Etymologically
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national

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Pronunciation

  • /ˌnatsi̯oˈnaːl/, [ˌna.tsjoˈnaːl], /ˈnatsi̯oˌnaːl/[1]

Forms

national (strong nominative masculine singular nationaler, comparative nationaler, superlative am nationalsten)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from New Latin nātiōnālis, with the influence of French national, which gave it its political sense in the second half of the 18th century.[1][2][3] The Duden dictionary and the Grimms take it from the French word, with the Latin one behind it.[4][5][6]

The Latin adjective is formed from Latin nātiō (“birth; tribe, people”), the noun that German borrowed as Nation around 1400, and that noun comes from nāscor (“to be born”), related to genus (“birth, kind”).[7][2][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The adjective first appears in the compound Nationalversammlung in the imperial recesses of the first half of the 16th century, and then as a noun National, a diet of a whole nation or kingdom (second half of the 16th century).[2][3] The Early New High German dictionary records it in national concil, a church council of the German nation as opposed to a general council of Christendom, and national versamlung, an assembly of the estates, mostly written separately.[9]

Semantic evolution

Under French influence it became a common political word in the second half of the 18th century, for a time alongside nationell (19th century), and the first element of many compounds: Nationalcharakter, Nationalliteratur and Nationaltheater (second half of the 18th century), Nationalbewusstsein and Nationalstaat (second half of the 19th century).[2] Lessing wrote of a Nationaltheater, Herder of Nationalstolz and Goethe of a Nationalsprache.[5]

It shares the history of the noun, whose meaning narrowed in the 18th century, after the French model, from a people of common birth to a community with a shared political and cultural past and the will to form a state.[8][2] The derivatives Nationalität (end of the 18th century) and Nationalismus followed;[2] Nationalismus first meant national thinking (mid-18th century) and only later the overvaluation of one's own nation.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1400 – The noun Nation is borrowed from Latin.[2][7]
  • First half of the 16th century – Nationalversammlung appears in the imperial recesses.[2][3]
  • Second half of the 16th century – The noun National “national diet” is recorded.[2]
  • Second half of the 18th century – The adjective becomes common as a political word.[2][3]
  • End of the 18th century – Nationalität is formed.[2]
  • 19th century – Nationalist is recorded.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Relating to a nation, belonging to it or characteristic of it: die nationale Identität.[4][1][3]
  2. Within one country, nationwide, as opposed to regional or international: ein nationales Netz von Ladestationen.[1][3][4]
  3. Putting the interests of one's own nation first, patriotic, moderately nationalist: national gesinnte Wähler.[4][1][6]

Word family

  • Nationalismus
  • Nationalität
  • Nationalfeiertag
  • Nationalmannschaft
  • Nationalsozialismus
  • Nationalversammlung
  • Nationalist

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  3. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
  4. ^ a b c d Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  5. ^ a b Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 13, 425
  6. ^ a b Duden. Das Fremdwörterbuch (2007), 9th ed., Duden vol. 5, Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  7. ^ a b Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 649
  8. ^ a b Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2007), 4th ed., Duden vol. 7, Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  9. ^ Anderson, Robert R.; Goebel, Ulrich; Reichmann, Oskar, eds. (1989–), Frühneuhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; FWB-online, fwb-online.de