Etymologically
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Vorschlag

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Pronunciation

  • [ˈfoːɐ̯ʃlaːk], /ˈfoːɐ̯ʃlax/, /ˈfoːɐ̯ʃlaːx/[1]

Forms

Vorschlag m (genitive Vorschlages or Vorschlags, plural Vorschläge)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German vürslac, a noun belonging to the verb vorschlagen (vürslahen, Old High German furislahan), from vor and schlagen “to strike”.[2][1][3] Danish forslag was borrowed from German.[3]

That verb is slahan, Proto-Germanic *slahaną (“to strike”), also seen in Gothic 𐍃𐌻𐌰𐌷𐌰𐌽 (slahan), Old Norse slá, Old English slēan and English slay.[4][5][6] Outside Germanic it is compared only with Celtic words such as Middle Irish slacc (“sword”), so Pfeifer sets up a root Proto-Indo-European *slak- (“to strike”);[4][5] Kroonen treats the word as shared only by Germanic and Celtic, perhaps onomatopoeic in origin.[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Middle High German vürslac meant a first blow, a barricade or enclosing siege, and an advance calculation.[7][8] The Grimms' dictionary takes “a stroke that comes before another” as the original concrete sense: the leading stroke when several men threshed or forged in time.[3][9]

Semantic evolution

From the stroke that comes first the word passed to an advantage, as in fencing, and then to a plan one makes for oneself, an intention (now obsolete), and in older usage a thesis: a source of 1560 speaks of Luther's 95 fürschläg.[3] The modern sense “proposal, something put to another for a decision” goes with jemandem etwas vorschlagen, usual from the 16th and 17th centuries.[2][3][7] Adelung notes that it was used especially of proposals to settle a dispute.[3]

Crafts used the word for things set before or added to something else: the lime mortar on roof tiles, the wad of hay or turf over the powder in a cannon, a flux in smelting.[9] In music it named a grace note played before the main note, in the 18th century;[7][8] Duden explains this sense as a loan translation of Italian appoggiatura.[7][8] Polish forszlak (1575) and Russian форшлаг (foršlag) (1798) were borrowed from German in the musical sense.[10] The Vorschlaghammer (sledgehammer) keeps the smith's sense.[2]

Timeline

  • Middle High German – vürslac “first blow; barricade; advance calculation”.[7][8]
  • 16th century – The sense “advice, proposal” appears.[7][2]
  • 1560 – Luther's 95 theses are called fürschläg.[3]
  • 1575 – Polish forszlak is recorded.[10]
  • 18th century – First record of the musical sense “grace note”.[7]
  • 1798 – Russian foršlag is recorded.[10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A proposal, suggestion: something proposed to someone for consideration: Der Vorstand nahm ihren Vorschlag an.;[8][1] auf Vorschlag des Ausschusses, on the committee's proposal;[8][1] ein Vorschlag zur Güte (jocular), a suggested compromise.[8][1]
  2. (music) An appoggiatura or acciaccatura: an ornament of one or more notes played before the main note.[8][1]
  3. (Switzerland) A surplus or profit shown in a balance.[8]
  4. (firearms, dated) The wad placed over the charge in a muzzle-loader.[1][9]

Word family

  • Vorschlaghammer
  • Schlag
  • vorschlagen
  • Anschlag

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d 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 g Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 26, 1470
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  6. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  9. ^ a b c Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf
  10. ^ a b c Lehnwortportal Deutsch (2012–), Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache, Mannheim, lwp.ids-mannheim.de