ankündigen

Forms

ankündigen (third-person singular present kündigt an, past tense kündigte an, past participle angekündigt, auxiliary haben)^[1]

Etymology

It is from German an- + kündigen.^[1][2] The same formation is Middle Low German ankündigen and Dutch aankondigen.^[3][4]

The base verb (13th century) first meant “to make known, proclaim”, and is formed from the adjective kund “known”.^[5] That is Middle High German kunt, Old High German kund, Old Saxon kūth, from Proto-Germanic *kunþaz (“known”), an old participle, also found in Old Norse kunnr and Old English cūþ, which survives in English uncouth.^[5][1] The same participle formation is Latin nōtus (“known”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵn̥ə-to-.^[5] In form the adjective belongs with können, in meaning with kennen.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first records are official: in 1526 rebels were to be reported faithfully to the authorities (der oberkeit trewlich anzukundigen), and in 1570 a mill regulation was to be announced to the subjects.^[3] The Early New High German dictionary gives the senses “to announce, proclaim” and “to promise”.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Beside it, the shorter ankünden was used from Early New High German until the 19th century, as the more solemn and poetic word;^[7][8] Adelung called ankündigen the frequentative of that verb and defined it as “to make known solemnly”.^[7][8] Paul dates the sense “to tell someone that something will happen” to the 17th century (Stieler, 1691), and den Krieg ankündigen “to declare war” is recorded from 1648.^[7][3]

From this came the figurative sense “to show the signs of something approaching”, as in Dusch's evening star that heralds the end of work, and the reflexive sich ankündigen, which Goethe used of Naples presenting itself cheerful and lively.^[7][8][4] It also came to mean announcing one's own visit: Goethe's secretary Soret announced the prince for the afternoon and himself for the evening.^[7] The noun Ankündigung shares both senses.^[7]

Timeline

• 8th century – Old High German kund “known” is recorded.^[5]
• 13th century – kündigen “to make known” appears.^[5]
• 1526 – First record of ankündigen, in an official text.^[3]
• 1648 – den Krieg ankündigen “to declare war”.^[3]
• 1691 – Stieler records the sense “to announce a future event”.^[7]
• 1793 – Adelung defines it as “to make known solemnly”.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To announce in advance, make known: Der Verlag kündigt einen neuen Roman an. Sich ankündigen, to let someone know one is coming.^[9][1][2]
2. (reflexive) To herald, show signs of approaching: Das Gewitter kündigte sich durch fernes Donnern an.^[9][1][2]

Word family

• Ankündigung
• Ankündiger

Related words

• verkündigen
• vorankündigen
• kündigen
• kund
• Kunde

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
3. ^ a b c d e Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob Grimm und Wilhelm Grimm, Neubearbeitung (1965–2018), ed. Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften and Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, 9 vols. (A–F), Leipzig / Stuttgart: Hirzel, p. 2, 1117
4. ^ a b Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 1, 387
5. ^ a b c d e f Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 549
6. ^ Anderson, Robert R.; Goebel, Ulrich; Reichmann, Oskar, eds. (1989–), Frühneuhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; FWB-online, fwb-online.de
7. ^ a b c d e f g Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
8. ^ a b c d Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf
9. ^ a b Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag