Etymologically
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gelingen

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Pronunciation

  • /ɡəˈlɪŋən/, [ɡəˈlɪŋŋ̩][1]

Forms

gelingen (class 3 strong, third-person singular present gelingt, past tense gelang, past participle gelungen, past subjunctive gelänge, auxiliary sein)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German gelingen, inherited from Old High German gilingan (“to succeed”), formed with the prefix gi- (modern ge-).[2][3][1] An unprefixed verb is found as lingen (“to go forward, prosper”) and Middle Low German lingen (“to succeed, thrive”),[2][3][4] and it survives in misslingen.[5] Wiktionary sets up Proto-West Germanic *lingwan.[1]

The verb is found only in German, and Kluge sees no further connection.[2][3] Pfeifer and Duden link it with leicht, Lunge and lungern, from a nasalized form Proto-Indo-European *lengʷʰ- of the root *legʷʰ- (“light in movement and weight”), so that it would first have meant “to go easily or quickly”;[3][5][6] the same root gives Latin levis (“light, quick”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German gilingan is found in Otfrid (863–871) and Notker, used impersonally with a dative, as in ubilo gilingan “to fare badly”.[7][8][9] Notker also has missilingan “to come to grief”.[8][3]

Semantic evolution

In Middle High German and still in Early New High German the verb was impersonal: mir gelingt meant “I succeed”, as in Luther's dem wird gelingen (Micah 6:9), where later editions add es.[10] Early New High German also formed the perfect with haben, as in Luther's es hat jnen gelungen (1 Maccabees 2:47),[10] and Adelung found this still in parts of Upper Germany.[11] Since the 19th century the past participle gelungen has often meant “successful, well done”, as in ein gelungener Abend.[10][12] The noun das Gelingen “success” is used by Luther and Goethe.[13] An unprefixed lingen was still known in Swiss German in the 19th century,[14] and the verb lives on in Yiddish געלינגען (gelingen).[1]

Timeline

  • 863–871 – Otfrid uses Old High German gilingan.[7]
  • c. 1000 – Notker uses missilingan.[3]
  • c. 1170 – Middle High German gelingen in the Rolandslied.[15]
  • 16th century – Luther uses the impersonal construction and a perfect with haben.[10]
  • 19th century – gelungen comes into frequent use as an adjective.[10]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (intransitive, with sein) To succeed, turn out well, of a plan or effort; with a dative of the person who succeeds: Es gelang ihr, den letzten Zug zu erreichen. Der Braten ist gut gelungen.[6][1]

Word family

  • Gelingen
  • misslingen
  • leicht
  • Lunge
  • lungern
  • gelangen

Usage notes

The past participle gelungen is common as an adjective meaning “successful, well done”: eine gelungene Feier.[6][10] The opposite is misslingen.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 344
  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. ^ Lexer, Matthias (1872–1878), Mittelhochdeutsches Handwörterbuch, 3 vols., Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 1, 1926
  5. ^ a b c Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag
  6. ^ a b c Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  7. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  8. ^ a b Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 5, 1315
  9. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 202
  10. ^ 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
  11. ^ Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf
  12. ^ Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 5, 3031
  13. ^ Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 5, 3035
  14. ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
  15. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling