Etymologically
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vorstellen

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Pronunciation

  • [ˈfoːɐ̯ʃtɛln̩], [ˈfoːɐ̯ʃtɛlən][1]

Forms

vorstellen (third-person singular present stellt vor, past tense stellte vor, past participle vorgestellt, auxiliary haben)[1]

Etymology

It is from German vor- + stellen, a verb of New High German: the Grimms' dictionary finds it, like the older fürstellen, only from that period.[2][3][1] Dutch voorstellen is formed the same way, and Danish forestille was borrowed from Low German.[1][2]

The base verb continues Middle High German stellen (also stallen), Old High German stellen (“to set up, place”), Proto-Germanic *stalljaną, the same verb as Old Saxon stellian and Old English stellan.[4][5][6] It is probably derived from the noun Stall in its old sense “standing place”, Proto-Germanic *stallaz, which Kroonen derives from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand”);[4][5][7] Kluge and the EWA also allow a causative of a root Proto-Indo-European *stel-, otherwise unattested in Germanic.[4][5][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Paul dates the verb to the 16th century, first in the concrete sense “to put in front of something”.[3] In Luther it means “to lay before someone for choice” (er hat dir Feuer und Wasser vorgestellet; greife, zu welchem du willst, “he has set fire and water before you; reach for whichever you will”), “to set before someone to follow”, and “to bring before people, present”.[3]

Semantic evolution

From the beginning of the 17th century vorstellen was used for introducing one person to another.[3] In older military language it also meant “to promote”, as in Grimmelshausen's Simplicissimus.[2] It was used of actors presenting a role, and of a picture showing something (was stellt das Gemälde vor?, “what does the painting show?”); Goethe wrote in 1800 that a part should be vorgestellt by a good singer.[3] It also meant “to put before someone in words”, usually to persuade or warn.[3] Many of these uses have since passed to darstellen or vorlegen, and the verb is used more narrowly today than before.[2][3]

From the 18th century sich etwas vorstellen, “to picture something to oneself, imagine”, became increasingly common;[3] the peace movement of the 1980s used the slogan Stell dir vor, es ist Krieg und keiner geht hin (“imagine there's a war and nobody goes”).[3] The noun Vorstellung (17th century) follows all the senses: a presentation at court, a performance in the theatre, a remonstrance, an idea.[3] The literal “to put forward” survives in putting a clock forward.[2][8] Upper Silesian Polish borrowed the verb as forsztelować “to imagine” (1760).[9]

Timeline

  • 16th century – First records of vorstellen.[3]
  • Early 17th century – Used for introducing people to each other.[3]
  • 17th century – The noun Vorstellung appears.[3]
  • 1760 – Polish dialect forsztelować “to imagine” is recorded.[9]
  • 18th century – Sich etwas vorstellen “to imagine” becomes common.[3]
  • 1800 – Goethe uses it of a singer performing a role.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To move forward: Stell den Stuhl ein bisschen weiter vor.[8][1]
  2. To put in front of something: einen Wandschirm vorstellen.[8]
  3. To put (a clock) forward: Vergiss nicht, am Sonntag die Uhren vorzustellen.[8][1]
  4. To introduce someone to others: Ich möchte euch meine neue Kollegin vorstellen.; also to present something new to the public.[8][1]
  5. (reflexive) To introduce oneself; also to go for a job interview: Morgen stellt er sich bei einer Bank vor.[8][1]
  6. To take or go to a doctor for examination.[8]
  7. To represent, depict: Was soll diese Skulptur eigentlich vorstellen?;[8][1] etwas vorstellen, to be an impressive person.[8][1]
  8. (reflexive, with dative) To imagine: Ich kann mir gut vorstellen, wie müde sie ist.[8][1]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 26, 1675
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  4. ^ a b c Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 881
  5. ^ a b c Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 8, 1038
  6. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  7. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  9. ^ a b Lehnwortportal Deutsch (2012–), Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache, Mannheim, lwp.ids-mannheim.de