arbeiten

Forms

arbeiten (third-person singular present arbeitet, past tense arbeitete, past participle gearbeitet, auxiliary haben)^[1] The older form erbeiten, with secondary umlaut, was in use until the 17th century and occasionally in the 19th.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German arbeiten, inherited from Old High German arbeiten, inherited from Proto-Germanic *arbaidijaną, a verb formed from the noun Arbeit.^[4][1][5] The same verb is Gothic 𐌰𐍂𐌱𐌰𐌹𐌳𐌾𐌰𐌽 (arbaidjan), Old Norse erfiða, Old Saxon arvedian, Old Frisian arbeida and Middle Low German arbēden, and today Dutch arbeiden;^[4][6][1] Swedish arbeta and Danish arbejde were borrowed from Middle Low German.^[4][6][1]

The noun goes back to Proto-Germanic *arbaiþiz (“toil, hardship”), also in Gothic 𐌰𐍂𐌱𐌰𐌹𐌸𐍃 (arbaiþs).^[5] Pfeifer and the Duden explain it as an abstract noun to a lost verb meaning “to be an orphan forced into hard labour”, from Proto-Indo-European *orbʰo- (“orphaned, orphan”), the root of Erbe.^[4][7][1] Kluge is more cautious: such a derivation would be a type not otherwise recorded, and the Slavic word compared with it, Old Church Slavonic работа (rabota, “servitude”) beside рабъ (rabŭ, “slave”), has a different suffix.^[5]

Middle High German also had forms with secondary umlaut, while the standard language kept the full diphthong in the second syllable, perhaps because the word was felt to be a compound; the dialects mostly have a weakened vowel there.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German arbeiten is first recorded in the Benedictine Rule (790–802), translating Latin laborare, and then in the Tatian, Notker and Williram, meaning “to torment, oppress”, “to toil, strive” and “to cultivate”.^[2][8][6]

Semantic evolution

Like the noun, the verb first referred to hardship and toil: the Grimms' revision groups its early uses as “to strain oneself, suffer, struggle”, with a transitive sense “to torment someone”.^[2][4] The sense “to be busy, to do a task” is also found from the Benedictine Rule on, and the verb came to be used of things that function and of earning one's living.^[2] Pfeifer and the Duden link the shift towards a positive valuation of work with Luther and the rising middle classes.^[4][7]

In the southwest, in Switzerland, Swabia, Alsace, Lorraine, Luxembourg and the southern Rhineland, everyday speech uses schaffen instead.^[2] The Duden dictionary records figurative uses such as sein Geld arbeiten lassen and das Schiff arbeitet, of a ship labouring in a heavy swell.^[9]

Timeline

• 790–802 – Old High German arabeittan appears in the Benedictine Rule.^[2]
• Before 1022 – Notker uses the verb.^[2]
• c. 1147 – The Kaiserchronik uses arbaiten for working with one's hands.^[2]
• 17th century – The form erbeiten falls out of use.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To work, to be active, physically or mentally: sie arbeitet an einer Übersetzung.^[9][1]
2. To be employed, to have a job: er arbeitet bei der Post.^[9]
3. To do research on a subject: über die Romantik arbeiten.^[9]
4. To strive for something, or to work against it: für den Frieden arbeiten.^[9]
5. (of a machine or organ) To function, operate.^[1][2]
6. (of dough or wine) To ferment.^[1]
7. (reflexive) To make one's way with effort: sich durch den Schnee arbeiten.^[9][1]
8. (transitive) To make, produce: einen Ring aus Silber arbeiten.^[1]

Word family

• Arbeiter
• abarbeiten
• aufarbeiten
• ausarbeiten
• bearbeiten
• durcharbeiten
• einarbeiten
• erarbeiten
• mitarbeiten
• nacharbeiten
• verarbeiten

Related words

• Arbeit
• Erbe
• arm

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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. 3, 190
3. ^ a b Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 1, 313
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 57
6. ^ a b c Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 1, 318
7. ^ a b Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2007), 4th ed., Duden vol. 7, Mannheim: Dudenverlag
8. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 39
9. ^ a b c d e f Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag