Vertrag

Pronunciation

• [fɐˈtʁaːk], [fɛɐ̯ˈtʁaːk]^[1]
• Northern and Central Germany, colloquial: /fərˈtrax/^[1]

Forms

Vertrag m (genitive Vertrages or Vertrags, plural Verträge)^[1] Beside vertrag the form vertracht (Middle High German vertraht) was used in Central and Low German down to the 16th century, as in Luther's letters;^[2] Middle Low German had vordracht.^[2] The Bremen dictionary still recorded verdracht as old-fashioned.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German vertrac, recorded in late Middle High German from the 14th century, beside the Central German form vertraht.^[3][4][5] The noun was made from the verb vertragen (“to come to terms, agree”), reflexive sich vertragen, in the sense of a mutual agreement.^[3][4][1] That verb continues Old High German firtragan (“to bear, endure”), a prefixed form of tragan (“to carry”), the ancestor of tragen.^[6][7][8] The same noun is Dutch verdrag and Swedish fördrag.^[3]

The verb goes back to Proto-Germanic *draganą (“to draw, carry”), which also gave Gothic 𐌳𐍂𐌰𐌲𐌰𐌽 (dragan, “to draw, take on”), Old Saxon dragan (“to carry”), Old Norse draga (“to draw, pull”) and Old English dragan (“to drag, draw”), the source of English draw.^[9][10][11] Pfeifer takes the original sense to be “to drag along the ground”, from which “to carry” (by people or beasts of burden) developed.^[9] Its further origin is unclear.^[10] Pfeifer sets up a root Proto-Indo-European *dʰerāgʰ- (“to drag”) and places it beside the root of Latin trahō (“to pull, haul”), but Kroonen rules out the Latin verb because of its initial /t/ and finds no clear cognate outside Germanic.^[9][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Late Middle High German vertrac is first recorded in the 14th century.^[3] In the early glossaries it renders Latin pactio and conventio, “an agreement, a covenant”, and the Grimms' dictionary finds that nearly all its records attach to the verb's sense “to settle, come to terms”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In the 17th century the word was established as a native replacement for the loanword Kontrakt;^[3][2] Philipp von Zesen already put it in place of Contract.^[3][2] Joachim Heinrich Campe later wanted it used throughout for Latin pactum.^[2]

Adelung defines a Vertrag as a promise given in return for a counter-promise, especially a solemn agreement, and names the compounds Friedensvertrag, Bundesvertrag and Gränzvertrag; everyday language, he notes, said Contract.^[12] He distinguishes it from a Vergleich, which presupposes that the matter was disputed before.^[12] Heinrich Heine formed a scornful diminutive Verträglein for the treaties concluded against liberalism.^[2]

Timeline

• 14th century – Late Middle High German vertrac is first recorded.^[3]
• 16th century – The by-form vertracht is still used in Central and Low German.^[2]
• 17th century – Vertrag becomes established as the German word for a contract, replacing Kontrakt.^[3]
• 1793 – Adelung records Vertrag with Friedensvertrag and Bundesvertrag.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. A legally binding agreement between two or more parties, usually in writing; a contract, or between states a treaty: Sie hat ihren Vertrag mit dem Verlag um zwei Jahre verlängert.^[4][1]
2. The document in which such an agreement is set down: Beide Seiten haben den Vertrag gestern unterschrieben.^[4]

Word family

• vertraglich
• Ehevertrag
• Mietvertrag
• Friedensvertrag
• Vorvertrag

Related words

• vertragen
• tragen
• verträglich
• English draw

Usage notes

In theatre, film and sport jemanden unter Vertrag nehmen is to sign someone up, and unter Vertrag stehen is to be under contract.^[4] A leoninischer Vertrag in legal language is one in which one party takes all the benefit, after Aesop's fable of the lion.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 25, 1921
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 957
4. ^ a b c d e f Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
5. ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
6. ^ Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
7. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
8. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 334
9. ^ a b c Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
10. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
11. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
12. ^ a b c Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf, p. 4, 1160