Etymologically
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für

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Pronunciation

  • /fyːɐ̯/, /fʏɐ̯/, /fyːr/[1]

Forms

für[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German vür, inherited from Old High German furi, inherited from Proto-Germanic *furi (“before, for”).[2][3][1] The same word is Old Saxon furi, Old Frisian fori, Old Norse fyr and Swedish för, and the Old Norse form with a comparative ending, fyrir, belongs here too.[2][4][3] Whether Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌿𐍂 (faur, “before”) continues the same Germanic form or the related *fura cannot be decided.[4]

Kluge explains the word as a locative of the zero grade of the root Proto-Indo-European *per- (“in front, early, first”), from which Fürst is also formed, while vor is the same root with another ending.[2] Pfeifer starts from *pəri- or *pri- beside the full grade,[3] and Orel compares Ancient Greek πάρ (pár, “along”) and the Latin prefix por-.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German furi is recorded from the 8th century in glosses, the Benedictine Rule, the Exhortatio, Isidor and later Tatian, Otfrid and Notker, as an adverb and preposition meaning “before, past, in front of”, “instead of”, “as” and “because of”, glossing Latin ante, prae, pro and propter.[4][6][7] Notker's fure unde scameen sih (before 1022) still shows the local sense “forward”.[8]

Semantic evolution

In Old and Middle High German both furi and fora (modern vor) were used of place and differed mainly in their case: furi took the accusative for movement towards a place, fora the dative for rest.[3][9][8] Already in Old High German the word was used figuratively, and Duden 7 traces these uses to the local sense: a book für dich was “brought before you”, a remedy für a cough “placed in front of” it, and to stand für someone was to step in front of them as a protector.[9] In Early New High German, above all in Central German, für and vor were confused, and the grammarians of the 17th and 18th centuries (Gottsched in 1748, Popowitsch in 1754, Adelung in 1782) separated them: für with the accusative was kept for the figurative senses “on behalf of, instead of”, vor for place and time.[8][3][9] In the 18th century the old use survived beside vor, as in Lessing's du fürchtest dich mehr für die Kanne Wein als für den Teufel.[10]

The old local meaning lives on in repeated phrases such as Schritt für Schritt (properly “one step in front of the other”) and Tag für Tag, and the adverb in für und für “for ever” and das Für und Wider.[3][9][10] Paul notes that Adelung's verdict of 1775, rejecting vor in these phrases, decided the modern usage.[10]

Timeline

  • 8th century – Old High German furi appears in glosses and the Benedictine Rule.[4][2]
  • Late 8th century – furi is used in the Old High German Isidor.[7]
  • 1748 – Gottsched's grammar tries to separate the uses of für and vor.[8]
  • 1775 – Adelung rules that Schritt für Schritt and similar phrases keep für.[10]
  • 1782 – Adelung's Lehrgebäude sets out the division that standard German follows.[8]

Meanings

Preposition

  1. For, in aid of: names the purpose or goal of an action, or the person or thing it favours: für den Frieden demonstrieren “to march for peace”.[11][1]
  2. For, intended for: names whom or what something is meant for: ein Geschenk für die Nachbarin “a present for the neighbour”.[11][1]
  3. (colloquial) Against, as a remedy for: Tee für die Erkältung “tea for a cold”.[11]
  4. As, for: with verbs of judging, as in etwas für richtig halten “to consider something right”.[11][1]
  5. Because of, for: names a reason: sich für die Verspätung entschuldigen “to apologise for being late”.[11][1]
  6. Instead of, on behalf of: für einen kranken Kollegen einspringen “to stand in for a sick colleague”.[11][1]
  7. In exchange for, at the price of: für zehn Euro “for ten euros”.[11][1]
  8. For a length of time, or for a date: für drei Wochen verreisen “to go away for three weeks”.[1]
  9. By the standards of: für sein Alter groß “tall for his age”.[1]
  10. With a repeated noun, one after another: Schritt für Schritt “step by step”, Tag für Tag “day after day”.[10][1]

Word family

  • dafür
  • hierfür
  • wofür
  • fürs
  • fürwahr
  • fürbass
  • Fürsorge
  • Fürsprecher
  • Fürtuch

Usage notes

Was für ein “what kind of” uses für without its usual case government.[1] Für und für “for ever, continually” is found in Luther's psalms and in Opitz.[12] Adelung already called it obsolete in High German.[12] Das Für und Wider “the pros and cons” is the preposition used as a noun.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 324
  3. ^ a b c d e f 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 Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 3, 660
  5. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  6. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 118
  7. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  8. ^ 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. 9, 1292
  9. ^ a b c d Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 293
  10. ^ 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
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  12. ^ a b Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf