früher

Forms

früher (strong nominative masculine singular früherer, not comparable)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from German früh + -er, as the comparative of the adjective and adverb.^[1][2][3] Before the 18th century it was rare; then the senses “former” and “formerly” became fixed and lost their comparative force.^[3][4]

The base continues Old High German fruo, an adverb found only in German and Dutch, from Proto-West Germanic *frō; outside Germanic it is compared with Ancient Greek πρωί (prōí, “early”) and Sanskrit प्रातर् (prātár, “early”), from Proto-Indo-European *prō- (“early, before”).^[5][6] Kluge places that ultimately under Proto-Indo-European *per- (“forward, early, first”).^[5] The Old High German adjective fruoi was derived from the adverb.^[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Notker, before 1022: ioh noh frûor fone des ih keboren uuard (“and even earlier, from when I was born”), with the comparative adverb in the sense “earlier, sooner”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Until the 18th century früher was used mainly as a plain comparative, “earlier, sooner”, as in the Benedictine rule of 1388, which says that on a certain day the monks should rise früer than on other days.^[3] Then the adjective “past, former” and the adverb “formerly, in the past” were lexicalised, with no comparison implied.^[3][4] Duden explains this by the general use of früh as the opposite of spät.^[4]

Timeline

• Before 1022 – Notker uses the comparative adverb frûor.^[3]
• 1388 – A manuscript of the Benedictine rule has früer “earlier”.^[3]
• 1491 – The Nuremberg chronicle uses früer of the town gates being closed earlier.^[3]
• 18th century – The senses “former” and “formerly” become fixed.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Past, earlier: in früheren Jahrhunderten.^[2]
2. former, erstwhile, previous: die frühere Bürgermeisterin.^[2][1]

Adverb

1. formerly, in the past: sie war früher Lehrerin;^[2][1] von früher erzählen, to talk about the old days.^[2][1]
2. Comparative of früh: earlier, sooner.^[1][3]

Related words

• früh
• Frühe
• Frühling
• Frühstück

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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, 1164
4. ^ a b c Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2007), 4th ed., Duden vol. 7, Mannheim: Dudenverlag
5. ^ a b Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 321
6. ^ a b Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 291
7. ^ Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 3, 608