Etymologically
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begleiten

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Pronunciation

  • /bəˈɡlaɪ̯tən/[1]

Forms

begleiten (third-person singular present begleitet, past tense begleitete, past participle begleitet, auxiliary haben)[1]

Etymology

Kluge explains it as from Middle High German be- + geleite (“escort”), formed in the 14th century in the sense “to give an escort” from the noun belonging to leiten, and contracted in New High German, while Dutch keeps the full form, Dutch begeleiden.[2] Pfeifer, Paul and the Duden dictionaries describe it as a blend of the older verbs beleiten (Old High German bileiten (“to lead, guide”)) and geleiten, which merged towards the end of the 14th century.[3][4][5] Duden 7 considers the merger only possible and dates the form to the 17th century; the Dutch word points to an earlier stage with both prefixes.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The revised Grimm dictionary quotes it from an account of a pilgrimage written after 1491, in which an official “accompanied His Grace to Marburg” the next day.[7] It also quotes Dürer's diary of his journey (1520–21): da begleitteten .. sie uns mitt wintlichtern gahr ehrlich heim (“then they accompanied us home with torches, with great honour”).[7] Early New High German used it for going with someone for protection, guard or company, and for following the dead to the grave.[8]

Semantic evolution

The new form was slow to win: Dasypodius, Maaler and Henisch still write beleiten and Luther uses geleiten; according to the Grimms it spread only with the Silesian poets, such as Opitz.[9] Beleiten was given up in the 17th century.[3]

Figurative uses express things that go together or happen at once: Stieler has Ehre wird vom Hochmut begleitet (“honour is accompanied by pride”).[4] In music, from the 17th century, begleiten is the German word for accompanying a singer or a melody instrument, after French accompagner and Italian accompagnare, replacing akkompagnieren.[3][4] The noun Begleitung dates from the 16th century.[3]

Timeline

  • 14th century – First record.[2]
  • After 1491 – begleittet in a pilgrimage account.[7]
  • 1520–21 – Dürer uses it in the diary of his journey.[7]
  • 16th century – Begleitung is recorded.[3]
  • 17th century – Musical sense “to accompany”;[3] beleiten falls out of use.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To accompany someone, go with them for company or protection; to escort someone somewhere: Ich begleite dich noch bis zur Haltestelle.[5][1]
  2. (elevated) To occur together with something.[5][10]
  3. To add something to something else, such as a commentary to an edition.[5]
  4. (music) To accompany a soloist or a song on an instrument: Er begleitete die Sängerin am Klavier.[5][10]

Word family

  • Begleiter
  • Begleitung
  • Begleiterscheinung
  • Begleitschreiben

Usage notes

Lessing, Goethe and Wilhelm von Humboldt wrote einen Rang begleiten or ein Amt begleiten for “to hold a rank, an office”, a confusion with bekleiden that the Grimms called faulty.[9][4]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 103
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b c d e Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  6. ^ Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 136
  7. ^ a b c d 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. 4, 587
  8. ^ Anderson, Robert R.; Goebel, Ulrich; Reichmann, Oskar, eds. (1989–), Frühneuhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; FWB-online, fwb-online.de
  9. ^ 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, 1299
  10. ^ a b Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org