Etymologically
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Telefon

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Pronunciation

  • /ˌteːləˈfoːn/, /ˈteːləˌfoːn/[1]
  • Dated: /ˌtɛləˈfoːn/[1]
  • Regional, western Germany: /ˈtɛləˌfoːn/[1]

Forms

Telefon n (genitive Telefons, plural Telefone)[1] Until the end of the 1940s it was spelled Telephon.[2][1] In the 19th century it was occasionally masculine.[3]

Etymology

It is a learned new formation from Ancient Greek τῆλε (têle, “far off”), through the combining form tele-, and φωνή (phōnḗ, “voice, sound”).[4][3][5][6] Paul's first record is from 1794;[2] Kluge dates its introduction to 1796, on the model of Telegraph.[4] The same word is Dutch telefoon, English telephone, French téléphone and Swedish telefon.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

At the end of the 18th century the name was given to various mechanical devices for sending messages by sound.[3][2] The word passed in the second half of the 19th century to the electrical telephone;[3][5] Duden names the apparatus built by Philipp Reis in 1861 for transmitting the human voice along wires.[3][5]

Semantic evolution

telefonisch is recorded by Kaltschmidt in 1863 and telefonieren by Sanders in 1871, and Heyse's dictionary of 1873 defined the telephone as a device for carrying sounds by means of the electric current.[2][3] The new means of communication soon entered literature: in Kafka's Das Schloß (1926) the telephone in taverns may be useful, “like a music machine, and no more”.[2] Fernsprecher was promoted as a native replacement.[4]

Timeline

  • 1794 – First record.[2]
  • 1796 – Introduced on the model of Telegraph, according to Kluge.[4]
  • 1861 – Philipp Reis builds his apparatus.[5]
  • 1863 – telefonisch is recorded.[2]
  • 1871 – telefonieren is recorded.[2]
  • 1947 – Duden still writes Telephon; the spelling with ⟨f⟩ prevails afterwards.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A telephone: an apparatus for making calls over a line or by radio: Das Telefon klingelt.[7][1]
  2. A telephone connection, a line: Sie hat sich Telefon legen lassen.[7][8]
  3. (rare) The handset.[7]

Word family

  • telefonieren
  • telefonisch
  • Telefonat
  • Telefonbuch
  • Mobiltelefon

Usage notes

Sich ans Telefon hängen (colloquial) is to get on the phone, to make calls.[7] The stress is usually on the last syllable, but an initial stress is also heard.[7][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ a b c d e Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 912
  5. ^ a b c d Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 854
  6. ^ Wahrig-Burfeind, Renate, ed., Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch, Gütersloh / München: Wissen Media Verlag; online edition at wissen.de
  7. ^ a b c d e Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  8. ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org