Etymologically
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Kampf

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Pronunciation

  • /kam(p)f/, [kampf], [kamɸ][1]

Forms

Kampf m (genitive Kampfes or Kampfs, plural Kämpfe)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German kampf, inherited from Old High German kampf (“single combat, duel”), borrowed from Latin campus (“field, battlefield”).[2][3][4] Pfeifer and the EWA date the borrowing before the High German consonant shift, which turned the /p/ of the Latin word into the affricate ⟨pf⟩.[3][4] Wiktionary reconstructs the earlier form as Proto-West Germanic *kamp (“field, battlefield”).[1] Kluge and the Duden dictionary call the Latin origin probable rather than certain.[2][5]

The same loan is Old Saxon kamp (“piece of land, fight”), Middle Low German kamp (“fenced field, fight”), Old Frisian kamp and Old English camp (“field, battle, strife”).[4][3] Old Norse kapp (“zeal, contest”) reached the North very early, since it still took part in the change of /mp/ to /pp/, whereas Swedish kamp and Danish kamp were borrowed again from Middle Low German.[4][6]

Kluge explains the sense: the Germanic word first meant a duel, and such duels were fought on a marked-off field, for which the Latin word served as the name.[2][7] The EWA adds that the Latin word itself came to mean a judicial duel in the Middle Ages, and the Grimms' dictionary points to the Bavarian law's term for the judicial duel, Old High German chamfwîc.[4][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The compound kampfheit is recorded in the 8th century and sigikamph in the 9th; the simple Old High German kampf appears in glosses of the 11th century, translating Latin duellum, monomachia and pugna, “single combat, duel”.[2][3][4][9] Middle High German kampf meant a duel, a judicial combat or ordeal, a tournament and a battle.[10][11]

Semantic evolution

As the word for armed fighting, Kampf replaced the older Streit, while still older words for battle survived only in personal names (gund-, hadu-, hilti-, wīg-).[12] It was soon applied to struggles of the mind and of ideas, as in Luther's kämpfe den guten Kampf des Glaubens (“fight the good fight of faith”), and many compounds followed from the end of the 19th century, such as Wahlkampf (election campaign), Preiskampf (price war, 1907) and Klassenkampf.[12] Weakened, it also means a sporting contest (Zehnkampf, decathlon).[12]

Kampf ums Dasein renders Darwin's “struggle for life” (or “for existence”); Paul dates the German phrase to the translation of 1863.[12][3][5] The Low German form of the agent noun survives in Kämpe “warrior”, used since the 18th century in poetic or historicising style.[3][6] English borrowed Kulturkampf in 1879 for the conflict between the Prussian state and the Catholic Church, and Stuka, from Sturzkampfflugzeug, in 1940.[13]

Timeline

  • 8th century – The compound kampfheit is recorded.[2][3]
  • 9th century – sigikamph “victorious fight” is recorded.[3]
  • 11th century – Old High German kampf appears in glosses for “duel”.[4][14]
  • 1863 – Kampf ums Dasein translates Darwin's “struggle for life”.[12]
  • 1879 – English borrows Kulturkampf.[13]
  • 1907 – First record of Preiskampf.[12]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A large-scale military battle or fighting between hostile troops.[5][1]
  2. A physical fight between two or more opponents, also with weapons: ein Kampf Mann gegen Mann.[5]
  3. A fierce struggle or controversy between opponents over views, interests or aims.[5][15]
  4. (sports) A contest or match: die beiden Ringer lieferten sich einen harten Kampf.[5]
  5. A sustained effort to achieve or prevent something, a campaign: der Kampf gegen die Armut.[5][1]
  6. An inner conflict, a struggle with oneself.[5]

Word family

  • kämpfen
  • Kämpfer
  • Kämpe
  • kämpferisch
  • Zweikampf
  • Wettkampf
  • Wahlkampf
  • Kulturkampf
  • Camp
  • kampieren
  • Kampagne
  • Champion

Usage notes

Jemandem oder einer Sache den Kampf ansagen is to make clear that one will take measures against someone or something, to declare war on it.[5] Ein Kampf auf Leben und Tod is a fight to the death.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 468
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 c d e f g Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 5, 368
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  6. ^ a b Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag
  7. ^ Wahrig-Burfeind, Renate, ed., Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch, Gütersloh / München: Wissen Media Verlag; online edition at wissen.de
  8. ^ Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 11, 138
  9. ^ Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch (1952–), founded by Elisabeth Karg-Gasterstädt and Theodor Frings, Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag / De Gruyter; online awb.saw-leipzig.de, p. 5, 25
  10. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  11. ^ Anderson, Robert R.; Goebel, Ulrich; Reichmann, Oskar, eds. (1989–), Frühneuhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; FWB-online, fwb-online.de
  12. ^ a b c d e f Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  13. ^ a b Lehnwortportal Deutsch (2012–), Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache, Mannheim, lwp.ids-mannheim.de
  14. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  15. ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org