off from its surroundings are common, and in 1933 Richard Pekrun recorded Verkehrsinsel “traffic island”.^[8][12] From the 16th century an islander has been an Insulaner, from Latin insulanus.^[3][12]

Timeline

• 9th century – Old High German īsila appears in glosses.^[2][7]
• c. 1000 – Notker explains the word in his Psalter.^[6]
• 13th century – The form insel appears, borrowed again from Latin.^[2]
• Late 13th century – The Latinising form insul appears; it lasts until the 18th century.^[3]
• 16th century – Insulaner “islander” is borrowed from Latin.^[3]
• 1933 – Verkehrsinsel “traffic island” is recorded.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. An island, a piece of land surrounded by the water of a sea, lake or river: Wir setzten mit der Fähre auf die Insel über.^[8][1]
2. (figurative) A place or area that is cut off from or quite different from its surroundings: eine Insel der Ruhe mitten in der Stadt.^[8]

Word family

• Halbinsel
• Inselchen
• Insulaner
• Verkehrsinsel

Related words

• isolieren
• Eiland
• Werder
• Aue
• English isle

Usage notes

Reif für die Insel sein (“ready for the island”) is colloquial for badly needing a holiday or being tired of civilisation.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 446
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. ^ a b Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 394
5. ^ Wahrig-Burfeind, Renate, ed., Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch, Gütersloh / München: Wissen Media Verlag; online edition at wissen.de
6. ^ a b c Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 10, 2139
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
8. ^ a b c d e Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
9. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 167
10. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
11. ^ Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf
12. ^ 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