Etymologically
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erinnern

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Pronunciation

  • [ʔɛɐ̯ˈʔɪnɐn], [ʔɛɐ̯ˈʁɪnɐn][1]

Forms

erinnern (third-person singular present erinnert, past tense erinnerte, past participle erinnert, auxiliary haben)[1] An Upper and East Central German by-form erindern was used until the 18th century.[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German erinnern, a prefixed form of innern (“to remind, inform, teach”), which goes back to Old High German innarōn and is derived from the Old High German comparative innaro (“inner, deeper”).[3][4][1] The verb first meant “to make someone aware of something”, to bring it inside the mind.[3][5] The adjective belongs to in, from Proto-Indo-European *en (“in”).[6]

It was preceded by Middle High German geinnern (“to make aware, remind”) and perhaps giinnaren, a single 12th-century gloss translating Latin aperiō (“to open”).[4] The EWA calls the link with the Middle High German verb doubtful in meaning but possible in form.[7] The Grimms point out that the verb presupposes a simple verb, as entäußern presupposes äußern, and that Old High German also had innōn.[8] Danish erindre and Swedish erinra were modelled on the German verb.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Middle High German geinnern “to make aware, remind, inform” is found from about 1165.[9] The prefixed erinnern first occurs in Ottokar's Österreichische Reimchronik (1301–1319).[9] In the earliest sense, “to inform, instruct”, it was often legal: an Augsburg ordinance of about 1368 obliges every burgher to erindern the council of any alliance offered to him.[2]

Semantic evolution

The oldest construction was jemanden einer Sache erinnern “to remind someone of something”, as in Luther's John 14:26, vnd euch erinnern alles des / das ich euch gesagt habe.[10][8] From the 16th century the genitive was sometimes replaced by an, which grew more common in the 18th century.[2] The reflexive sich einer Sache erinnern kept the genitive into the 20th century, and today it is elevated.[2][10] With an accusative of the thing, etwas erinnern came to mean “to point something out”;[10][11] Adelung already gives Dieses einzige will ich noch erinnern.[10][11] The abstract noun Erinnerung is recorded from the 15th century.[4][5]

Dutch herinneren (1644) is counted among German loans.[12]

Timeline

  • c. 1165 – Middle High German geinnern is recorded.[9]
  • 1301–1319 – erinnern appears in Ottokar's Reimchronik.[9]
  • c. 1368 – erindern “to inform” in an Augsburg ordinance.[2]
  • 15th century – The noun Erinnerung is recorded.[4]
  • 16th century – an first replaces the genitive of the thing.[2]
  • 1644 – Dutch herinneren is recorded.[12]
  • 19th–20th century – Northern German uses etwas erinnern for sich an etwas erinnern.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (reflexive) To remember, to recall something kept in memory: Ich erinnere mich gern an den Sommer in Italien.[13][1]
  2. To call something to mind, to bring back the memory of it: Die Gedenktafel erinnert an die Opfer des Krieges.[13]
  3. To remind someone to do or not to forget something: Erinnere mich bitte an den Arzttermin.[13][1]
  4. To remind someone of something by resemblance: Der Duft erinnert mich an meine Kindheit.[13]
  5. (dated) To put forward, to raise as an objection.[13][1]
  6. (colloquial, especially northern) To remember, without the reflexive pronoun.[13][1]

Word family

  • inner
  • innen
  • in

Usage notes

Beside sich an etwas erinnern there is the elevated sich einer Sache erinnern;[13][10] Austrian and Swiss German also use sich auf etwas erinnern.[13][10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g 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, 1839
  3. ^ a b Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 255
  4. ^ a b c d 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 Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2014), 5th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin / Mannheim / Zürich: Dudenverlag, p. 257
  6. ^ Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2007), 4th ed., Duden vol. 7, Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  7. ^ Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 5, 105
  8. ^ 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, 858
  9. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  10. ^ a b c d e f Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  11. ^ a b Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf, p. 1, 1904
  12. ^ a b Lehnwortportal Deutsch (2012–), Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache, Mannheim, lwp.ids-mannheim.de
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag