erhalten

Forms

erhalten (class 7 strong, third-person singular present erhält, past tense erhielt, past participle erhalten, auxiliary haben)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German erhalten, formed from German er- + halten.^[2][3][4] The sources disagree on its age: the Grimms' dictionary calls it a typically New High German word, absent from Middle High German,^[5] and Pfeifer dates it to the 16th century,^[6] but the revised Grimm and Köbler quote Middle High German records from the early 14th century, and Paul dates it to about 1300.^[2][3][7] Swedish erhålla and Danish erholde were modelled on the German verb.^[5]

Paul explains its two main senses by two functions of the prefix er-: “to hold successfully, preserve” and “to come to hold, obtain”.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest record quoted by the revised Grimm is a Halle document of 1307–1315, in which a monastery is to “keep” two brothers of its order in a hermitage, that is, to maintain and support them.^[2] Köbler lists Mechthild and a document of 1329.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In Luther's Bible erhalten still means “to hold up, preserve”: Der Herr erhelt alle die da fallen (Psalm 145:14).^[7] This sense is now usual only for keeping something in good condition;^[7] Luther also wrote that salt erhelt meat from decay.^[7] The old physical sense “to hold back, hold up”, as of horses that bolt or a child about to fall, is recorded by Adelung but has given way to halten and festhalten.^[8][5]

The sense “to obtain” first meant reaching something with effort, as when Luther speaks of winning one victory after another; it then became largely the same as bekommen, except that erhalten needs someone who gives.^[7] In Upper German it could also mean “to save (money)”.^[8] The back-formation Erhalt appears in 1796 in Novalis, and erhältlich “available” about 1900.^[7]

Timeline

• 1307–1315 – erhalten “to maintain” appears in a document from Halle.^[2]
• 1329 – A document uses erhalten.^[3]
• 16th century – The verb becomes common.^[6][9]
• 1796 – Novalis uses the noun Erhalt.^[7]
• c. 1900 – erhältlich “available” appears.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To receive, be given or sent: einen Brief erhalten, einen Preis erhalten.^[10][1]
2. To receive a punishment, a blow or an order; to gain an impression.^[10][1]
3. To obtain as a product or result: Aus Trauben erhält man Wein.^[10]
4. To preserve, keep in its state: ein altes Haus erhalten;^[10][1] erhalten bleiben, to survive.^[10][1]
5. To support, maintain (a family).^[10]
6. Used with a past participle to form the dative passive.^[10][1]

Adjective

1. Surviving, extant: gut erhaltene Fresken.^[1][4]

Word family

• Erhalt
• Erhaltung
• erhältlich
• Erhalter
• Selbsterhaltung
• aufrechterhalten

Related words

• halten
• behalten
• enthalten

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. 8, 1791
3. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
4. ^ a b Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
5. ^ a b c Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 3, 834
6. ^ a b Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf
9. ^ Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag
10. ^ a b c d e f g Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag