Arbeit German · revision 34798

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=8th century|origins=gem-pro *arbaidiz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈaʁbaɪ̯t/, [ˈarbaɪ̯t]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Northern Germany: [ˈaɐ̯baɪ̯t]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Arbeit''' ''f'' (genitive Arbeit, plural Arbeiten)^(Wiktionary)

+ Middle High German also had ''ärbeit'', ''erbeit'', with secondary umlaut, and Luther still wrote ''erbeit''.^(EWA|1, 313)^(Paul 2002)

+ The standard language keeps the full diphthong of the second syllable, which has secondary stress, while most dialects reduce it (''árbet'').^(EWA|1, 313)^(DWB|1, 538)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|arebeit]], [[inh|goh|arabeit]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*arbaiþi]], [[inh|gem-pro|*arbaidiz|t=toil, hardship]].^(Kluge 2011|57)^(Wiktionary)^(Kroonen 2013) The same word is [[got|𐌰𐍂𐌱𐌰𐌹𐌸𐍃|tr=arbaiþs]], [[osx|arƀed]], [[ofs|arbēd]], [[ang|earfoþ]] and [[non|erfiði]].^(Kluge 2011|57)^(Kroonen 2013) [[sv|arbete]] and [[da|arbejde]] were borrowed from Middle Low German [[m|gml|arbēt]].^(Pfeifer 1993) English lost the word.^(DWB|1, 538)

+

+ How it was formed is disputed.^(Kluge 2011|57)^(Paul 2002)^(Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch) Pfeifer and the Duden take it as an abstract noun from a lost Germanic verb meaning “to be an orphan, a child put to hard work”, from [[ine-pro|*h₃órbʰos|t=orphan]], also the source of [[Erbe]] and perhaps of [[arm]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020)^(Wiktionary) The Grimms' revised dictionary supports this root with [[sa|अर्भ|tr=árbha|t=small, young]], [[xcl|որբ|tr=orb|t=orphan]] and [[la|orbus|t=bereft, orphaned]], but notes that the extension of the Germanic word remains unexplained.^(DWB2|3, 180) Kroonen likewise sees a noun in [[m|ine-pro|*-ti-]] made from an unattested stative verb.^(Kroonen 2013)

+

+ Kluge leaves open whether it is such an abstract, a type not otherwise attested, and compares the Slavic word for work, [[cu|работа|tr=rabota|t=servitude, slavery]], which clearly belongs with [[m|cu|рабъ|tr=rabŭ|t=servant, slave]], though its suffix cannot be matched with the Germanic one.^(Kluge 2011|57) The same Slavic word is [[ru|работа|tr=rabóta|t=work]], the source of [[Roboter]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''arabeit'' is recorded from the 8th century, in the Murbach Hymns, the Benedictine Rule, Tatian, Otfrid, the Ludwigslied and Notker.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Schützeichel 2012|39) It meant “hardship, misfortune”, “trouble, toil, burden, effort”, and only rarely “work” in the sense of Latin ''opus''.^(EWA|1, 313)^(Schützeichel 2012|39)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Middle High German the word stood above all for hardship and suffering, endured or taken on of one's own will: the Nibelungenlied says of a hero ''er leit … arbeit'' “he suffered hardship”.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002) Luther could still render Psalm 90:10 with ''Mühe vnd Erbeit'', for Latin ''labor et dolor''.^(Paul 2002) At the same time he gave work a positive value as a person's calling in the world, building on the ethics of chivalry and on medieval mysticism, and the word largely lost its sense of unworthy drudgery.^(Duden 7 2020)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002) It then came to mean any purposeful activity, first of the body and later also of the mind.^(Pfeifer 1993) The concrete sense “product of work”, hinted at in Old High German, became fully established in New High German.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ [[Arbeitsteilung]] renders Adam Smith's ''division of labour'' (1776): German first had ''Verteilung der Arbeit'' (1776) and ''Teilung der Arbeit'' (1796), and the compound appears in 1808.^(Pfeifer 1993) [[arbeitslos]] meant “effortless” from the early 16th century and “without work” from the second half of the 18th.^(Pfeifer 1993) The word was also borrowed as [[ja|アルバイト|tr=arubaito]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 8th century – Old High German ''arabeit'' is recorded.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Kluge 2011|57)

+ * 9th century – The verb ''arbeiten'' appears.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 16th century – Luther gives work a positive value but still writes ''erbeit''.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1776 – ''Verteilung der Arbeit'' translates Adam Smith's ''division of labour''.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1808 – The compound ''Arbeitsteilung'' appears.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 2nd half of the 18th century – ''arbeitslos'' “without work” appears.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1st half of the 19th century – ''Arbeitslosigkeit'' “unemployment” appears.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An activity or task, a piece of work to be done: ''eine mühsame Arbeit''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Working, being busy with something.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # Effort, [[m|en|trouble]], toil: ''Das war viel Arbeit.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Employment, a [[m|en|job]]; one's place of work: ''Arbeit suchen'', ''zur Arbeit fahren''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(sport)'' [[m|en|training]].^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # ''(equestrianism, hunting)'' The training of a horse or a hunting dog.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # The result of work, a [[m|en|product]] or piece of work.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A written test at school, short for [[Klassenarbeit]].^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # The way something is made, [[m|en|workmanship]]: ''eine feine Arbeit''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(physics)'' [[m|en|work]], force times distance.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[arbeiten]]

+ * [[Arbeiter]]

+ * [[arbeitsam]]

+ * [[arbeitslos]]

+ * [[Arbeitslosigkeit]]

+ * [[Arbeitsteilung]]

+ * [[Arbeitgeber]]

+ * [[Arbeitnehmer]]

+ * [[Arbeitsplatz]]

+ * [[bearbeiten]]

+ * [[verarbeiten]]

+ * [[Mitarbeiter]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Roboter]]

+ * [[Erbe]]

+ * [[arm]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}