erleben

Forms

erleben (third-person singular present erlebt, past tense erlebte, past participle erlebt, auxiliary haben)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German erleben (“to live through, survive, experience”), from German er- + leben.^[2][3][1]

The base verb leben is Old High German lebēn, from a Germanic verb also found in Gothic 𐌻𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌽 (liban), Old Norse lifa and Old English libban.^[4] Kluge takes it as a durative formed to the strong verb behind bleiben, so that its first sense was “to remain, continue”.^[4][5]

Older German used the prefix ge- in the same function: Otfrid has Old High German gilebēn (“to live to see”), and Middle High German gelëben is found in Hartmann von Aue and Wolfram von Eschenbach.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Middle High German erleben is recorded from the first half of the 13th century, in Wolfdietrich B, with the senses “to survive, come through alive, experience, be alive”.^[2][3] In Wolfdietrich it is used of surviving a deed: wie getorstet irz erleben daz ir mir stâlt mîn wîp? (“how did you dare to live after stealing my wife?”).^[3]

Semantic evolution

Early uses are mostly legal: to survive someone, to outlive a person's death, as in a Frankfurt chronicle of 1478 and the Zimmern chronicle of 1566.^[3] Until the 17th century the main use was “to be still alive at a certain time or event”, as in Luther's “Would it were evening!” (das ich den abend erleben möchte, Deuteronomy 28:67).^[3][7] Pfeifer dates the senses “to live until a certain time” and “to experience, be affected by” to the 15th century.^[5] Luther also has the sense “to experience” (Sirach 30:1, das er hernach freude an jm erlebe “that he may later have joy of him”), which became the main sense in modern German.^[7]

The noun Erleben is recorded by Campe in 1807.^[7] The literary term erlebte Rede “free indirect speech” (Lorck 1921, Walzel 1924) translates French style indirect libre (Bally 1912).^[7] With a thing as subject, a book can “experience” nine editions.^[7]

Timeline

• First half of the 13th century – erleben in Wolfdietrich B.^[2][3]
• 1478 – A Frankfurt chronicle uses it for outliving someone.^[3]
• 15th century – Senses “to live until” and “to experience”.^[5]
• 1807 – Campe records the noun Erleben.^[7]
• 1921 – erlebte Rede as a literary term.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To experience, go through; to be affected by: eine Überraschung erleben.^[8][1]
2. To take in, see for oneself: ein Pokalfinale im Stadion erleben.^[8]
3. To meet with (as a result of one's actions); of a book, to go through (editions): einen Aufschwung erleben.^[8][1]
4. (reflexive, formal) To perceive oneself as something.^[8]
5. To live to see, witness: Er hat seinen achtzigsten Geburtstag nicht mehr erlebt.^[8][1]

Word family

• Erlebnis
• Erleben
• erlebnisreich

Related words

• leben
• überleben

Usage notes

Du kannst was erleben! (colloquial) is a threat, and Hat man so was schon erlebt! an exclamation of surprise and indignation.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
3. ^ 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, 1932
4. ^ a b Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 565
5. ^ a b c Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
6. ^ Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 3, 894
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 e f Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag