Nachricht
Pronunciation
- /ˈnaːxrɪçt/, [ˈnäːχ.ʁɪçt], [ˈnäː.χɪçt][1]
Forms
Nachricht f (genitive Nachricht, plural Nachrichten)[1]
Etymology
It is a shortening of the Early New High German noun Nachrichtung, or a parallel formation from German nach + richten.[2][3][1] Like Latin īnstrūctiō, it first meant “instruction”, that by which one is to direct oneself, and was then generalized to “message”.[2][4] Compare Dutch naricht.[1]
Adelung found the first element obscure and suggested that the word was modelled on relātiō, since German often renders the Latin prefix re- by nach.[5]
Earliest recorded meaning
Pfeifer dates the word to about 1600.[6] The first record, from 1608 in an Austrian legal record, has an instruction read out “for everyone's direction”, that is, as guidance on how to act.[7][8]
Semantic evolution
The sense moved from a notice telling people what to do to any communication of a fact: the Grimms' dictionary quotes Goethe, Schiller and Wieland for news given, brought or received, and lists local, official and political Nachrichten in the newspapers.[7][8] Between the 16th and 18th centuries it gradually displaced the longer Nachrichtung.[6][4] The plural came to mean the news bulletin on radio and later television in the 20th century.[6][8] A proverb in Wander says that good news always comes at the right time, bad news always too early: gute Nachricht kommt stets gelegen, schlechte immer zu früh.[7]
The verb benachrichtigen “to inform” is recorded by Kaspar Stieler in 1691.[8] In Bavarian, Nachricht could also mean the dish served after the main meal, the dessert, as the opposite of Vorricht.[7]
Timeline
- 16th century – The older noun Nachrichtung “what one is to go by, instruction” is in use.[6][4]
- About 1600 – Nachricht appears.[6][1]
- 1608 – First dated record, in an Austrian legal record.[8][7]
- 1691 – Kaspar Stieler records benachrichtigen.[8]
- 20th century – The plural Nachrichten names the news broadcast.[6]
Meanings
Noun
- A piece of news, a message or notification telling someone the latest state of a matter: Seit Wochen hat die Familie keine Nachricht von ihrem Sohn.[9][1]
- (in the plural) The news, a news programme on radio or television: Um acht kommen die Nachrichten.[9][1]
- (telecommunications) A message sent from a source to a receiver, such as a text message or e-mail.[1][10]
Word family
- benachrichtigen
- Nachrichtendienst
- Nachrichtenagentur
- Nachrichtensendung
- Nachrichtensprecher
- nachrichtlich
Related words
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 645
- ^ Wahrig-Burfeind, Renate, ed., Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch, Gütersloh / München: Wissen Media Verlag; online edition at wissen.de
- ^ a b c Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2014), 5th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin / Mannheim / Zürich: Dudenverlag, p. 583
- ^ Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf
- ^ a b c d e f Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
- ^ a b c d e Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 13, 103
- ^ 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
- ^ a b Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
- ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org