unterwegs

Forms

unterwegs^[1] In the 16th and 17th centuries underweg and underwegens were used beside underwegen.^[2] unterwegs spread gradually from the 18th century;^[2] Adelung (1780) wrote unterweges and thought it better written separately.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German underwegen, inherited from Old High German untar wegun, a phrase of unter “between, among” and the dative plural of Weg “way”, literally “between the ways, on the ways”.^[3][2][1] The adverbial -s was added later, after the pattern of adverbial genitives.^[3][4] The same phrase is Middle Low German underwegen, Middle Dutch onderwegen and Dutch onderweg;^[3][5] compare English underway.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Kluge dates the phrase to the 11th century, in the Old High German form untar wegun.^[3][2] The Grimms' dictionary explains it as Latin inter vias “between the roads”, and quotes the variants unter dem wege and zwischen wegen.^[5]

Semantic evolution

From the 16th century a singular form unterweg, -wege (Latin inter viam, per viam) appeared, less often than the plural; the adverbial s attached itself to the phrase in the 18th century, while it was still often written separately.^[5][2] Besides “on the way”, the adverb came to mean “travelling, on a journey” and “out of the house, out and about”.^[4] In colloquial German a child unterwegs is a baby on the way.^[4]

Timeline

• 11th century – Old High German untar wegun “on the way”.^[3]
• 16th–17th century – underweg and underwegens beside underwegen.^[2]
• 1780 – Adelung records unterweges.^[2]
• 18th century – The form unterwegs spreads.^[3][2][6]

Meanings

Adverb

1. On the way somewhere, en route, in transit: Das Paket ist schon unterwegs.^[4][1]
2. (colloquial) In ein Kind ist unterwegs: a baby is on the way.^[4]
3. travelling, on a journey: Wir waren drei Wochen in Norwegen unterwegs.^[4][1]
4. Out, outdoors, about town: Am Samstagabend war halb Köln unterwegs.^[4][1]

Related words

• Weg
• unter
• English underway

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
3. ^ a b c d e f Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 944
4. ^ a b c d e f g Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
5. ^ 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. 24, 1887
6. ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org