Etymologically
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erscheinen

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Pronunciation

  • /ɛɐ̯ˈʃaɪ̯nən/[1]

Forms

erscheinen (class 1 strong, third-person singular present erscheint, past tense erschien, past participle erschienen, auxiliary sein)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German erschīnen, inherited from Old High German irskīnan, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *uʀskīnan, formed with the prefix er- from the verb that is now scheinen.[1][2][3] Köbler reconstructs Proto-Germanic *uzskeinan (“to shine forth”).[3] The same formation is Middle Low German erschīnen, Middle Dutch erscinen and Old English āscīnan, while Gothic has no such compound.[2][4]

Middle High German also had a weak causative erscheinen (“to make shine, show”), irskeinen, formed from Old High German skeinen (“to show”); when the strong and weak verbs merged in the New High German form, the transitive sense was largely lost.[5][6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German irskīnan is recorded in glosses of the last quarter of the 8th century and in Notker and Otfrid, meaning “to appear, become manifest, shine forth”.[3][5] In the Murbach Hymns (early 9th century) Christ as the light is asked to shine on the senses (thu lioht arskin huctim).[2]

Semantic evolution

The Grimms saw in all senses the idea of becoming visible in light, since the simple verb meant “to shine”.[4] Paul, however, found nothing left of the original sense: erscheinen simply means “to become visible”.[8] It was used of the sun, stars and comets rising, of the day dawning (dô diu naht het ende und dër tac erschein in the Nibelungenlied), and of God and angels, very often in Luther's Bible.[4]

From “to show oneself” came the use for persons who present themselves where they are expected, especially before a court.[8][9] A book erscheint when it is put on sale.[8] The weak transitive verb, mostly in Upper German and Swiss legal language, survived until the early 18th century.[7] Goethe and Schiller sometimes joined the verb directly to a predicate, like scheinen, which Paul considers outside general usage; ordinary use links the predicate with als.[8]

Timeline

  • Late 8th century – Old High German irskīnan appears in glosses.[3]
  • Early 9th century – The Murbach Hymns use the verb.[2]
  • Before 1022 – Notker uses both irskīnan and the weak irskeinen.[2][7]
  • Late Middle High German – Erscheinung (erschînunge) is formed.[5][8]
  • Early 18th century – The last records of the weak transitive verb.[7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To appear, become visible: Ein Schiff erschien am Horizont.[10][1]
  2. To appear in a dream or as a vision.[10][11]
  3. To present oneself where one is expected, to turn up: vor Gericht erscheinen.[10][11]
  4. Of a book or periodical, to be published, to come out.[10][1]
  5. To seem, to appear in a particular way: Das erscheint mir sinnvoll.[10][1]

Word family

  • Erscheinung
  • Erscheinen
  • durchscheinen
  • Schein

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e 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, 2112
  3. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  4. ^ 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, 955
  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, 957
  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. 8, 2120
  8. ^ a b c d e Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  9. ^ Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf
  10. ^ a b c d e Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  11. ^ a b Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org