Etymologically
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Verhandlung

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Pronunciation

  • [fɛɐ̯ˈhandlʊŋ][1]

Forms

Verhandlung f (genitive Verhandlung, plural Verhandlungen)[1]

Etymology

It is from German verhandeln + -ung.[1][2][3] Late Middle High German and early modern verhandelunge meant “wrong action, offence”, from the old sense of verhandeln “to act wrongly, treat badly”.[4][2][5] The verb is formed with ver- from handeln (Middle High German handeln, Old High German hantalōn), a derivative of Hand that first meant “to grasp, touch”, then “to treat” and “to do”.[6][4] The same verb is Old Saxon handlon, Old English handlian (whence English handle) and Old Norse handla.[6][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Pfeifer dates the sense “discussion, negotiation” to the 15th century.[4] A record of 1426 is headed disz ist die verhandlunge uff dem tage zu Nuremberg “these are the proceedings at the diet of Nuremberg”, while the Nuremberg police ordinances use the word for an offence.[5]

Semantic evolution

The sense “offence” lasted into the 16th century, in the Carolina criminal code, the imperial recess of 1530 and Hans Sachs.[5] The noun then followed the verb's sense “to discuss” almost entirely: Kant spoke of the discussions of his transcendental analytic, and Wieland used it of a court hearing.[5] Adelung records Landtagsverhandlungen “proceedings of the diet”, and Campe Verhandlungen vor Gericht “proceedings in court”.[3] Following the verb's sense “to sell”, Jean Paul could call marriages arranged for money Verhandlungen.[5]

Timeline

  • 1426 – A record names the proceedings of the diet of Nuremberg verhandlunge.[5]
  • 1441 – A letter speaks of a dispute and verhandelunge between the knights and the imperial cities of Swabia.[5]
  • 1530 – The imperial recess still uses verhandlung for an offence.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (often plural) Negotiation, talks aimed at an agreement: Die Verhandlungen über den neuen Vertrag ziehen sich hin.;[7][1] mit jemandem in Verhandlung stehen “to be negotiating with someone”.[7][1]
  2. (law) A court hearing, trial: Die Verhandlung wurde auf Mai vertagt.[7][1]

Word family

  • Verhandlungsbasis
  • Verhandlungstisch
  • verhandlungsbereit
  • verhandlungsfähig
  • Verhandlungspartner
  • Gerichtsverhandlung
  • Tarifverhandlung

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
  3. ^ a b Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  4. ^ a b c d Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 25, 521
  6. ^ a b Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 391
  7. ^ a b c Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag