Etymologically
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Rede

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈreːdə/, [ˈʁeːdə][1]

Forms

Rede f (genitive Rede, plural Reden)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German rede, inherited from Old High German reda, inherited from Proto-Germanic *raþjǭ (“account, reckoning”).[2][3][1] Old High German also has the forms redia and radia.[2][4] The same word is Gothic 𐍂𐌰𐌸𐌾𐍉 (raþjō, “number, account”), Old Saxon rethia (“account”) and Old Frisian rethe.[2][5][6]

It matches Latin ratiō (“reckoning, account, reason”) exactly in form and meaning.[2][3] The Grimms' dictionary took it to be an early borrowing of what it calls a Roman merchants' word,[7] and Orel cites the same proposal.[5] Kluge, however, thinks a native formation more likely on grounds of sound and word family, with secondary influence from the Latin word.[2] Kluge and Pfeifer trace it ultimately to the root Proto-Indo-European *h₂er- (“to fit together”), also behind Arm and Reim.[2][3] Kroonen sets up *h₂rh₁-t-ieh₂- from a Germanic verbal root with a dental, while the Latin noun belongs to reor (“to reckon, think”).[6]

Its later meaning developed under the influence of the verb reden, which was formed from the noun.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German reda is recorded from the end of the 8th century in glosses and in the Old High German Isidor, then in Tatian, Otfrid and Notker.[8][9] Its senses ranged from “reason, understanding, reckoning, account, justification” to “opinion, argument, statement, speech, discourse”, as in reda irgeban “to render account”.[8][10]

Semantic evolution

Middle High German rede still meant “account, responsibility”, “reason, understanding” and “language”, as well as “speech, conversation, story”.[11][3] The idea of accounting survives in jemanden zur Rede stellen “to call someone to account”, which comes from the defendant's speech in court.[12] The phrase große Reden schwingen “to talk big” refers to the gestures of a speaker.[12]

The verb reden is recorded from the 9th century, Redner from about 1000.[3] Gebundene Rede “verse” was coined by the language societies of the 17th century, and Redensart (early 17th century) translates French manière de parler.[3] The Grimms note that the strong plural survived in part into the 17th century.[7]

Timeline

  • Late 8th century – Old High German reda in glosses and Isidor.[8][9]
  • 9th century – redī and the verb redōn.[3]
  • c. 1000 – redināri “speaker”.[3]
  • 15th century – redselig “talkative”.[3]
  • Early 17th century – Redensart.[3]
  • 17th century – gebundene Rede for verse.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A speech, address to an audience: Die Bürgermeisterin hielt eine kurze Rede.[13][1]
  2. The art of speaking, oratory: in freier Rede.[13]
  3. Talk, words, what is said: davon kann keine Rede sein “that is out of the question”;[13][14] nicht der Rede wert “not worth mentioning”.[13][14]

Word family

  • reden
  • Redner
  • Redensart
  • redselig
  • redlich

Usage notes

Jemanden zur Rede stellen “to demand an explanation from someone” comes from court procedure, where the accused had to defend himself standing.[12] Wiktionary also records Rede as a youth-slang interjection of agreement, roughly “true, facts”.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e 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. 752
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  4. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter
  5. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  7. ^ a b Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 14, 450
  8. ^ a b c Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 7, 241
  9. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  10. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 254
  11. ^ Lexer, Matthias (1872–1878), Mittelhochdeutsches Handwörterbuch, 3 vols., Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 2, 364
  12. ^ a b c Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag
  13. ^ a b c d Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  14. ^ a b Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org